Why take action in the UK?
War on Want food sovereignty briefing
Food Sovereignty briefing[ ] 97 Kb
For the first time in human history, over a billion people have been officially classified as living in hunger. This scandal is not a consequence of poor global harvests or natural disasters. Hunger on this scale is the result of a global economy in which hundreds of millions of small farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and indigenous people have faced ruin through the hijacking of the global food system by large agribusiness and food retailers.
The dominant model for dealing with the food crisis is to address the ‘food security’ needs of countries and peoples. This model - backed by the UK government and many British NGOs - is based on market solutions to the problems of world hunger, with food treated as just another commodity to be traded on global markets. It is a model based on free trade in agricultural commodities, on corporate-owned technology and on greater private sector control of food production and distribution. It is a model that has failed.
This War on Want briefing presents the alternative model of 'food sovereignty': an approach to the food crisis that prioritises people's right to food, agro-ecology and a global food system free of corporate control. Together with its partner organisations in La Via Campesina and other allies, War on Want is committed to the fight for food sovereignty as the positive alternative to create a world free from hunger.
