China’s Ecological Smallholder Born in the 1990s Joins 17 Young Farmers in Urgent Call for Food System Transformation

Foodthink Says

Before Chinese New Year, from Lianxiang Farm in Chengde, Hebei Province, Ren Yingying, a farmer born in the 1990s, was invited by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to attend the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin, where she contributed to drafting a position paper for young farmers.

On 16 February, at the Foodthink sharing session, Yingying presented the core content of the position paper. The paper directly addresses the deep contradictions within the global agricultural system: the monopoly of multinational corporations over seeds, land and supply chains; the loss of control over production amid the climate crisis; the voicelessness of smallholder farmers in policymaking…

Foodthink has translated and compiled the position paper. When young farmers raise their voices on the international stage, how should policymakers, civil society, scientists and the public understand the complexities of agricultural transformation? And how will young farmers bridge cultural and institutional differences to collectively tackle the many challenges posed by the ecological crisis?

● Yingying pictured with 17 other young farmers from around the world. Source: GFFA website

I. Challenges Facing the Global Food System and Young Farmers’ Core Demands

What Crises Does the Current Global Food System Face?

The current global food system is trapped in a web of interlocking crises.

Climate change has triggered increasingly frequent extreme weather events: droughts, floods and pest outbreaks are causing reduced crop yields or even total harvest failures; geopolitical conflicts have unleashed energy crises and supply-chain disruptions, and surging fertiliser prices and transport blockages are further undermining food security; transnational agribusinesses, by controlling seeds, agrochemicals and agricultural commodity markets, are squeezing out smallholder farmers; and fossil-fuel-driven industrial agriculture is causing land degradation, biodiversity loss and water depletion.

Most critically, women, young farmers, indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers—who together constitute the majority of the population—are excluded from decision-making systems yet bear the direct brunt of the harmful impacts of climate change and economic inequality.

What Core Direction for Solutions Do Young Farmers Propose?

Young farmers advocate reshaping the global food system through structural reform. The foremost task is to break the grip of multinational corporations on land, seeds, technology and markets, and to redirect agricultural resources toward smallholder farmers and communities.

Second, they call for promoting a circular economy model centred on agroecology, reducing dependence on fossil fuels through biodiversity conservation, organic farming and localised food systems. At the same time, the land rights, technological autonomy and right to participate in policy-making of young people, marginalised groups and indigenous peoples must be safeguarded, ensuring that their needs are reflected in global governance frameworks.

The ultimate goal is to build an inclusive, equitable and climate-resilient food system in which agricultural production and ecological restoration advance in tandem, achieving intergenerational equity and social justice.

II. Bioeconomy

What Is Bioeconomy, and What Risks Does Its Development Pose?

The bioeconomy refers to an economic model that replaces fossil fuels by harnessing agricultural waste, biomass energy and biotechnology, in theory reducing carbon emissions and creating green economic opportunities.

However, young farmers believe that, while its advocacy for resource recycling carries positive significance, under the current global economic system the bioeconomy risks devolving into an industrialised-nation-led “technological fix”. Transnational corporations may seize the opportunity to expand their control over biomass resources—for instance, by using biofuel policies to force farmers into monoculture planting, exacerbating land grabbing and competition for water resources.

Moreover, the convergence of biotechnology with nanotechnology and gene editing may further consolidate control over nature and farmers, turning it into a tool for perpetuating capital accumulation rather than a genuinely sustainable pathway for transformation.

If not tightly coupled with ecological protection and social justice goals, the bioeconomy will perpetuate a high-consumption, high-pollution production model that serves the economic interests of a privileged few rather than the genuine needs of countries in the Global South.

III. Agroecology

Why Is Agroecology Seen as the True Solution?

The agricultural development of a sustainable bioeconomy must be rooted in respect for the Earth and harmonious coexistence with ecological processes.

Young farmers demand that all stakeholders be included in the assessment of the bioeconomy, with nature recognised as an independent stakeholder endowed with its own rights. Agroecology ensures this, and is the true solution to the climate crisis and a pathway out of the fossil-fuel-dependent industrialised food system.

● Agroecology is at once a science, a practice and a social movement, and forms the foundation of the food sovereignty framework. Source: Farmers’ Seed Network translation of Agroecology: Key Concepts, Principles and Practices

Agroecology emphasises farming methods that mimic the functions of natural ecosystems, such as intercropping, crop rotation and agroforestry systems. Its strengths lie in enhancing the resilience of food systems through biodiversity and reducing dependence on external inputs such as synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

Moreover, agroecology can support local economies, promote equitable access to resources, lower the barriers to entry for young people in agriculture and empower rural communities. In contrast to the high-input, high-pollution characteristics of industrial agriculture, agroecology demonstrates a threefold viability spanning economic, ecological and social benefits.

