Coloniality in US agricultural policy (#journal)

The coloniality of US agricultural policy: articulating agrarian (in)justice

Drawing on participatory action research with La Via Campesina’s US member groups, this paper traces the coloniality of US agricultural policy. The framework of coloniality conjures history, contextualizing US Department of Agriculture (USDA) racism within long legacies of subjugation, while paying homage to historical resistance. It raises the stakes regarding the neo-imperialism of agribusiness monopolies, while highlighting divide-and-conquer strategies and the colonialist mentalities that linger on despite reform. The discursive impact of coloniality builds upon existing, grassroots articulations of the need to decolonize agricultural policy. Calling out the coloniality of US agricultural policy echoes global revalorizations of peasant agriculture, while overcoming the constraints of the term ‘peasant’ in US-English-speaking contexts.

UK Parliament report on soil health (report)

The Environmental Audit Committee Report into Soil Health published on 2nd June 2016

The Government’s ambition to manage the UK’s soil sustainably by 2030 will not be met unless further action is taken, the Environmental Audit Committee has warned in a report published today on the health of UK soil. Failing to prevent soil degradation could lead to increased flood risk, lower food security, and greater carbon emissions. Key recommendations: 1) The Government must set out specific, measurable and time-limited plans to increase the amount of carbon retained in soil. 2) Rules with greater scope, force and ambition are required in order to meet the Government’s stated goal to manage soils sustainably by 2030. 3) The Government should introduce a rolling national-scale monitoring scheme for soil health to ensure that adequate information about the state of the nation’s soil.

Africa needs climate-proof agriculture (report)

SET FOR SUCCESS: CLIMATE PROOFING THE MALABO DECLARATION (2016)

Montpelier Panel, June 2016

By the year 2050 the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, such as the current El Niño, could increase hunger and child malnutrition by as much as 20%, reversing the gains achieved through the Millennium Development Goal process and jeopardising the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Agriculture is the backbone of African economies, accounting for as much as 40% of total export earnings and employing 60 – 90% of Africa’s labour force. More than half of households’ income originates in the agriculture sector. Agriculture will continue to be a priority for Africa, alongside efforts towards industrialisation. Using the targets set out in the Malabo Declaration African governments now need to unlock the continent’s agriculture sector in a way that captures the synergies between climate adaptation and mitigation and identifies and reduces the inevitable trade-offs. A sustainable agriculture sector has the potential to contribute to food and nutrition security, poverty reduction and sustained economic growth, in a way that preserves the natural resource base on which it depends.

Climate-smart agriculture needs to:

•  Provide adaptation and resilience to shocks
•  Generate adaptation and mitigation as co-benefits
•  Take a location-specific and knowledge-intensive approach
•  Provide integrated options that create synergies and reduce trade-offs.

Recommendation #6 Better training for farmers on sustainable farming techniques, through improved extension services, farmer field schools and utilisation of digital technologies.

...could this mean more permaculture training?!

News coverage of this report here.

Agro-ecology in Zimbabwe (report)

Zimbabwean Smallholder Support at the Crossroads: Diminishing Returns from Green Revolution Seed and Fertiliser Subsidies and the Agro- Ecological Alternative 

This research report is the first piece of research being conducted in Zimbabwe by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). It forms part of a regional research programme which aims to engage directly with farmers, farmer associations, farmer support organisations, extension workers, scientists, donors and government officials, to explore the complex impacts on small-scale farming households of the introduction of Green Revolution technologies, as well as their socio-ecological contexts in the region.

Zero Carbon Britian discussions (online)

Zero Carbon Britain discussion papers

The ZCB project has been encouraging contributors to write discussion papers to probe, ponder, reflect and imagine what a zero carbon Britain might be like.
We asked for their help to raise awareness of a more carbon responsible society, by looking at a diverse range of impacts of a zero carbon Britain. From faith groups to farmers, from restaurants to rugby teams, the aim is to get people talking about what it would be like to live in a world where we rise to our 21st century challenges.

Scaling up agro-ecology (online)

Overcoming Obstacles to Agroecology

A half-century of research and practice in agroecology has yielded spectacular results for hundreds of thousands of small scale farmers around the world. Because it opens possibilities for grassroots food systems transformation, peasant movements for food sovereignty have embraced agroecology, as have many urban and organic farmers in the Global North. But despite its documented benefits, agroecology is still largely limited to localized experiences and a few, poorly funded university programs. The problem is systemic. The solution is social and political, as discussed in this article from The Huffington Post.

