Olivier De Schutter

Prof. Olivier De Schutter teaches at the University of Louvain (UCL). Between 2008 and 2014, he was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and is currently a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. He co-chairs the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).

A Food Policy for Europe

A ‘successful’ Common Agricultural Policy reform thus defined, however, can come and go without any meaningful progress in addressing the challenge of building sustainable food systems in Europe. The problem with the CAP is not only what it does, but what as an agricultural policy it does not and cannot do. Europe urgently needs a food policy (or a ‘Common Food Policy’). There are five key reasons why this shift is required, and why the time is now ripe for it to occur.

October 24, 2017

Society

Keynote Speech by Olivier De Schutter from the Oxford Real Farming Conference

This year we were lucky enough to have Olivier De Schutter – the 2008 – 2014 UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food – deliver a key note speech.

February 15, 2017

Society

Food democracy South and North: from Food Sovereignty to Transition Initiatives

People seek to co-design food systems, to participate in shaping them, to recapture them. We were familiar with the slogan of workplace democracy; we must now open up our eyes to food democracy.

March 18, 2015

Society

The New Green Revolution: how twenty-first-century science can feed the world

The combined effects of climate change, energy scarcity, and water paucity require that we radically rethink our agricultural systems. Countries can and must reorient their agricultural systems toward modes of production that are not only highly productive, but also highly sustainable. Following the 2008 global food price crisis, many developing countries have adopted new food security policies and have made significant investments in their agricultural systems. Global hunger is also back on top of the international agenda. However, the question is not only how much is done, but also how it is done—and what kinds of food systems are now being rebuilt.

Agroecology, the application of ecological science to the study, design, and management of sustainable agriculture, offers a model of agricultural development to meet this challenge. Recent research demonstrates that it holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure households around the world. By scaling up its practice, we can sustainably improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, and thus contribute to feeding a hungry planet.

August 21, 2011

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