For years now, people have been inundated with promises about the potential of genetically modified organisms and other ‘precision’ and ‘digitalised’ farm technologies. People are told that these modern technologies have to be embraced to both address food security and tackle climate change. According to the advocates of these technofixes, regions that don’t adopt these new technologies – especially in the Global South – are doomed to remain stuck in the dark ages.

In this…

We are witnessing the increasing financialisation of land and territories as land and natural resources are sold off to financial actors such as banks, pension funds, and insurance companies. These actors often make use of complex investment webs involving any number of intermediaries, brokers, tax avoidance loopholes and off-shore schemes. All of these are attempts to distance themselves from public scrutiny, regulation, taxation and accountability. This is hugely disempowering for communities as it means that…

Somos testigos de la creciente financiarización de la tierra y los territorios a medida que la misma tierra y los recursos naturales se venden a actores financieros como bancos, fondos de pensiones y compañías de seguros. Estos actores, a menudo, hacen uso de complejas redes de inversión en las que intervienen todo tipo de intermediarios como corredores de bolsa, lagunas normativas en la evasión fiscal y empresas off-shore. Todos ellos son intentos para distanciarse del…

This panel brings a number of farmers from Java, Indonesia, to share their real farming strategies in developing their adaptive capability towards the consequences of climate change and other hazards. The farmers are “real rainfall observers of their own fields” who have learned the agrometeorological method of analysis in the Science Field Shops in solving their vulnerabilities. Some coping strategies will be presented directly by farmers consisting of:

adaptation strategies to El Niňo by determining…

Land theft is not a thing of the past. Samwel, Kathryn, Angie and June will be talking about the different ways communities are discriminated against through land theft and dispossession. Their conversation will focus on understanding that true food sovereignty demands local control of land. Samwel’s Maasai community has faced illegal sales of their land to foreign companies; Kathryn, representing KMP (the Peasant Movement of the Philippines), has been on the frontlines of organizing to…

The Shashe block of farms, in the Maszinvgo province of central Zimbabwe, is home to 500 farming families. Together with the Zimbabwe Smallholder Organic Farmers Forum (ZIMSOFF)’s and Shashe Agroecology School, they have worked to revive arid cattle-ranching land into rich, abundant food forests.

The school trains farmers in agroecological farming techniques such as inter-cropping, water-harvesting and farmer-to-farmers exchanges but at the heart of their practice is a special emphasis on seed and food…

Global corporations claim their new technologies will benefit us all, but they could threaten us, particularly small-scale food producers and consumers. Even before COVID-19, the arrival of big data, synthetic biology, robotics and other tech were being hailed as the answers to hunger, climate change and even infectious disease. In the summer of 2020, ETC Group began convening conversations with, and among, civil society organisations, social movement allies and communities with whom we work. “Which…

Las corporaciones globales declaran que sus nuevas tecnologías nos beneficiarán a todxs, pero pueden estar amenazándonos, particularmente a lxs pequeñxs productorxs de comida y a lxs consumidorxs. Incluso antes del COVID-19, la llegada del big data, la biología sintética, la robótica y otras tecnologías fueron aclamadas como la respuesta al hambre, al cambio climático e incluso a enfermedades infecciosas. En el verano del 2020, el grupo ETC comenzó a convocar conversaciones con, y entre, organizaciones…

Co-hosted by MVArc (Portugal) and the Woodland Trust (UK)

Already we are seeing the difference in our weather patterns from climate change. Integrating trees within the farming system can buffer extremes by providing shade for crops and livestock. In this session, we will hear from speakers from the UK, Spain and the USA about the role of trees in a hotter climate, including practical management considerations and benefits for both livestock and crops. Can you…