Open letter to world leaders ahead of COP27

Open letter to world leaders ahead of COP27

Dear World Leaders,

The surge in hunger over the last year has exposed the fragility of the global food system. It is highly vulnerable to shocks – whether from Covid, conflict, or the climate – and ill-equipped for a world where extreme heat, drought, and floods are the new normal, even if we limit global heating to 1.5C.  Building a food system that can feed the world on a hot planet must be a priority for COP27.

Any plan to adapt our food system must start with small-scale family farmers and producers. We are critical for global food security, producing as much as 80% of the food consumed in regions such as Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. However, decades of underinvestment and an unfair global food system run by and for powerful agri-businesses means we often lack the infrastructure, technology, resources, and democratic space to cope with ever more extreme and erratic weather.

Globally just 1.7% of climate finance is spent supporting the efforts of small-scale producers to adapt. At a time of rising food insecurity, it is crucial that COP27 decision-makers recognize the important role we play in feeding the world and significantly increase the amount of adaptation finance available to us now and in the long term.

COP27 must also put its weight behind a shift to more sustainable food production, including agroecological practices. The expertise we have accumulated over generations, and the conclusion of the International Panel on Climate Change is that diversity is key to food security. Growing a wider variety of local crops, mixing crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, reducing chemical inputs, and building strong connections to local markets build resilience.

Beyond COP27, small-scale producers and the shift to sustainable food production must be a political priority. This means involving us in decisions that affect our livelihoods. It means re-focusing the $611 billion spent subsidizing food production every year, much of it in support of industrial farming that is harmful to people and the environment. It also means addressing the historical injustices and inequalities that plague our food system: the concentration of land ownership that is squeezing farmers onto ever smaller parcels of land or forcing them off their land altogether, and the discrimination which means women, who make up more than half of all farmers, own less than 20% of all land.

Shifting away from industrial agriculture will also help reduce emissions. The current food system is responsible for 34% of greenhouse gases and is fueling a crisis that could make almost a third of agricultural land unsuitable for food production by the end of the century, yet it is consistently overlooked in climate negotiations.

As you gather in Egypt our message is simple.  Learn the lessons of 2022.  Listen to the 350 million small-scale producers and family farmers in our networks. Work with us to lay the foundations for a stronger food system that will feed humanity for all generations to come.

Sincerely,