What is the USC approach?

USC Canada is a champion of farmers’ rights. We build on the lessons we have learned from six decades of work with rural communities. We listen to the voices of our partners in the South as they demand policies that support farmer-led sustainable agriculture in developing countries.

We convene policy dialogues that feature the expertise, knowledge, and experience of the small-scale farmers we work with in Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Cuba, Honduras, Bolivia, Timor Leste, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Our local experience with these issues means our positions are grounded in results – in proven field work rather than in theory or in approaches not tested outside the global North.

Our Southern partners are active in pushing their own governments to adopt approaches that are supportive of small-scale farmers. Similarly, in Canada, USC works with other civil society organizations to convene campaigns on relevant agricultural policy issues. These can include holding major public events featuring speakers from across the globe; smaller policy events to facilitate dialogue between Canadian politicians, policy-makers, and civil society; media coverage; and email and letter-writing campaigns.

We oppose approaches to rural development that emphasise external solutions and quick fixes. Instead, our experience has shown the importance of building our partners’ resilience, combating injustices, and promoting agricultural biodiversity sustainably. More information on our positions is available here.

Considerable Challenges
We promote approaches that recognize the diversity of farming practices around the world. Agriculture that meets the needs of rural peoples, today and in the future,

• Must support the environment, because healthy soils and a broad diversity of plant varieties and animal breeds are essential for a healthy food systems.
• Must be built on the knowledge of farmers, and must work to expand that knowledge since farmers are the local experts and know best what will work to feed their families. 
• Must reduce vulnerability and strengthen farmer resilience, helping them live in dignity with control over their lives. 
• Must use locally appropriate technologies that are within reach and help create jobs throughout the local economy.

We reject international aid that promotes agricultural biotechnology, industrial farming, or corporate-led solutions. We oppose approaches to our food system that involve deforestation, land degradation, and pushing people off lands they have held for generations. We resist changes to seeds that would prevent farmers from saving, sharing, and replanting them.

USC Canada is involved in campaigns on

• Terminator Technology
• Climate Change
• Agrofuels, and
• Biotechnology.

A list of our policy positions is available online here. For more information on relevant issues, see these resources and organizations.