How the Green Revolution Happened: Food Programs and Policies Undermine Food Security

Yves here. This short but very important article by Jomo explains how the Green Revolution eliminated food security as it increased productivity.

The main reason is that this effort was initially led by the government. It was then later used by international Big Ag, who pushed the Green Revolution strategies beyond the point of maximum profit for the participating nations (this would include the US but which is thought to have worse consequences than the poorer nations).

Remember that neoliberalism prizes efficiency above all else. Security is not working properly. It requires setting buffers and other breakpoints that prevent the shock from spreading too quickly through what would otherwise be an overused system. The world is about to learn a disastrous lesson in the blinding costs of eliminating life-sustaining defenses that create conflict and cost in nature.

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram, a former professor of economics, he was the Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations for Economic Development, and received the Wassily Leontief Award for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan, and Nurina Malek, a graduate of economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison-Madicel Research on Fellowship, at the Novlezana research center, currently working at the research center Novlezana-Madiceel. Rodriguez, Director of the Center for Local History and Culture, Universidad de Zamboanga, Philippines. Originally published on Jomo’s website

Multinational agribusiness is increasingly shaping global food policies. Saying they will better address the latest food security issues, they want to benefit more from new practices in food production, processing and distribution.

Postwar Food Security

Food policies in the Global South have changed significantly since the Second World War (WWII), especially after countries in Asia and Africa gained independence, often after facing wartime food shortages.

The early post-WWII era and the post-colonial era saw a new emphasis on food security, especially following severe food shortages before, during, and after the war.

Many died of starvation as millions became malnourished. The Bengal famine during the Indian war killed more than three million people as Churchill put British imperial and military interests first.

After WWII, the colonial powers armed the rations for counterinsurgency and population control purposes, especially to overcome popular opposition to imperialists.

Many of the dead were not casualties of war but victims of deliberate starvation. Not surprisingly, food security efforts became a popular policy priority after WWII.

Western-controlled research organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), had a major impact, creating and developing post-colonial food security policies.

Green Revolution

Community research centers were established in developing countries, many of which are linked to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

The Green Revolution initially focused on increasing the yield of wheat, corn and rice. These efforts increased grain production unevenly during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Malthusian logic was that the increase in life expectancy meant that population growth outpaced the increase in food supply, given the limited amount of arable land.

As government funding from rich countries dwindled, powerful corporate interests and philanthropy gained even more influence. They often promoted their own interests using the money of farmers, consumers and the environment.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was established in the 1970s, channeling a small portion of windfall petroleum revenues to food and agricultural development.

Soon after, the US changed its Public Law (PL) 480 program to the World Food Program (WFP). Therefore, some FAO activities were funded and donor-controlled UN programs were also set up in Rome.

Embarrassingly, the FAO report found that WFP food was being withheld from Somalia to avoid capture by the ‘Islamic’ militia As-Shabaab. Chatham House also estimated two to three hundred thousand deaths as a result.

Neoliberalism

Counter-revolutionary opposition to national development efforts in the 1980s undermined the government’s fiscal power, import substitution, and food security efforts.

Neoliberal structural adjustment policies involving economic liberalization were introduced in highly indebted developing countries, especially in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Global North has promoted trade liberalization, undermining prior protectionism and support for food and industrial production.

Powerful food conglomerates fund and promote food security indicators found in other countries, undermining FAO and other community research and advocacy efforts.

Countries that do not produce any food at all were at the top, as civil society organizations tried to resist their indicators, which focused mainly on food governance.

Trump 2.0

A new phase has begun with the re-election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States.

Trump 2.0 weapons of economic policies and agreements, including food supply, have dire consequences for countries trying to assert some independence.

Economic and military threats have been used for a variety of purposes, including economic, political, and other ‘strategic’ purposes. Costs and penalties are now part of a wide range of such weapons that are used for various purposes.

Governments have even been threatened with tariffs and sanctions for their own reasons. Trump is calling for the release of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro following his failed coup after losing the last presidential election.

The use of such economic weapons has exacerbated global economic instability, as Trump’s various economic and military policy threats exacerbate deflationary pressures.

The US controlled WFP was used for a long time to provide food aid selectively. But there is little sympathy left in Washington for food security concerns in other nations.

To cut federal government spending, Trump has cut official development and humanitarian aid, including food aid, and the US remains the world’s largest food exporter.

Still, Trump may take unexpected new steps to boost farmworkers’ wages to gain electoral support ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The food aid arsenal took a dramatic turn during Israel’s siege of Gaza, by limiting access to food to allow for the cleansing of selected ethnic groups.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has lured hungry civilians to its food centers, prompting hungry families to be shot in search of food.

Poverty is defined primarily by lack of access to adequate food, while FAO considers income to be the primary determinant of food insecurity.

Although the World Bank’s poverty measures have continued to decline, FAO indicators suggest a reversal of previous progress in food security over the past decade.

These conflicting situations not only highlight the problems in measuring and understanding poverty and food security but also suggest that the resulting policies are ill-informed, if not worse.