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international day of farmers' struggles
April 17 marks the International Day of Farmer and Peasant Struggles. It is a day when we recognize the sacrifices of smallholder producer farmers who tend the garden and nourish the world.
In the Pacific, subsistence farming on land and subsistence fishing remains a foundation of livelihoods across our sea of islands, as well as a source of income. Climate change induced extreme weather (storms, cyclones/hurricanes, droughts, floods, etc.) and salt-water inundation from rising seas has already had a major impact on our plantations and farms.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for farmers in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon (English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions). About 75% of the population earns their livelihood through farming. Many of these farmers are women who produce the bulk of food eaten in most households across the regions and beyond. Farmers in these regions are faced with many challenges from the impacts of climate change and the current Anglophone crisis.
The Northeast region is one of Nigeria’s agricultural centers, producing cereals, vegetables and livestock. However, the increasing incidence of Boko Haram violence there has devastated agricultural production in the region. People have had their property destroyed, livelihoods disrupted, and have been displaced from their ancestral homes and farmlands.
In South Sudan, nearly 6.1 million were severely food insecure in 2018, with 1.7 million people living on the edge of famine. Civil war has been raging there since 2013, destroying homes, lives and livelihoods. As people have had to flee their homes to escape violence, they have also had to abandon their fields and farming activities.
As I travel around the world and visit farmers and other agricultural partners, my appreciation of farmers and respect for them grows ever stronger. Every day I learn more about what farming represents, not only for farmers but also for all of us as consumers. We depend daily on farmers and farms yet often do not get glimpses of their daily realities or struggles. Many farmers find themselves living in poverty and being affected by hunger. In 2015, three United Nations agencies reported that most of the 795 million people worldwide who don’t get enough to eat are in fact farmers.
April 17, 2017 Small-scale farmers—women and men—feed us all. Their labor keeps us alive. They care for the soil, the seeds, the land and the waters. They make up nearly… Read more »
Minute for Mission: International Day of Farmers’ Struggles April 17, 2016 Small-scale farmers—women and men—feed us all. Their labor keeps us alive. They care for the soil, the seeds,… Read more »
