Climate change has both direct and indirect effects on agricultural productivity, effects that are predicted to increase significantly after 2050 if no mitigating measure is taken with immediate effect. Agriculture, on the other hand, could play a key role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 50% in the next decade, the target agreed under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

This talk will examine the implications for countries in the global South of climate science and international policy on agriculture, food security, and rural policy by focusing on the Indian farmers’ movement.

In late 2020, hundreds of thousands of farmers all over India went out on strike to oppose new legislation that had been rushed through their parliament. They shut down large parts of the country’s transport, shops and markets. The government claim the legislation is necessary to modernise agriculture, whereas farmers – who make up 50% of the Indian workforce – argue it will leave them at the mercy of corporations buying their products.

This talk will aim to explore the global significance of this ongoing struggle; how the strikes are a defence of small farming everywhere, how they unite different political tendencies across the farmers’ movement and ultimately, how the Indian farmers’ strikes are a defence of democracy.