More than 850 million people in the world today – more than four hundred times the total population of Australia – are chronically hungry. A further two billion people live on the brink of ‘food insecurity’, a situation where “people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives.”

The international requirement for an adequate diet is 2100 kilocalories (or calories as they are more commonly known). This equates to one bowl of rice with beans per day. A direct relationship exists between food consumption levels and poverty.

The UN Millennium Development Goals recognise the link and have prioritised it as their first goal in the fifteen year plan to tackle extreme poverty; Goal 1; Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. www.un.org/millenniumgoals

Caritas Australia is firmly committed to the MDGs and as such, works on a number of levels to build food security.

Examples of this can be seen in the recent devastation that ensued from the South Asia Floods. More than 17 million people from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan have been directly affected. Caritas’ response has included supplying food aid to tens of thousands of those affected across the region. Supplying food aid though does not ensure food security. Giving people a few meals does not solve the long term need for sustainable access to a balanced diet.

Image by SDRC Janakpur

Thus much more of Caritas Australia’s work is supporting projects that promote sustainable agriculture. Caritas partners across the globe are building the capacity of local communities to increase their production of food.

Sustainability is rooted in the concept of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As a principle, ‘sustainability’ is an aim that underpins much of the work of Caritas Australia and our partners.

In many of the countries in which Caritas Australia works, there are hundreds of millions of people who rely on subsistence agriculture to provide their regular food and nutrition.

Hence, improving the agricultural practices and output of the rural poor will therefore improve their diet and also their productivity. Increased crop production can produce surpluses which in turn can be sold at market, thereby increasing family incomes.

With increases in income, possibilities of education and better health care are able to directly increase people’s quality of life. Therefore by promoting sustainable agriculture practices and improving productivity, Caritas Australia can continue to tackle the structures that trap people in poverty.

Rights for the most vulnerable
Caritas Australia works in partnership with the Asian Partnership for Human Development (APHD) in Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Rights programs.

Results of such programs in Nepal, where an Integrated Crop and Pest Management program has been implemented, has seen a dramatic rise in rice productivity by over 50% for the 1394 farmers who took part. In addition the crop yields were many times greater than average yields across Nepal. Crop productivity in hills areas increased from a national average of 2.85 tons per hectare to 6.33 tons and a staggering 7.7 tons on the plains. These incredible gains made by using organic fertilisers and pesticides and better crop integration are being replicated in other Caritas-supported programs.

Sustainable agriculture also has significant health benefits for local farmers. In Caritas Australia supported projects in Vietnam, recently visited by Asia Program Officer Kate Teys, participants noted significant improvements in health due to the reduction in chemical use. Ms Teys noted, “The health impacts of pesticides have been very damaging for farmers in Vietnam. Not having directions for use in local languages and access to appropriate spraying equipment has further increased the adverse health impacts. Since the shifts to organic fertilisers there has been a decrease in the incidence of skin and respiratory diseases, headaches and anecdotal suggestions of a reduction in lung cancers.”

In addition to training local farmers about the merits of improving crop yields and marketing practices through environmentally friendly means and reducing their reliance on chemical fertilisers in favour of organic ones, there is also an important element which goes beyond pure agricultural production in the work of Caritas’ partners.

The issue of the control of seeds and patents for seeds takes local farmers, who are often illiterate, into the world of international trade negotiations. Many of the traditional seeds that farmers use, breed and re-use are under threat from the global agricultural companies in their efforts to build their market share.

The Farmers Rights aspect of the APHD program is bringing farmers across Asia together to educate, train and build capacity in their ability to stand up for their rights against these massive corporations.

Dr Haridas, K.V. from Caritas India said, “Farmers have been adversely affected by soil, water and land degradation. This is resulting in disempowerment and even suicide of many thousands of farmers in Southern India.”

APHD regularly meets with local farmers across Asia, keeping them up to date with the latest sustainable agricultural developments and importantly, linking them in with changes and pressure points to ensure they can continue to improve their productive capacity and maintain their control over their own development futures.

In addition APHD lobbies with the international trading bodies on behalf of its members and farmers right across Asia. Yuri Munsayac, the Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers Rights coordinator with APHD made an important contribution to the recent World Trade Organisation talks. Mr Munsayac, from the Philippines, will be in Australia for the upcoming APEC meeting to be held in Sydney in September, to advocate for the region’s small farmers.

Building food security is crucial to tackling global poverty. Caritas Australia is working with local partners to promote food security at the grassroots level but also recognises the important role in tackling the structures that limit access to markets. To be truly effective in promoting food security and living in a more just world we need to continue to advocate for the needs of small scale farmers from the local level right up to the international trade negotiations.