Manifesto for a new economy (book)

What Then Must We Do?

Never before have so many been frustrated with their economic system, more fearful that it is failing, or more open to fresh ideas about a new one. The seeds of a new movement demanding change are forming. But what is this thing called a new economy, and how might it take shape? What Then Must We Do? suggests what the next system might look like: a system that is not corporate capitalism, not state socialism, but something else entirely. The book calls for an evolution, not a revolution, out of the old system and into the new which would democratize the ownership of wealth, strengthen communities, and be governed by institutions sophisticated enough to manage a large-scale, powerful economy. What Then Must We Do? offers an elegant solution for moving from anger to strategy.

What Then Must We Do?

What Then Must We Do?

Moving to sustainable eating habits (report)

Changing what we eat: A call for research & action on widespread adoption of sustainable healthy eating

Government leadership and substantial investment in research are needed to shift global consumption habits towards eating patterns that are both healthy and sustainable, say academics, industry and NGOs representatives in this report. Research is now needed in three key areas, say those involved in the report:

• What are healthy sustainable eating patterns?
• How do we eat now, why, and what are the health and sustainability implications?
• How do we achieve positive change?

The report is based on the discussions of a workshop organised by the Food Climate Research Network, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the UK’s multi-agency Global Food Security programme.

State-facilitated land grabbing in Rwanda (#journal)

‘Control Grabbing’ and small-scale agricultural intensification: emerging patterns of state-facilitated ‘agricultural investment’ in Rwanda

The Rwandan government's ongoing reconfiguration of the agricultural sector seeks to facilitate increased penetration of smallholder farming systems by domestic and international capital, which may include some land acquisition (‘land grabbing’) as well as contract farming arrangements. Such contracts are arranged by the state, which sometimes uses coercive mechanisms and interventionist strategies to encourage agricultural investment. Activities of international development agencies are becoming intertwined with those of the state and foreign capital, so that a variety of actors and objectives are starting to collaboratively change the relations between land and labour. The global ‘land grab’ is only one aspect of broader patterns of reconfiguration of control over land, labour and markets in the Global South. This paper demonstrates the ways in which the state is orienting public resources towards private interests in Rwanda.

Climate justice; rooted in historical oppression (#journal)

 Climate justice: the claim of the past

This appraisal of the collection of papers in this issue argues that historical injustice saturates the problem of climate change. Those most vulnerable to climate change today are largely those who already lack resources – who have been on the wrong end of colonial history, or who have been globalization's losers, or who have suffered neglect, or exclusion at the hands of their own governments. They are those who have benefited little or not at all from a carbon-intensive global economy, but who have long suffered its side effects. The paper notes that the particular form taken by law in international and transnational affairs, having largely followed the historical progress of industrialism, colonialism and globalization, is peculiarly ill-suited to the task of addressing this vulnerability.

Drivers of environmental change (report)

World in Transition – A Social Contract for Sustainability

In this report, the German Advisory council on Global Change explains the reasons for the desperate need for a post-fossil economic strategy, yet it also concludes that the transition to sustainability is achievable, and presents ten concrete packages of measures to accelerate the imperative restructuring. If the transformation really is to succeed, we have to enter into a social contract for innovation, in the form of a new kind of discourse between governments and citizens, both within and beyond the boundaries of the nation state. Factsheet 5 includes detailed descriptions of 'Drivers of Transformation', such as permaculture activists and transition towners. 

The latest news on climate change (website)

Responding to Climate Change

A great site that carries all the latest news on climate change politics, policy and science from around the world. Dozens of articles, with a good mixture of factual reporting and opinion stating, plus headlines and research reports.

Linking community initiatives and local government (#journal)

(Dis)connected communities and sustainable place-making

Despite a recent surge in the UK in 'sustainable communities' policy discourse, many community-led sustainability initiatives remain fragmented and disconnected from local government strategies. How can community- and government-led sustainability initiatives be better integrated? With particular reference to Stroud, England and Cardiff, Wales, this paper explores the twin processes of disconnection and connection between community activists and local state actors. It concludes that for community activists and policy-makers alike, there are many mutual benefits to co-production.