The selection, analysis and interpretation of historical ‘facts’ always takes place within a paradigm, a model of how the world works. That’s why history is always a battleground, declares the Marx Memorial Library
FOLLOWING a request from the United Nations plenary meeting of December 16 2021, the special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhiri, has submitted an interim report to the general assembly that includes an examination of the issues emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on food security and nutrition.
In his summary, he states that there is a food crisis, yet most national governments have not come together with a substantive, international response. His report highlights structural constraints and outlines how a just transition to agroecology could provide a way forward.
According to Fakhiri’s well-researched paper, hunger has been on the rise since 2015. In 2021, between 702 million and 828m people were affected, 103m more than during the 2019-20 period and 46m more than in 2020.
The West’s dangerous pesticide dumping in Africa is threatening biodiversity, population health and food sovereignty, argues ROGER McKENZIE
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
The US president’s universal tariffs mirror the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Act that triggered retaliatory measures, collapsed international trade, fuelled political extremism — and led to world war, warns Dr DYLAN MURPHY