IV. Young People’s Participation in Land Reform

The core objective of land reform is to put an end to the predatory acquisition of land by multinational corporations and to rebuild a land governance system centred on smallholder farmers, women and indigenous peoples.

This could include, for instance, legislating to prohibit foreign investment from purchasing more than a certain proportion of agricultural land and redistributing idle land to marginalised groups; integrating land, climate and water-resource management policies so that land tenure is linked to ecological service functions and communities’ collective rights to natural resources are recognised; and establishing regionalised, democratised land arbitration bodies to replace the current dispute resolution mechanisms dominated by transnational arbitration firms, thereby safeguarding access to justice for vulnerable groups.

What Structural Barriers Do Young Farmers Face in Agricultural Policy?

First, the sustained rise in global land prices makes it increasingly difficult for the younger generation to afford the initial investment, while land ownership remains concentrated in the hands of a handful of oligarchs and multinational corporations, marginalising young people into a “landless generation”.

Second, the formulation of agricultural policy has long been dominated by multinational corporations, financial institutions and think tanks, leaving young farmers without institutionalised channels through which to express their views. In many countries, agricultural subsidies flow to large farms, while smallholder farmers and young entrepreneurs are overlooked.

Furthermore, agricultural education systems are disconnected from practical needs: school curricula are skewed towards commercialised techniques while neglecting agroecology and community-based collaborative experience, leaving young people without the practical skills needed to address the climate crisis.

V. V. Food Sovereignty

What Is Food Sovereignty, and Why Do Young Farmers Emphasise Its Importance?

Food sovereignty refers to the right of nations, regions and communities to autonomously determine agricultural production and food distribution, including seed cultivation, land use, trade policy, and dietary and cultural choices.

Young farmers emphasise the importance of this concept because food sovereignty effectively shields local agriculture from erosion by transnational food retailers and free trade agreements, and safeguards the diversity and adaptability of dietary cultures, enabling communities to select crops suited to local climates based on ecological conditions and traditional knowledge. During crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, countries with local food systems and stronger food sovereignty have demonstrated greater resilience to risk.

What Policy Support Is Needed to Achieve Food Sovereignty?

Young farmers demand the establishment of a market-shaping system founded on fairness, solidarity, and an ethics of responsible production. Governments need to increase policy support for local and regional food chains.

At the fiscal level, governments should raise the proportion of agricultural subsidies, prioritise support for ecologically friendly smallholder farmers, and use tax policy to curb speculative land transactions.

At the trade level, harmful trade agreement clauses must be abolished, and a regional food reserve network established to stabilise market price fluctuations.

At the technical level, there is a need to promote open-source seed banks and farmer-led research and development systems, such as India’s Biodiversity Conservation and Seed Sovereignty Movement.

Finally, legislation is needed to establish the Global Food Security Convention, incorporating food sovereignty into the international human rights framework and constraining the market-dominating behaviour of transnational corporations.

VI. Technology Sovereignty and Power Restructuring

What Stance Do Young Farmers Take on Agricultural Technology?

Young farmers’ core concern regarding technological development centres on the reproduction of power relations.

Technology monopolies risk stripping smallholder farmers of their autonomy over production—for instance, genetically modified seed patents force farmers to purchase new seed every season, exacerbating economic vulnerability. Knowledge barriers limit the inclusivity of technology dissemination: multinational corporations lock technologies away behind complex licensing agreements, while public research institutions often lack the resources to support localised adaptation.

What do young farmers advocate to achieve technology sovereignty?

Innovation and technology have always been at the heart of agriculture. Harnessing technology and open data to share skills and information with other food producers enables farmers to adjust their production practices as effectively as possible in the face of the climate crisis. New technologies hold enormous potential for reducing the ecological footprint of food production, facilitating the exchange of knowledge among farmers, and utilising waste to drive the transition towards a circular economy.

Technology should supplement, not replace, traditional and indigenous practices, and should always be developed with the participation of local communities to ensure it meets their needs. Young farmers therefore advocate that technological development must follow the principle of “co-design, co-ownership”, ensuring that farmers and scientists jointly participate in technology research and development and in decision-making.

Furthermore, the adoption of technology must not create dependencies that undermine producers’ ability to make autonomous decisions about their production, territory, culture and way of life. Farmers must have the right to decide for themselves whether to incorporate new technologies into their cropping systems, rather than being pushed towards technological adoption by corporations.

Click “here” to read the original declaration

*This article was translated and compiled using AI tools

Editor: qiqi