Broad German alliance calls for an end to hunger

By Josephine Koch, Simone Ramones and Roman Herre

Worldwide, 673 million people currently suffer from chronic hunger – and the trend is rising. According to UN forecasts, without a radical turnaround, this figure will rise to 840 million people by 2030. Yet in 2015, when the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, UN heads of state and government leaders agreed that hunger be eradicated by then.

Hunger as a result of failed policies

Hunger and malnutrition are not a law of nature. They are the result of failed political decisions and unjust structures. Previous approaches, which focused primarily on increasing productivity and promoting private investment, have proven to be insufficient and often counterproductive. There is enough food available to feed everyone in the world. Global grain reserves are also significantly better stocked than they were ten years ago. The German government is therefore called upon to take decisive and concrete steps to eliminate unjust structures and contribute to an ecological, health-promoting and democratically designed transformation of food systems.

Focusing on human rights

The alliance presents eleven pragmatic steps to this end: fundamentally, the human rights of those most affected – especially small farmers, women, children, Indigenous people and workers – must be consistently protected and strengthened. Effective approaches require the participation of those groups. Inclusive formats such as the UN Committee on World Food Security in Rome/Italy show how this can be achieved. The current plans in Gemany and in other countries to align development cooperation even more closely with the economic interests of donor countries contradicts this approach.

In addition, the primacy of human rights over debt servicing must be recognised. Countries often spend twice as much money on debt repayment as they do on healthcare, education and social security combined. Yet the international community has committed itself to ensuring basic social protection for all people. The German government should work to ensure that the international community provides more financial resources for the expansion of long-term social security systems. It should also critically review its financing instruments, such as development funds, for tax avoidance. In addition, many people still receive too little money for their work to feed themselves and their families. The German government should therefore advocate, among other things, that the Supply Chain Act and the EU Supply Chain Directive remain fully in place.

A human rights-based anti-hunger policy also requires gender equality. All over the world, it is mainly women who ensure that their families are fed – yet they often remain structurally and financially disadvantaged. To ensure a future without hunger and oppression, the German government should therefore advocate for equal participation and decision-making power for women and queer people in the EU and internationally.

With its policy paper, the alliance calls on the German
government to realign its strategies for combating global hunger. 

Sustainable agroecology instead of pseudo-solutions from the agro-industrial sector

Today, a full two thirds of the global harvest is produced from just nine plant species. This reduces the ability of agriculture to adapt to climate change and increases the risk of global crop failures. Instead of patents on plants, plant parts and DNA sequences, traditional varieties should be financially supported, and the “farmers' rights” and the right to seeds enshrined in the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Seed Treaty should finally be enforced.

The German government should also take genuine climate protection measures instead of promoting pseudo-solutions or partial solutions driven by agribusiness and technology, such as an industrial bioeconomy or international emissions trading. The downsides of the latter include the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides that are harmful to the climate and the environment, and they displace local food supplies. Agroecology, on the other hand, focuses on diversity, natural cycles, resilient local food systems and fair working conditions. The German government should therefore urgently change course – away from billions in subsidies for industrial agriculture and towards targeted support for sustainable farms.

Self-determination instead of dependency

Corporations and trade agreements often determine what is grown and eaten – to the detriment of local farmers, fishermen and consumers. The forced dismantling of protective tariffs and radical free trade policies have made many countries in the Global South dependent on food imports and volatile global agricultural markets with food and land speculation. This has destroyed local food systems and displaced small-scale farmers and livestock breeders who produced for the local market.

At the same time, the power of multinational corporations has increased. Fair trade rules are therefore needed – without special rights of action for corporations – as well as protection against land and water grabbing through the enforcement of UN-certified water and land rights, the redistribution of land and the de-privatisation of water. People in the Global South must be granted the right to define their own agricultural, fisheries and food policies and to help shape the framework conditions for trade policy.

Sanctioning hunger as a weapon of war

And finally, more relevant than ever, in conflicts such as those in Sudan, Gaza and Yemen, hunger is systematically used as a weapon – through blockades, destruction of infrastructure and obstruction of humanitarian aid. The German government should take more decisive action against these developments, tighten sanctions, strengthen the protection and financial resources of aid organisations, and, furthermore, expand international cooperation and diplomatic initiatives.

As the United Nations has also noted, hunger is one of the world's greatest problems, but it is also one that can be solved. Germany should take more decisive action in this area.

Josephine Koch is co-coordinator of the Agriculture and Food Working Group of the Forum for Environment and Development.

Simone Ramones is programme coordinator at the World Peace Service and co-coordinator of the Agriculture and Food Working Group of the Forum for Environment and Development.

Roman Herre is agricultural advisor at FIAN Germany and member of the Agriculture and Food Working Group of the Forum for Environment and Development.

Contact: r.herre(at) fian.de