Dear Friends! Here is a new edition of VMR!
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FIMARC FÉDÉRATION INTERNATIONALE DES MOUVEMENTS D’ADULTES RURAUX CATHOLIQUES
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF RURAL ADULT CATHOLIC MOVEMENTS
FEDERACION INTERNACIONAL DE MOVIMIENTOS DE ADULTOS RURALES CATOLICOS
FEDERACAO INTERNACIONAL DOS MOVIMENTOS DE ADULTOS RURAIS CATOLICOS
Facing the Food Crisis: Decrease
In many areas of the world we hear about dramatic stories caused by the world food crisis. Despite
the fact that farmers are the ones who produce the food, they are the ones who most suffer from
hunger. The price of basic food products are constantly on the increase, e.g. the 25 million poor
farmers who suffer from increased rice prices.
FIMARC, the International Federation of Adult Rural Catholic Movements, gathered in Assesse
(Belgium), with representatives from the 4 continents, analyzed and reflected on the world food
crisis.
Natural resources are in the world for the development of human beings. Natural resources are,
however, increasingly being privatized and are mainly now in the hands of transnational companies
– supported by international finance organizations such as the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF
– who manage them without taking the main objective into account : feeding the whole of mankind.
The land used for monocrop production is extending for the production of agrofuels which the multinational
companies mainly present as an alternative to fossil fuels and as a solution for the environment.
However, this is bringing about the destruction of numerous forests and traditional crops
in order to produce ethanol or similar fuels, in huge areas of Africa, Asia and America, due to their
land concentration.
We are moving towards a world which is upside down: cars, not people, will be needing to consume
the yearly cereal production.
We suggest as an alternative farmer and family agriculture that contributes to guaranteeing food
sovereignty for millions of people. This agriculture respects nature, soils, water, promotes biodiversity,
local development and puts the people within their communities at the heart of the system.
In a world with a consumerist minority and a majority who lives on the threshold of poverty, it is necessary
to propose an alternative. To the neoliberal system – only measured by the growth indicator
– we propose a different lifestyle : decrease – promoting responsible consumption in order to
maintain the values of justice and re-distribution, within the framework of solidarity economy, a model
which secures the principle of food for all, respects diversity of cultures, local initiatives and the
rural world.
Assesse, 5 May 2008















