February 19, 2015
Food for all
The study “Foreign direct investment to agricultural-food network in India and Sub-Saharan Africa”, was published in January 2015 by the German organisation Bischöfliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR, Mendel University in Brno and Caritas Czech Republic. The study and a research colloquium held in February are just some of the activities carried out through the EcoFairTrade project, a project focused on the rights to food.
“The way food is manufactured, sold and consumed (for example the increasing number of processed food) has changed dramatically in the past thirty years,” says the study.
The ways in which those involved in food rights obtain investment in the food-agricultural sector have also changed. Speculative purchases of food and land have increased globally over the past 10 years and foreign direct investment to agriculture in developing countries has also shown growth. This study contributes to the discussion about these topics, especially in areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa and India.
Colloquium in Brno
The two-day research colloquium for both international and Czech professionals and students was held at the beginning of April 2015 at Mendel University in Brno. The following people contributed to the discussion:
- Karin Vaneker,a Dutch author of a scholarly publication focused on the history of ingredients and their current usage in the world. Vaneker’s work has focused chiefly on developing countries. She has been involved in research on arum plants and the possibilities of their usage in countries throughout the Global South.
- Christina Schiavoni,a PhD. student at the prestigious Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in the Haag. She presented her study on the effect of investment from large-scale farmers on small farmers in South Tanzania. .
- Christine Chemnitz, an expert from Heinrich Boell Fund on sustainable and fair agricultural production and consumption. Chemnitz introduced current trends in agricultural production and policies regarding the access to food production and consumption in developing countries.
Students from the Czech Republic, Germany and Croatia also joined the discussion. They presented their research objectives and activities regarding the rights to food, food self-sufficiency and issues facing small farmers in countries in the Global South. Their research was supported by grants from Caritas Czech Republic and other partners of the EcoFairTrade Project. The students collected their data from a large sample of countries including Kenya, Myanmar and the Philippines. Students from Ghana and Uganda also contributed to the discussion.
The EcoFairTrade Project is financed by the European Commission, Heinrich Boell Stiftung and the MISEREOR organization based in Germany. This includes funding for the publication of the study, hosting of the colloquium, and grants made available to students.
Publication is available here.
