World Food Day Conference: « Food & Power »

On World Food Day, AEFJN took part in a meeting organised by Foodbridge and the Federation of Anglophone Africans in Belgium entitled “Food & Power: The Hunger Games in Sub-Saharan African Politics”.  Gino Brunswijck from the Secretariat spoke about the consequences for family farming of the increasing involvement of big transnational businesses in the food system. He offered insights into the land grab phenomenon, its impact on African peoples and into the international policies that are promoting a purely industrial agriculture. At the end of the meeting, Gino put forward alternatives to this productivity approach that big business and international organisations have adopted. First on the list would be the involvement of the peasant farmers in the development of public policies and by support for them by way of infrastructure, funding and market access.