In a report, Oxfam says that the biggest names in the food and drink industry are not doing enough to stop poor people from being forced from their land and homes to make way to grow crops.
The report, Nothing sweet about it: How sugar fuels land grabs, illustrates how people are at risk of losing their homes and land in a rush to feed consumers’ growing appetite for sugar. The report links disputes of land with companies that supply sugar for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo products. It also highlights alleged disputes with Associated British Foods.
Oxfam is calling for the companies to tighten their supply chains so the ingredients they use in their products are not grown on land that has been grabbed from communities that depend on it for their survival.
Oxfam’s chief executive Mark Goldring said, “We all need reassurance that what we are consuming is not contributing to the world’s most vulnerable being evicted from their land without consent or compensation. Large corporations must take responsibility to ensure that their goods are not tainted by this scandal happening in remote places many miles from the boardroom.
“Associated British Foods, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are among the world’s biggest producers and buyers of sugar. They are in a prime position to stamp out land grabs by ensuring that the sugar they use is not grown on land that is taken against the wishes of the community. Their focus on this could transform the industry.”
Sugar production is predicted to increase by 25% by 2020. The global sugar trade is worth around £29bn. The world produced 176 million tonnes of sugar last year and the food and drinks industry accounts for more than half of it.
While consumers’ increasing appetite for sugar has health experts ringing alarm bells, Oxfam says it has largely gone unnoticed that the sugar trade is also helping to fuel the problem of land grabs and disputes. It says that 31 million hectares, an area 1.3 times the size of the UK, is already being used to grow our sugar, much of it in the developing world.
Land grabs are big deals, where local communities that rely on the land are evicted without consent or compensation, and often violently. Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign says that the world’s 10 biggest food and drink companies lack strong enough policies to stop land grabs and disputes from featuring in their supply chains.
Oxfam is calling on ABF, Coca Cola and PepsiCo to commit to zero tolerance of land grabs throughout their supply chains. It says they should publicly disclose who and where they source their commodities, publish assessments about how the sugar they purchase affects local communities’ land rights, and use their power to encourage governments and the wider food industry to respect land rights.
All three companies scored poorly or very poorly on their land policies in Oxfam’s Behind the Brands scorecard.
Source: Oxfam
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