The World Bank, farmers and poverty – why experts at Cafod are so concerned

Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet, talks to Dr Ruth Segal and Dario Kenner of Cafod about the recent report, Sowing the seeds of poverty: how the World Bank harms poor farmers.

The report accuses the World Bank of promoting agricultural models that benefit large-scale agribusiness at the expense of poor farmers, arguing that id demands “regulations and laws that support the expansion of commercial markets for hybrid seeds and chemical inputs”, forcing poorer nations to purchase seeds and fertilisers from global corporations.

Dr Segal is Cafod’s food systems lead analyst. She has worked on food and agriculture issues, both in the UK and internationally, for more than 25 years and is an expert on global food systems and seed systems. 

Mr Kenner is lead analyst for sustainable economic development at Cafod. He is an expert on the World Bank and debt within the Global South. He has published numerous research papers on the subject and regularly gives evidence at parliamentary select committees. 

A news story about the report published in The Tablet can be read here.