Indian Famers' Protest

A few weeks ago, we discussed the biggest protest movement ever. We were deeply touched by what is happening in India and felt somewhat of the frustration the protesters must have and the feeling of being powerless in the face of big corporations and a corrupt government. In the context of  Designers For Climate, we also explored the link between agriculture and the climate and the role of protesting in general. Yes, for societal change to happen, you need protests to create a political open but what then? How can social movements follow up on protests? We could, of course, not answer this question in an hour's discussion but it did make clear to us that we need to explore this, perhaps as part of the Act For Climate project. We would also like to start a new project, Farmers For Climate sometime in the future, only we currently don't have the capacity to do justice to such a wide and complex topic (do you think you could help us bring this project to life? Contact us!). 

If you are interested in how we prepared for this Lunch & Learn session, check out these links: 

Sources - India protests

• India Times - What are new farm laws and and why farmers are protesting

• The Nation Wide - What are Mandis and how does it strike balance between farmers and consumers?
• The Third Pole - Climate crisis is foundation of Indian farmers’ protests

Further reading - the link between agriculture and the climate and how the EU needs to change its current policies

• Scientific American - Farm Protests in India Are Writing the Green Revolution’s Obituary
• The Guardian - Europe must act on intensive farming to save wildlife, scientists say
• Kontrast.at - Immer mehr Massentierhaltung und Billigfleisch – Falsche Agrarpolitik in Europa (the disparity between what the EU's alleged climate policy and their real agricultural policy)