The global pandemic of COVID-19 has caused several health, economic, labor and food crises, which revealed pre-existing structural problems that are intensified by the current condition. At the same time, the magnitude of the phenomenon that humanity is still going through presents a crucial opportunity to review the causes of these structural problems and propose profound short, medium, and long-term solutions. Within this framework, this report focuses specifically on the food and environmental crises and it is divided into six parts.

The first part provides a general description of the current situation with respect to the food crisis in Latin America, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food crisis. It then proposes a brief counterpoint between the proposals for food security and food sovereignty. The third part analyse the conditions that can be overcome to achieve food sovereignty: the governance of key natural resources (land and water), the effects of agribusiness on deforestation, the expansion of and dependence on the use of agrochemicals and modified seeds, the privatization of seeds, and the role of monopolization in food distribution chains and access to food.

The fourth section discusses the relevance of agriculture in the region, taking into account the various actors involved: the role of family and peasant agriculture, the role of women and the care economy as central elements for a process of food sovereignty, and the political commitment to agroecology. The role of the State is then analyzed and a series of suggestions are made both in terms of legislation, public policy, and national and local governance, which can be implemented to strengthen food sovereignty.  

The sixth section addresses the role of the academy in terms of research and training of professionals.