1. Food
The Broken Food System
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.

2. The broken food system
This presentation is about the world’s broken food system.
What is the ‘food system’?
The food system means all the different jobs and activities involved in feeding the population: in other words the growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of all food and food-related items. It also includes all the laws, rules and regulations involved in running this food system.
We rely on the food system working well to provide all of the world’s people with the food they need to thrive and survive.
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.

3. However the food system isn’t working
However the food system isn’t working. Approximately one out of every nine people living on the earth don’t have enough food to eat. The actual number is changing all the time, but in 2015 it was 795 million people.
Statistics from FAO:
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.

4. What do you need to grow and eat?
So let’s try to understand why the food system is broken.
The first thing that might sound strange is that many of the 795 million hungry people around the world are actually growing food to make a living. Let’s put ourselves in these people’s shoes for a moment. Imagine you are one of the 795 million.
Growing up in a rural village, your parents, just like their parents before them have taught you everything you need to know to work as a farmer. You have early morning starts and work long hours but are proud to be able to say that you do an honest job. Making sure there is always enough to eat for you and your family isn’t always easy, but you want to afford to send your children to school and make sure they are happy and healthy.
This is how the food system should work.

5. The right weather Tools, seeds, etc Money to buy food Land
And as a farmer what are the things you need to grow food and eat food? Give the young people an opportunity to respond before revealing the slides. [CLICK]
The right weather – rain, sun in normal expected patterns. [CLICK]
Resources – seeds, tools, fertilisers etc. [CLICK]
Land – to grow your food upon, the more land you have, the more you can produce. [CLICK]
Money - And you need this too. Why? To pay for school, medicine, shelter and food. Yes. And food. You grow your own food but you sell it to make money so you need to buy food to eat too.
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.
Land
Money to buy food 5

6. Why might you struggle to grow food?
But recently you have been struggling to produce enough food. You’re not making as much money and you and your family don’t have enough to eat.
Why is this? 6

7. Climate change Lack of investment Land grabs Food price increases
Think of what you need and think what might be stopping you from getting it.
The right weather, what’s getting in the way? [CLICK] Climate change is causing increased extreme weather events such as floods and drought.  
Tools, seeds etc. You need help with having the best seeds and tools. What’s getting in the way? [CLICK] The government is helping big businesses and ‘intensive farmers’ but they’re not investing in small scale farms.
Land. You need your land but you risk losing it, why? [CLICK] Through land grabs, where a big company buys the land that you’re using to grow food.
Food . You make money to buy food but it’s becoming more and more difficult – why? [CLICK] Food is becoming more expensive. The pile of rice on the left in the photograph shows what your money buys in one year, and on the right, what you would have got for the same money one year before.
Think how all of this is affecting you.
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.
Land grabs
Food price increases

8. What can be done to help?
Several campaigns such as Oxfam’s GROW campaign and The Zero Hunger UN challenge highlight that the global food system is broken, but what can be done to fix it? 8

9. Cut the carbon and adapt
Invest in small farms
Climate change– what can be done? [CLICK] Rich countries need to help poorer countries adapt to the changing climate (picture of Bangladeshi farmers with floating gardens to overcome flooding).
[CLICK] Investment in farming – what can we do about big farmers getting so much money and smaller farmers getting very little? [CLICK] Rich countries, companies and international institutions need to invest more money in small scale farmers.
Land Grabs – what can be done? [CLICK] Big companies have to stop buying up land currently used by small farmers. Internationally people need to stand together and say this isn’t right.
Food prices – what can be done? [CLICK] Governments need to work together to keep prices under control.
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.
Stop land grabs
Food price stability

10. Meeting the challenge
You might be thinking – this is too much, there is no way we can do anything about these problems. But we know that when governments are serious about tackling a problem, major changes can happen.
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.

11. Several countries have proved this
Several countries have proved this. In Brazil the proportion of people living in hunger almost halved between 1992 and Why did this occur? Ultimately it comes down to government taking the problem seriously, supported by a strong citizens’ movement led by people living in poverty.
The Brazilian Government initiative Zero Hunger, launched in 2003, consisted of 50 linked initiatives ranging from providing cash for poor mothers to special support for small-scale food producers.
Zero Hunger was the result of 20 years of campaigning from Brazilian civil society and social movements. They organised campaigns and challenged the status quo, electing politicians, such as former President Lula, with the vision to make a difference.
Photo accessed 2015:

12. WHAT CAN YOU DO ? Inform Broadcast Influence What can you do?
You can inform: teach your peers about the issue.
You can broadcast: raise awareness and think about what you can do to make a difference.
You can influence: get decision makers (like politicians, business leaders) to make changes.
You can find more examples of action in the accompanying Food Action Guide available on
Photo: All photograph credits on Slide 13.

13. Thank You!
Please note all images used in this presentation are provided for use in educational institutions, and not for reproduction or reuse without prior written permission from Oxfam.
Images courtesy of:
Karen Robinson/Oxfam
Rajendra Shaw/Oxfam
Nguyen Quoc Thuan /Oxfam
Tom Greeenwood/Oxfam
Crispin Hughes/Oxfam
EPA/STR
Oxfam Novib
Caroline Gluck/Oxfam
Gilvan Barreto/Oxfam
Toby Adamson/Oxfam
Jim Holmes/Oxfam
Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam
Golam Rabban/Oxfam
Ng Swan Ti/Oxfam
Miguel Saavedra/docs.xchange
Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam
Adam Patterson/Oxfam