The current food system has led us to a global food, nutrition and water crisis. 

Several problems are intertwined. First, the weakening of the State as an authority in regulation, compliance and sanction, in the face of the threat posed by the monopolization and control of land, water, seeds and soils by transnational capital and agribusiness. As a consequence of the first, we can highlight the phenomenon of dispossession, expropriation and extraction of natural resources and the deagrarianization of peasant and family farmers, due to the effect of corporate industrial agriculture, unregulated urban expansion or tourist facilities.

Also, the deterioration and degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity due to the substitution of forests by intensive agriculture, monoculture, and the application of inappropriate technologies and inputs. These phenomena have been aggravated by the effects of climate change.

In this scenario, water has ceased to be a common good and has become a privatized and controlled strategic resource, which creates risks of water stress and insufficient water for human populations and agricultural production.

However, a resistance from the territories has been organized and social and solidarity economy organizations are transforming the current food system, establishing production and consumption chains at the service of people and caring for the land, water and ecosystems. Their role in food and water sustainability, combating hunger, has been highlighted by the health crisis.

In terms of production, our practices are geared towards feeding people, not enriching industry and power groups. Our products are not subject to the fluctuations of the global market, our practices do not alter our ecosystems and the environment, and can even mitigate climate change, and our production is often based on traditional knowledge of the territory. 

In the organizations, we ensure that producers have equitable access and the right to land, water, seeds, fisheries and agricultural biodiversity, supporting and going hand in hand with agrarian demands (land reforms, rural development). 

In terms of distribution, our ecological supply system feeds the vast majority of the world’s population living in both rural and urban areas, thanks to local food, which does not suggest huge distances. 

In terms of consumption, an essential determinant of health is food and water. In recent years, there has been a change of mentality and logic in consumption behavior, since food and water sustainability is a cultural issue and the valorization of territories. 

The response of family farming and family farmers to the global food crisis and the extensive agro-industrial model must be made visible, as it allows communities to enjoy their own resources, as well as using practices that are not harmful to the environment. Therefore, family farming follows an environmentally and socially sustainable path.