Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cifically, environmental impacts, the fate of campesinos has largely remained a 'con-
cealed' aspect of the advancing agriculture frontier; an aspect that, prior to social
mobilization, went publicly unreported and thus unnoticed. It becomes increasingly
evident that the expansion of the agriculture frontier, with its fences, monoculture
of soybeans, intensive use of agrohemicals and deforestation are all vivid threats to
the livelihoods of campesino families, to the environment and to global food secur-
ity.
On the other hand, soyization also provides a focal point for campesino resist-
ance that is fertile ground for the evolution of local 'solutions' to the social and en-
vironmental dangers of commodity soybean production. Assisting campesinos - and
other small-scale farmers - not merely to survive but to prosper, could have far-
reahing implications for global food production and security. Small- and medium-
size producers, it is argued, could feed the growing global population in a more
sustainable manner if given the right conditions (Godfray et al. , 2010). For creating
these conditions, however, governments must take an active role, even if it is merely
enforcing the law. In Argentina, for example, it needs to halt the advancement of the
agriculture frontier and to enforce existing regulations regarding deforestation and
use of agrohemicals. Further progress would be ahieved through a genuine pro-
cess of consultation and collaboration, with the objective of creating an economic
environment that accommodates the needs of small-scale producers. The implica-
tions of meaningful hange extend beyond narrowly deined agrarian reform to in-
clude training, concessional credit, infrastructure (transportation, water and more)
and other services. he result would hallenge the existing reliance on commodity
soybeans for animal feed in China and Europe, while providing the means for more
diverse diets and food sovereignty in the Southern Cone.
Notes
1. La Vía Campesina (The Peasant Way) is a transnational movement of peasants, small- to
medium-size agriculture producers, landless agriculture workers, rural youth and women and
indigenous people. Among its main objectives are social justice, fair economic distribution of
wealth, agrarian reform and food sovereignty (defined below). The MOCASE-VC is a member
of this international movement.
2. The term 'food sovereignty' was coined in the 1996 World Food Summit by the transnational
peasant organization La Vía Campesina, of whih the MOCASE-VC is a member. La Vía
Campesina (2007, p1, emphasis in origin) defines food sovereignty as: the RIGHT of peoples,
countries, and state unions to define their agricultural and food policy without the “dumping”
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