Promoting sustainable agriculture: Misereor

Donation projects on the topic Publications Blog posts

Around the world, people in family farming produce the majority of food. However, the international agricultural market is dominated by a few corporations. They have great power and determine many conditions.

On the other hand, farming families often struggle with too little land and poor soil. Their farms are often far away from markets. And they are often not considered creditworthy by banks.

Sustainable agriculture needs biodiversity. There are 7,000 seed species and 40 livestock species worldwide. Industrial agriculture, however, concentrates on a few species and cultivates in monocultures. Large quantities of synthetic chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers pollute the environment.

Farms that operate according to the principles of agroecology endeavour to work with nature and not against it. This makes them more resilient to crises and significantly less harmful to soil, air and water.

The various seeds are part of a ceremony and offering before the big festival begins.

For shepherds in Telangana, the Deccani sheep is an important part of their culture.

Organic production areas in an agrarian reform settlement near Marabá/Pará/Brazil

Diversity of production in a land occupation near Marabá/State of Pará/Brazil

Sarah Schneider

Policy Officer for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture

Telephone: +49 241 442164
E-mail: sarah.schneider@misereor.de

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Agricultural companies claim to have a key function in the fight against poverty and hunger - we know that smallholder, ecologically sustainable agriculture in particular improves the food situation, reduces poverty and is better able to cope with the consequences of climate change.

PAN (2012): Highly hazardous pesticides from BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta! Results of an international Investigation; PAN (2010): Communities in Peril: Global report on health impacts of pesticide use in agriculture

We are committed to ensuring that agriculture, food production and trade secure food and income for as many people as possible and preserve biodiversity, with:

Projects that promote family and organic farming.
Advocacy for a political and economic framework that promotes this type of agriculture - worldwide.
Suggestions for a diet that favours fair, regional and organic products.

"Agroecology improves nutrition because greater diversity in cultivation also means greater diversity on the plates of all those communities that produce their own food. [...] The health benefits of an agroecological revolution would be significant."

Prof Dr Olivier De Schutter,
Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

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Benita now grows 80% of the food for her family in her own garden.

A mid-term review of the 2024 traffic light government.

With this review paper, an alliance of 43…

A mid-term review of the 2024 traffic light government.

With this review paper, an alliance of 43 organisations and associations from development cooperation, peasant agriculture, organic farming, the environment and the food trade are once again putting the (international) commitment of the German government to the test. Four years ago, numerous organisations and associations from this spectrum had already called on the German government to change course in line with the guiding principle of agroecology in a position paper. The mid-term of the traffic light coalition is now a current opportunity for us to highlight the light and shadows of the government's work to date and to take stock.

Publication date: January 2024
Number of pages: 6

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A mid-term review of the 2024 traffic light government.

Publication date: January 2024
Number of pages: 6

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The challenge of hunger - World Food Yearbook 2023/24

The poverty gap

Two out of five people worldwide lack the money for a healthy diet. How we can close…

The poverty gap

Two out of five people worldwide lack the money for a healthy diet. How we can close this gap.

The Misereor publication "The Challenge of Hunger - Annual World Food Security 2023/24" shows: Hunger and poverty are closely intertwined. The "healthy nutrition poverty gap" shows how much money people around the world lack to be able to afford a balanced diet. If you want to fight hunger, you have to tackle poverty and inequality. Read in the publication how the Misereor partner organisations are setting a good example.

Publisher: Misereor
Year of publication: September 2023
Pages: 24

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The poverty gap

Two out of five people worldwide lack the money for a healthy diet. How we can close this gap.

Publisher: Misereor
Year of publication: September 2023
Pages: 24

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Promoting diversity - good arguments in favour of food sovereignty (+ seeds)

Agribusinesses claim we know: Pointed facts on the subject of food sovereignty, presented in an…

Agribusinesses claim we know: Pointed facts on the subject of food sovereignty, presented in an understandable way and with impressive graphics for all those with an enquiring mind.

The argument for the campaign "We sow diversity where others destroy it" (incl. seed bags).

Publisher: Misereor
Year of publication: 2017
Pages: 16

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Agribusinesses claim we know: Pointed facts on the subject of food sovereignty, presented in an understandable way and with impressive graphics for all those with an enquiring mind.

The argument for the campaign "We sow diversity where others destroy it" (incl. seed bags).

Publisher: Misereor
Year of publication: 2017
Pages: 16

More information Less information

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All articles on the topic

Agroecology is guided by a set of broad guidelines that form the basic building blocks of its practices and implementation.

Download infographic (.pdf)

What is agroecology and what does it look like? Is there data to prove the efficiency of this system and does it live up to its promises? The multimedia report answers these questions and many more.

To the multimedia report

Highly hazardous pesticides that are banned in the EU continue to be used in other countries around the world. Some of these pesticides are produced in Germany and then exported. As part of a global movement, we are campaigning for an end to these double standards.

Learn more about pesticides

"Food revolution from below" in Rio de Janeiro and Frankfurt am Main: How are more and more people managing to re-establish the connection between farmers and consumers?

Watch video

Fighting hunger with sustainable agriculture

Few have a lot to say

One-sidedness makes you vulnerable

Sarah Schneider

Arguments in favour of diversity - from the field to the plate!

Projects - politics - personal decisions

Donation projects on the topic

Brazil | Bolivia: agriculture in the city?!

Burkina Faso: Outsmarting the desert together

Peru | Bolivia: Organic farming in the Andes

Our publications on the topic of sustainable agriculture

Position paper: Trend reversal for agroecology in sight?

The challenge of hunger - World Food Yearbook 2023/24

Promoting diversity - good arguments in favour of food sovereignty (+ seeds)

Fairtrade vor Ort: Bananen der Banelino-Kooperative

Der schw(m)ierige Alleskönner Palmöl – Beobachtungen aus Malaysia

Indigene sind uns weit voraus

Am Supermarktregal zum Personenschützer für Bauern werden – wie das?

Further information

Infographic "Principles of agroecology"

Report "The principles of agroecology"

Why pesticide exports must be stopped

Good and healthy food in the city

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