why lula cried? it’s all about food security and ownership-人生就是博官网

according to the reuters, the brazilian president-elect luiz inácio lula da silva broke down in tears while speaking on hunger at a conference held in brazil on november 10 at local time. he said, “ if when this period ends, all brazilians drink coffee, have lunch and dinner, once again i will have fulfilled the mission of my life.” behind lula’s tears is the severe hunger in brazil. a survey report issued by brazil shows that a total of 30 million people live in hunger, about 15% of the households suffer from hunger, and more than 100 million people are in some degree of food insecurity.

some people say that brazil should be “the last country to suffer from hunger”. even lula himself said, “i never expected hunger to make a comeback to this country, ever.” this south american country has a total population of over 200 million people and an arable land area of more than 2.7 billion mu (180 million hectares) including enormous plains and large areas of fertile black soil. with abundant light, heat, and rainfall, crops can be harvested three times per year in many of its areas. due to its abundant natural resource endowment and advanced agricultural technology and mechanization, brazil is the fourth-largest food producer in the world. a report projects that brazil’s overall grain yield will hit 263.4 million tons this year, setting a new historical record. however, it is very unfortunate that tens of millions of people are suffering from hunger in such a country that holds a golden rice bowl in its own hands, and that the world food programme has turned on the “yellow warning light” to the country.

with the acute pain of hunger, brazil has given the world, especially developing countries, a grave warning. “food security”, this eternal topic, has gained more significance in the face of profound changes unseen in a century worldwide.

first, we must strengthen the ability to control the whole food chain. food security is not only the construction of production capacity, but also the security of industrial chain and supply chain. although brazil has a large amount of arable land and high-quality agricultural resources, the sales and pricing rights of a lot of food produced on its land are controlled by transnational grain merchants, and even some transnational capital has penetrated into the upstream production. if a country failed to control the food produced on its own, it would inevitably fall into the trap of “suffering from hunger while holding a golden rice bowl”. in addition, brazil relies on imports of about 85% of its fertilizers. this year, the price of fertilizers in the international market has risen, and the price of major fertilizers in brazil has also climbed sharply, triggering a chain reaction of downstream grain production, and then sending shock waves through the price of agricultural products. all these have exposed the weakness of its industrial chain and supply chain in key areas.

second, we must ensure the ownership of national food policy making and agricultural development. the food issue is not just a simple economic issue; thus, it cannot be fully decided by the market and capital. despite brazil’s vast land, the rural land is highly concentrated and much of it is controlled by foreign capital. moreover, a large part of the land is used for planting high-profit export crops, which affects the country’s ability to regulate and control the food market and price level. this year’s bumper harvest did not deliver enough food at stable prices. this explains why the british journalist paul harrison wrote more than 40 years ago in his book “the third world”: “most of the most fertile land that should have been used to grow food for domestic needs is now being planted as cash crops for western needs.” more than 40 years later, while brazil leads the world in grain export earnings, it still imports about half of its wheat consumption. 

last, the basic rights and interests of low-income people must be protected in urbanization. the food crisis is not necessarily caused by “not having enough to eat”, but also by the “unaffordable” fact. according to the current annual grain yield and the total population of brazil, the annual per capita supply of grain exceeds 1,200 kilograms, far exceeding the internationally recognized food security threshold of 400 kilograms, which should be enough for the brazilians. however, with rapid urbanization, a large number of landless brazilian farmers have gathered on the outskirts of cities, forming urban “slums”. many of them already lack job security and fall into poverty due to significantly reduced income during the pandemic. this “latin american trap” of development leads to hunger among larger numbers of low-income population, and is another reminder that poverty and hunger are twins. as a researcher puts it, “the poorest people suffer more from food insecurity,” and the root cause of hunger in brazil is poverty.

brazil may be an ocean away, but lula’s tears have resonated in china, too. this is not only because of the friendly relations between the two countries, but also because china has experienced its share of hunger and knows pretty well what it feels like to go hungry. from the previous state bankruptcy of sri lanka to the tears of lula, we have repeatedly sounded the alarm that food security should never be taken for granted, must not be relaxed, and food ownership must be firmly held in our own hands!

different countries have different systems and policies. china will not allow land annexation and the huge gap between the rich and the poor and will not hand over the ownership and control power of agricultural development to others. however, china is faced with the challenges in protecting cropland from being used or attempted to be used for purposes other than agriculture and specifically grain production. in some places, capital tends to crowd out small farmers, and some agricultural products are highly dependent on other countries and subject to others’ control. with the development of china’s economy, society, and changes in the consumption structure of the population, china’s food security will also encounter new challenges. food security cannot be guaranteed once and for all. therefore, we should not only strengthen our awareness and measures of national food security, consolidate and improve china’s overall food production capacity, but also need strong national governance capacity to ensure that our people always have access to, can afford to buy, and eat well.

according to the united nations’ world population prospects 2022, the world total population reached 8 billion on 15 november 2022. in other words, eight billion people constitute this one great family. as stressed by chinese president xi jinping at the g20 summit in bali that prosperity and stability cannot be possible in a world where the rich become richer while the poor are made poorer. as an ancient chinese poem titled “a woman who raised silkworms” written 1,000 years ago goes that “people of wealth dressed in silks and satins are never those who toil and moil day and night in silkworm farming”, in the midst of deep globalization, the weep of “grain farmers going hungry” in any country will be a common tragedy for mankind.