Growing evidence against the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition
Type: Campaign briefings
Date: 2 July 2015
Campaigns: Food
Through the G7’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, known as the New Alliance, the Department for International Development (DfID) is using £600 million of aid to facilitate corporate investment in Africa’s food systems. In return for this aid, African countries have had to make changes in their land, seed and trade rules, handing control over to big business at the expense of small-scale farmers.
Corporations involved in the New Alliance argue that they provide responsible win-win investment for local farmers by increasing infrastructure, markets and employment opportunities. Evidence from across the African continent suggests these investments are having a negative impact on small-scale farmers. These farmers have lost access to resources such as water, seeds and land as corporations take control. This is a problem because small-scale farmers are the key to addressing food security in Africa. They produce 70% of the continent’s food.
The New Alliance model has met widespread opposition across the world as hundreds of farmers and civil society organisations have called for its immediate suspension.