Global food security at risk

Monday 7th November: Organisations representing more than 350 million family farmers and producers published an open letter to world leaders today, warning that global food security is at risk unless governments boost adaptation finance for small-scale production and promote a shift to more diverse, low-input agriculture.  

The UN Climate Summit (COP27) begins in Egypt today with 90 heads of state meeting to discuss food security and climate finance.  

Over 70 networks and organisations representing farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and forest producers have signed the letter including the World Rural Forum which represents 35 million family farmers across five continents, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa which represents 200 million small-scale producers on the continent, the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Development with 13 million members, and Coordinadora de Mujeres Líderes Territoriales de Mesoamérica in Latin America. National organisations from Jordan to the UK and India have also signed.

The letter warns that the ‘global food system is ill-equipped to deal with the impacts of climate change, even if we limit global heating to 1.5C’ and says ‘building a food system that can feed the world on a hot planet’ must be a priority for COP27. 

Small-scale producers are critical for global food security, producing as much as 80% of the food consumed in regions such as Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet they accounted for only 1.7% of climate finance flows in 2018 – just $10 billion compared to the estimated $240 billion a year needed to help them adapt to climate change. Progress on finance is key to success at COP27. At the Glasgow climate summit in 2021 wealthy nations agreed to double overall funding for adaptation to $40 billion a year by 2025  – still only a fraction of what is required.

Elizabeth Nsimadala, President of Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, which represents 25 million food producers and is a signatory to the letter said:

“The producers in our networks feed millions of people and support hundreds of thousands of jobs but they have reached a breaking point. There needs to be a massive boost in climate finance to ensure small-scale producers have the information, resources and training necessary to continue feeding the world for generations to come.”  

COP27 is taking place in the middle of a global food price crisis. While there is not yet a global food shortage, extreme drought, floods and heat has damaged harvests across the globe and scientists have warned of an increased risk of simultaneous crop failures in the world’s major breadbaskets. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said a shift to more diverse, low-input food systems is key to maintaining food security in a changing climate.

Ma Estrella Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development which represents 13 million farmers across Asia said:

“$611 billion is spent subsidising food production every year – much of it on industrial, chemical-intensive agriculture that is harmful to people and the environment. This can’t continue. Leaders must listen to farmers and put their political weight and financial muscle behind a shift to more diverse, sustainable and empowering food production – especially agroecological farming, fishing, forestry, herding and pastoralism.”

Food and agriculture are largely overlooked in climate negotiations despite being responsible for 34% of emissions, the majority of which come from industrial agriculture.  

The signatories call on governments to work with them to build a stronger, more sustainable, and fairer food system. 

Laura Lorenzo, Director of the World Rural Forum said:

“Food and agriculture have been sidelined in climate negotiations and the concerns of small-holder producers ignored. Small-scale family farmers need a seat at the table and a say in the decisions that affect us – from secure access to land and tenure, to accessing finance – if we are to rebuild our broken food system.”

Notes to editor

The full letter is pasted below, and list of signatories is here.

The letter has been coordinated by the Food and Farm Facility at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

THE LETTER

Dear World Leaders,

The surge in hunger over the last year has exposed the fragility of the global food system. It is highly vulnerable to shocks – whether from Covid, conflict, or the climate – and ill-equipped for a world where extreme heat, drought, and floods are the new normal, even if we limit global heating to 1.5C.  Building a food system that can feed the world on a hot planet must be a priority for COP27. 

Any plan to adapt our food system must start with small-scale family farmers and producers. We are critical for global food security, producing as much as 80% of the food consumed in regions such as Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, decades of underinvestment and an unfair global food system run by and for powerful agri-businesses, means we often lack the infrastructure, technology, resources, and democratic space to cope with ever more extreme and erratic weather.  

Globally just 1.7% of climate finance is spent supporting the efforts of small-scale producers to adapt. At a time of rising food insecurity it is crucial that COP27 decision makers recognise the important role we play in feeding the world and significantly increase the amount of adaptation finance available to us now and in the long term. 

COP27 must also put its weight behind a shift to more sustainable food production, including agroecological practices. The expertise we have accumulated over generations, and the conclusion of the International Panel on Climate Change, is that diversity is key to food security. Growing a wider variety of local crops, mixing crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries, reducing chemical inputs, and building strong connections to local markets builds resilience.

Beyond COP27, small-scale producers and the shift to sustainable food production must be a political priority. This means involving us in decisions which affect our livelihoods. It means re-focusing the $611 billion spent subsidising food production every year, much of it in support of industrial farming that is harmful to people and the environment. It also means addressing the historical injustices and inequalities that plague our food system: the concentration of land ownership that is squeezing farmers onto ever smaller parcels of land or forcing them off their land altogether, and the discrimination which means women, who make up more than half of all farmers, own less than 20% of all land.  

Shifting away from industrial agriculture will also help reduce emissions. The current food system is responsible for 34% of greenhouse gases and is fuelling a crisis that could make almost a third of agricultural land unsuitable for food production by the end of the century, yet it is consistently overlooked in climate negotiations.  

As you gather in Egypt our message is simple.  Learn the lessons of 2022.  Listen to the 350 million small-scale producers and family farmers in our networks. Work with us to lay the foundations for a stronger food system that will feed humanity for all generations to come.