Published May 25th, 2009
Women share experiences and perspectives on the food crisis
[The following is from the flyer of ISIS about its new publication to which AFA contributed articles as follow: "Pursuing Organic Farming in Cambodia" (by Kong Sokchhoin, FNN); "A Case for Cassava in East Nusa Tenggara" (by Nuruddin); "When Survival of the Self is the Survival of Others" (by Ryoko Tsuboi, AINOUKAI); "Bracing the Burdens of Bulan" (by Mela Gipanao, LAKAMBINI/PAKISAMA); "Accessing and Accounting ASEAN" (by Esther Penunia, AFA).]
In 2008, the world was alarmed by the shortage of food especially staples such as wheat, rice and corn. This crunch was further aggravated by the soaring prices of fuel and now, by the gripping economic and climate crises.
But the food crisis is not the result of the unavailability of food sources. Instead it exposed the flaws of the neoliberal model that has created various forms of scarcity amid abundance in the name of profit — resulting to captive politics, massive poverty, environmental degradation and even cultural homogenisation.
Moreover, the food crisis has left of its mark on women’s lives and bodies, which borne much of the pressure to access the already limited resources for the poor and provide for their families.
