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The EU must put into practice its discourse of providing support to sustainable peasant and family farming

12 October 2010

FAO- Committee on Food Security (CFS) meeting, 11th – 16th of October


European Coordination Via Campesina would lilke to attract attention to the enormous responsibility that the European Union, European governments and European companies have vis-a-vis the world crisis of access to food and the degradation of this situation which occured in 2007-2008. Due to its agricultural, trade, and financial policies, the EU has contributed to increasing hunger.From the 11th to the 16th of Ocotober, the Comittee on Food Security (CFS) will be meeting for the first time since its reform which took place in November 2009 in Rome. The European Union will intervene on the issue of food security, price volatility, and on directives concerning the managment of land tenure and natural ressources.

On this occasion, the European Coordination Via Campesina would like to attract attention to the enormous responsibility that the European Union, European governments and European companies have vis-a-vis the world crisis of access to food and the degradation of this situation which occured in 2007-2008. Due to its agricultural, trade, and financial policies, the EU has contributed to increasing hunger.

If the European Union declares during the CFS that small farmers and peasants have priority in providing a solution to the problem of hunger at a global level, the E.U. must be coherent and apply this ciriteria to the development of all its policies, and especially while developing the new CAP. Willy Schuster, a Romanian peasant, says: “ Since the entry of Romania to the E.U., the number of multi-functional family farms has dramatically decreased and this despite the fact that they practice more sustainable modes of agriculture, create jobs and are often managed by women. “


The position the E.U. adopts within the CFS, as a space of global governance for food and agriculture, must be the result of a democratic and transparent process where the European Parliament must play a crucial role. Also, the development of a new CAP must take into account this framework of global governance. There needs to be increased coherence between the E.U.´s discourse at the international level and its current policies.


It is essential that the E.U. stops preaching and puts into practice its own discourse by truly supporting sustainable peasant and family farming.


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