Wednesday, May 28, 2014

John Vidal — Corporations and wealthy elites now control more than 75 percent of the world’s farmland

The world’s food supplies are at risk because farmland is becoming rapidly concentrated in the hands of wealthy elites and corporations, a study has found. 
Small farmers, the UN says, grow 70% of the world’s food but a new analysis of government data suggests the land which they control is shrinking every year as mega-farms and plantations squeeze them onto less than 25% of the world’s available farmland, says international land-use group Grain. These mega-farms are less productive in terms of amount of food they produce per area of land, the report argues.

“Small farms have less than a quarter of the world’s agricultural land – or less than 20% excluding China and India. Such farms are getting smaller all the time, and if this trend persists they might not be able to continue to feed the world,” says the report which draws on government statistics and calls for a stop on land grabbing by corporations.
The Raw Story
Corporations and wealthy elites now control more than 75 percent of the world’s farmland
John Vidal, The Guardian

Capitalism leads to consolidation, and consolidation to monopoly capital.

1 comment:

Ryan Harris said...

The transportation sector should be disrupted widely too as automation kicks in the next couple year. Initially all the technology will be patented and expensive and only available to companies like Amazon and Google. (Democrat contributors) The millions of delivery drivers are paid pretty well -- one of the last places blue collar work has high wages. It should virtually destroy the Teamsters membership. Not as important as food and farmland but close because transportation makes up a big portion of the cost of food! And when a few companies already control the distribution...and then they control the transportation and the production...