Indian Farmers Protest at Governments “Unsustainable” Agribusiness Meet

Farmers from South India organized a parallel platform and protest at Karnataka governments Global Agri-business and food-processing Meet of 2011. This was Karnataka governments attempt to lure foreign corporate investment in the agriculture sector of the state- starting from seeds to retailing and food processing, from dairy to fishing and apiculture. Farmers movements of south India members of LVC have been opposing the corporate onslaught on India’s and global agriculture. These agribusiness companies they say are not interested in feeding people, preserving the ecology and biodiversity or generating livelihoods. Their main aim is to patent nature for themselves, industrialize farming for exports, monopolize nature and make farmers and people dependent on them for food and farming. Their primary concern is the generating profits while the continue to cause climate change and increase hunger. Ironically the Karnataka government called it “sustainable” agribusiness summit, when agribusiness promotes a type of agriculture that is far from sustainable.

Globally as a result of the peasants movement, environmentalists, economic justice movement, and others fighting for safe food, the UN and other bodies have already agreed that in the future, the only sustainable way to feed the world and prevent climate change is to promote small farmers and let them continue to feed the world. Industrial agriculture on the other hand has already proven completely unsustainable. More than half the worlds population relies on agriculture and the worlds food is produced primarily by small farmers, who also protect nature and biodiversity and minimize climate change.

Below is the link to an article among other media reports documenting the protest of the farmers who tried to disrupt this open selling out of their livelihoods by the Governent of Karnataka.

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