Structural injustice, policy failures, and neglected indigenous food sovereignties drive global hunger despite abundance
Original framing: “Hunger is ‘an avoidable tragedy’ in a world of plenty: Türk” — Global Issues
Indigenous agroecological practices such as milpa intercropping, seed saving, and rotational fallows have sustained diverse diets for centuries without reliance on synthetic inputs. These systems embody a relational ontology that views land as a living relative, contrasting with the commodity logic of industrial agriculture. Revitalizing indigenous seed sovereignty and land tenure can increase resilience to climate shocks while reducing dependence on corporate seed monopolies.
Hunger persists not from biophysical scarcity but from the convergence of colonial land dispossession, corporate control of seeds and finance, and the marginalization of indigenous and women’s knowledge systems that once ensured reciprocal stewardship of ecosystems.
Scientific evidence shows ample global production and significant waste, yet financial speculation and trade rules divert surpluses away from those in need. Cross‑cultural worldviews such as Buen Vivir and Ubuntu remind us that food security is a relational practice, demanding governance rooted in reciprocity rather than market logic. Future modelling indicates that only policies addressing power asymmetries — land reform, seed sovereignty, speculation curbs, and corporate accountability — can translate abundance into realized nutrition. Reviving trickster‑inspired critique helps expose the absurdity of plenty coexisting with systematic hunger, sustaining the pressure needed for systemic change.