Bellagio Library/

Small Farmers Secure Food: Survival Food Security, the World's Kitchen and the Critical Role of Small Farmers

By Lindsay Falvey

Lindsay Falvey is an Australian agricultural scientist and author renowned for his contributions to sustainable agriculture and rural development. He has held careers in business, government and academia and is currently an Australian Commissioner for International Agricultural Research, among other governance and advisory roles. In his writing, he focuses on topics concerning agricultural science and philosophy, religion, international development and spiritual development. He was a resident at the Bellagio Center in 1996 and 2010, studying at the intersection of spiritualism and agricultural development.

A few words with Lindsay

“I had a dinner with The Rockefeller Foundation that connected me to my old colleague, Professor Vo Tong Xuan.”

A Quote from Small Farmers Secure Food

“Secure food supply is nothing short of national security.”

Synopsis

Small farmers tilling handkerchief-sized farms feed more than half the world. They thus maintain national stability, forestall conflict and reduce emigration. Secure food supply is nothing short of national security. Such facts define the poor world, yet are misunderstood by nations that influence international development. Practitioners know that small farmers’ yields can exceed those of large farms. They also know that food security means guaranteeing enough food to survive as a national priority unrelated to free trade. Good governments of poor countries practice this to avoid food shortages and anarchy. Food always comes first – that is the message of this powerful book. History is replete with failed societies that lost sight of the centrality of food and farmers. Today, wealthy country delusions of isolation from instability in the rest of the world open everyone to an unprecedented risk. These matters are, in this book, refocused on the essentials of life, global security and peace. Polemic in parts, it shows the situation as it is.

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