Agroecology can ‘save the world’ from GMO-led industrial agriculture

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Imagine the scenario: world food production has become concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite who, backed by powerful governments, have succeeded in creating a captive market of farmers around the world dependent on them for everything from seed to fertiliser.

The farmers are crippled by the high cost of the increasingly monopolised agricultural products essential to their livelihoods, trapping them in a cycle of poverty.

But because they live in poor countries, their plight is ignored, while the success of the corporations selling them goods is celebrated in world financial centres.

Industrial agriculture threatens us all

The picture is further complicated by the rise of genetically modified (GM) crops.

Proponents regard them as the panacea to the world’s food production problems. Detractors take a rather different view, seeing GM crops not just as a way for global agribusinesses like Monsanto to dominate farming worldwide – by getting small farmers hooked on their expensive products, but also leaving us open to plant infections sweeping through uniform croplands which lack the genetic diversity to offer any resistance.

The solution? In a word: agroecology

So how do we meet the challenge of providing enough food for everyone in the world while simultaneously protecting biodiversity and reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint?

The solution gaining more and more acceptance internationally is agroecology.

Agroecology is rooted in the idea that farmers should be directly involved in developing new practices by engaging and co-creating with one another, with support from cooperatives, NGOs, research bodies and government institutions.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Can agroecology save us from ‘scorched-earth’ agriculture?

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