World leaders asked to support grassroot agriculture to boost food security

Turin, Italy: Kenyan small-scale farmers are showcasing their products at the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre in Italy where speakers at the opening ceremony Wednesday asked world leaders and economic players to support local agriculture for sustainability.

Kenya was represented by over 40 delegates from different counties who will showcase their products at the weeklong event held in Turin, Italy, every two years. The event brings over 3,000 delegates who come together to put show the world their indigenous farming products.

Speaking during the opening ceremony Carlo Petrini, the president of Slow Food Foundation, urged leaders to defend biodiversity for the benefit of future generations.

Petrini, in a strongly-worded statement said that the free market concept was meant to destroy local economies.

In a specific case of how the world market dictates food security, he questioned, “How comes that Mexico is one of the largest maize producers in the world but still suffers perenial hunger? Is it not because some other countries want to gain from the maize without Mexico being able to gain anything from it?”

The patenting of seeds was a major concern for Petrini who said it was just a business venture to make seeds a problem to get except from the businessmen that will be producing them. He said that indigenous food must be maintained to ensure that in future the world does not have to rely on multinationals to produce seeds for them.

“We are entering a crisis of values, that is, a lot of energy is used to produce food yet also a lot of waste results from the food that has been produced; we cannot waste energy to produce little food and end wasting trhe same food after we have wasted energy producing it, ” said Petrini.

Further, Petrini urged the world to stop using food as a commodity but maintain the cultural values that come with food and supports biodiversity.

Petrini called for a bottom up approach to ensuring food safety and sustainability because this was the only way the voices of the grassroots farmers could be heard.

Some of the leaders who sent their messages during the opening ceremony include Pope Francis and US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Pope Francis’ statement read that the biannual event should show renewed commitment that will ensure no person goes without food in this century and age. The pontiff also lauded Slow Food for promoting agriculture that is in tandem with nature.

“In order to fight hunger, we must change international rules of production and trade. We must make sure farmers dictate their market,” read the statement.

Mrs Obama on the other hand commended the event organisers for pushing the cause of local farmers especially the 10,000 Gardens in Africa, a network of young people who are working to ensure that Africa’s biodiversity is saved for the benefit of the future through the development of sustainable family farming.

The media was also challenged to mainstream stories on food and not just talk about it superficially. The representative of Piedmont Region in Italy where Turin lies, said that food and food related issues determine the issue of this planet.

There were also calls to introduce family farming a course in school curriculum in a bid to promote a sustainable model of agriculture that respects the environment, cultural identity and animal welfare and supports the right of each community to decide what to plant, produce and eat.

Petrini also asked multinationals to stop pushing the world into secret treaties, insisting that these treaties must be debated.

“Trade agreements are not private property because they affect the local farmer hence they belong to everyone. We must strive as the world to ensure that we support the family as the basis of food production,”

The event started ten years ago has received the attention of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the UN agency for food.