Leaders cautioned about hunger and poverty

By Hyunsook Siutaia 17 October 2020, 3:00PM

Governments around the world, including Samoa, have been warned about the threat of hunger and poverty and how the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic could intensify the problem.

The warning comes from the the World Future Council (W.F.C.), which is a global organisation that works to pass on a healthy and sustainable planet advise to countries around the world.

The warning was issued on World Food Day which was celebrated globally on Thursday.

Globalized food systems are the contributing result of over-production, waste, unequal distribution and lack of resilience . 

According to experts from the World Future Council , Hans Herren,  new farming methods should be in place to eliminate  hunger and poverty for a positive change for everyone across the world. 

"The recent COVID-19 pandemic is a symptom of a food system in critical need of transformation to address key health, nutrition, hunger, poverty, climate change and animal welfare issues at their roots," Herren said 

"We request that the huge sums made available for restarting the economy be used proactively to further the food system’s agroecological transformation, restore the agroecosystem, and assure its long term resilience with a focus on food sovereignty, right to food and the universally agreed SDGs’ framework." 

Founding Councillor at the World Future Council, Dr Vandana Shiva said that respecting nature and its life cycles will secure the well being and welfare of the human population. 

"The pandemic is a wake-up call. Millions of smallholders have already been struggling before COVID-19 hit!" Dr Shiva said 

"With economies at the brink of collapse, our direction should be clear. Scaling up Agroecology by multiplying small farms and farmers is the only way forward."

The global pandemic has not only affected human health, but also has had a lasting effect on the economy, the social and cultural life. 

According to Helmy Abouleish, mulitiple solutions are resulted from an agroecological food production which doesn't affects nature and people but can combat climate change. 

It will further lead if scaled up to combat malnutrition, climate change, social injustice and loss of biodiversity and thus if the principle is practiced globally, it can eliminate hunger and poverty, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. 



By Hyunsook Siutaia 17 October 2020, 3:00PM

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