Politics of Data
Submitted by Veronica Villa on
Submitted by Veronica Villa on
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
Autonomy in the Face of Agtech is a set of tools designed to synthesise the insights of social movements and civil society communicators and offer ways to respond quickly and effectively to corporate agtech narratives.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
September 20, 2023 - A report published today by the international research organization ETC Group casts serious doubts on seaweed as an emerging “blue carbon” industry. Their research shows that mass seaweed plantations pose a major threat to marine ecosystems and are unlikely to capture or permanently store significant quantities of carbon.[1]
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
As African heads of state travel to Dakar for the African Development Bank Group’s Dakar 2 African Food Summit, 83 African and international civil society organisations have signed a collective statement opposing the summit’s “climate smart agriculture” approach.
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
Our new report explores how the climate crisis is being turned into an investment opportunity for financial actors, and how agricultural digitalisation is facilitating the commodification of climate into assets that can be traded. It highlights cases from Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
Submitted by Rafael Ramos on
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
These recorded webinars (held on 29 & 30 June 2022) provide an introduction to the digitalisation of food systems from seed to stomach (also known as the 4.0 revolution in food and agriculture). You can view them on YouTube and we are compiling additional materials: please find all relevant links below.
Session 1: Power and technology: the digital food chain | By ETC Group
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
A debate has emerged as to what proportion of the global food supply is produced by small-scale food producers - one that may have big implications for policy-making addressing hunger. Civil society organisations and peasant movements have estimated that around 70% of the world is fed by small-scale farmers and other peasants. However, two recent academic papers are claiming that small farm producers really only feed about one third of the world’s population.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
Digital agriculture, as being proposed by giant agribusiness and data companies, should come with a warning for farmers, farm workers and food vendors. Read our blog below to find out about why in more detail (with examples) and about alternative approaches (also with some real world, feasible examples). But if you are short of time, check out our bullet point ‘what to watch out for’ summary:
Farmers:
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
By ETC Group
The USA and the United Arab Emirates both have vested interests in finding ways to justify continuing to extract and sell their vast supplies of oil. It is perhaps not coincidental then, that these two countries are planning a high-profile launch for what is likely to become a controversial climate and agtech initiative, “Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C)”, at UNFCCC’s COP26 in Glasgow in November.
Submitted by Veronica Villa on
This September 27, groups call on movements and organizations committed to climate, environmental and social justice to sign statement unequivocally rejecting “Nature-Based Solutions” and all offset schemes.
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
In solidarity with all the peasant farmers, small-scale food producers, Indigenous Peoples, NGOs, agricultural workers, family farmers and researchers who boycotted the Food System Summit we blacked out our website for the duration of the Food System Summit (FSS).
The rejection of the Food System Summit (FSS) by so many people, activists, organisations and movements around the world shows that the defence of food sovereignty remains strong.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
To oppose the corporate hijacking of the Food Systems Summit, the people’s counter-mobilization offers an opportunity for civil society to connect their struggles and fight together for a better world based on mutual respect, social justice, equity, solidarity and harmony with Mother Earth.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
Our latest communiqué looks at how the Food Systems Summit (FSS) planned for the fall of 2021 is not about changing food systems, but about spinning a story that props up and expands the industrial food chain at the expense of other food systems. The FSS’s proponents argue that the “food system” is broken, that population growth and climate change mean that we will not be able to feed everyone, and that only new technological developments can save us.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
Giant corporations are driving significant and far-reaching changes in agriculture, food processing and retail all over the world. In collaboration with Freehand Studio in Nairobi, we’re launching 'Big Brother is Coming to the Farm: the digital takeover of food', an animation about the #BattleForTheFutureOfFood. It challenges the dominant industrial techno-fix narrative being promoted by the Food Systems Summit process and holds up food sovereignty and agroecology as an alternative.
Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
First, what do the next 25 years have in store with “agribusiness-as-usual”? The keys of the food system are handed over to data platforms, private equity firms, and e-commerce giants, putting the food security of billions at the mercy of high-risk, AI-controlled farming systems, and accelerating environmental breakdown. But what if the initiative is reclaimed by civil society and social movements?
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
In this story, we follow a young peasant called Jack up a data-vine that leads into the Cloud Giant’s techno-castle, where he finds out what happens when he plugs his farm into the glittering apps and the dazzling promises of precision agriculture.
Submitted by Laura Dunn on
En las últimas décadas, la forma en que las personas cultivan, comparten y comen alimentos en todo el mundo se ha convertido en la historia de dos sistemas alimentarios en conflicto, a los que llamamos Cadena alimentaria industrial y Red alimentaria campesina. La tensión entre estos dos sistemas es la base de nuestro nuevo juego ¡Disrupción! Una batalla por el futuro de la alimentación.
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