Lessons from the food crisis: patchwork will not mend our vulnerable system

In response to the global food crisis, world leaders around the globe are making pledges for rapid action. Governments are focusing on implementing short-term measures to muffle the immediate effects of the dramatic upward surge in commodity prices, particularly on the most vulnerable populations. <br /><br />This South Centre Bulletin argues that addressing the root causes of the crisis requires a thorough appraisal of the global industrial agri-food system and concerted, long-term commitment to reforms aimed at ensuring global food security. It emphasises that this should include a critical examination of the growing use of intellectual property rights in the agri-food sector and its impact on local markets and farmers in developing countries.<br /><br />In the long-term, it is argued that there is a real need for new technology and investment in innovation to increase agricultural production in developing countries and to ensure that farmers have access to basic agricultural inputs, particularly seeds. However, caution must be observed in the policies that are implemented towards achieving these goals. <br /><br />It concludes that:<br /> sustainable agriculture for domestic food security, meeting the needs of local markets and supporting local farmers must be prioritised the limits of the industry-led agri-food market must be recognised and more than short-term buffers for the poor must be put in place seed aid and provision of fertiliser is rightly being advocated as an immediate answer to the current food crisis but in the medium-long term it is not a solution for seed security and may create more problems than it solves, such as distorting farmers local seed systems <br />