A dangerous new phase of the food crisis is emerging—a debt catastrophe that is driving millions more people into starvation. The financial crisis is mostly caused by unsustainable food systems. The world's poorest countries' finances are becoming unstable due to a combination of factors including climate-vulnerable food systems, boom-bust commodity cycles, import dependency, and exploitative financial flows. Unsustainable debt, on the other hand, makes nations extremely vulnerable to shocks and makes it more difficult for them to make the vital investments in food security and climate-resilient agriculture.

Numerous countries are unable to diversify their crop portfolios due to their reliance on imports for food and fertilisers, forcing them to rely on cash crops as a means of debt repayment. The difficulties have also been made worse by decades of disengagement from social services and domestic agriculture. Farmers find themselves unable to compete with giant corporations as food costs rise and fall. Furthermore, when the climate issue worsens, uncertainty rises, harvests are destroyed, and peasant debt increases. The session will discuss the question of debt crisis and it's impact upon food sovereignty globally.

Speakers:

Farooq Tariq (Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee)

Afsar Jafri (GRAIN)

David Otieno (Kenyan Peasants League)