This campaignasks the question: “Why, ifthe world produces enough food for everyone, do more than two million children die every year because they can’t get enough to eat?” The campaign argues that the food system is broken.In 2013, we need our leaders to dofour important thingsto fix it.IFthey take these steps, it will change the future for millions of children.

This video explains the aims of the campaign

Many of OWW’s partners, together with some 100 organisations, are supporting the IF campaign and we know many OWW local organisers will be involved during the year. OWW, as a development education charity, welcomes the opportunity for people from so many organisations to come together to engage the public and politicians in seeking answers to questions about ending hunger.

The “Enough Food For Everyone IF...” campaignidentifies four areas of concern: it wants world leaders to:

  • stop poor farmers being forced off their land, and grow crops for food, not fuel;
  • stop big companies dodging tax in poor countries, so millions of people can free themselves from hunger;
  • ensure transparency so that governments and big companies are honest about their actions that stop people getting enough food.
  • keep their promises on aid, invest to stop children dying from malnutrition and help the poorest people feed themselves through investment in small farmers.

These are all desirable aims but some other organisations,such as War on Want, the UK Food Group, and our partner WDM, have not joined the IF campaign because they argue that the people really affected, the200 million peasant farmers in 70 countries across the world,represented by the worldwide farmers’ movement,La Via Campesina, were not consulted and have different priorities. Their position isthat “all peoples have the right to define their own agricultural and food policies as a means to securing their right to food, (referred to as “Food Sovereignty”),including through agrarian reform in favour of peasant farming communities ...” This challenges a “...global food system currently dominated by a small handful of multinational companies”. (more from War on Want )

While the IF campaign does not mention‘Food Sovereignty’, it does assert that the current food system is “broken” and it urges support for small scale farmers who grow 70% of the world’s food. It will require a massive change in hearts and minds of world leaders to “fix it” by reducing companies’ power effectively through curbing their behaviour.

The land issue is crucial: most of the world’s people consume food grown by small farmers. When multinationals grow food products they are usually exported – out of reach of hungry locals. The poor need access to land and appropriate technology and we in the west need to remember that it is local farmerswho are the experts, with long experience of making difficult environments productive and feeding poor people efficiently. Big is not best in these situations – big companies use huge carbon inputs and destroy biodiversity to reap profits for their shareholders in the short term which threaten long term survival.

Increased tax revenue would certainly give governments the potential to deliver support to their farmers and services to their children. There is no guarantee they would spend it in that way but transparency would help.

Transparencywould make it possible to hold companies and governments to account, so it is a vital component in empowering people to take control and gain “sovereignty”.