Can you beat the System? (short version)

Transcription

1 Can you beat the System? (short version) A simulation game to explore inequalities in how the world s food is managed. Ages Time required minutes depending on age and ability, and how long you want to play for. Subjects Geography / Citizenship Aims To explore factors affecting people s ability to grow food To highlight inequalities in the global food system To develop empathy with the injustice felt by small scale farmers You will need Crop templates and Group scenarios 1 example completed crop 1 pencil per student 4 sheets of A4 paper, 2 pairs of scissors, 2 colouring pencils and 1 crop template per group. A snapshot of the broken food system in India film (2 mins, 39 secs) All sheets are available in this document. Video clip available to download from /resources/september_grow Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 1

2 What to do Split the class into groups of 4 and give out the materials. Explain that they are now farmers, living in a less economically developed country, making a living by growing food to sell at a local market. Each group must create as many completed crops as they can in 10 minutes, using the materials provided. The group who produces the most crops wins the game. However explain that they may have to cope with a change in circumstances. Stop the game after 5-10 minutes and give each group one of the 4 possible scenario sheets (see below for sheet). Give time for the scenarios to take effect, and restart the game for a further 5 10 minutes. After this time declare the winning team (this should be the group with scenario 4!) As a class, discuss the following: How did each group manage after the scenarios were introduced? How did this make them feel? What was fair about the game, and what was unfair? Explain that the game illustrates some of the challenges and inequalities small farmers face within the global food system. Show the film. Ask each group to think of 5 ways in which small farmers may be supported. Share ideas as a class. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 2

3 Scenario 1- Climate change Global temperatures are rising due to climate change. This will cause crop yields to fall possibly to half of their current levels in some African countries. At the same time, extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts and floods will get worse and happen more often, and the seasons that people rely on to grow crops will get even more unpredictable. Your farmland is flooded and your crops are destroyed. When the floods recede, it takes months to repair the damage and start producing again. Any crops you ve completed in the game so far will be destroyed. You must sit on your hands for 30 seconds once the game re-starts. Scenario 2 Land grab Wealthy companies invest heavily in cheap agricultural land in poor countries, often to use for farming themselves. But in many cases, the land sold is actually being used by poor families to grow food. These families are often forcibly evicted with little or no warning or compensation, and in many cases the land is either left idle by the buyer who knows it will only grow in value. Half of the land you farm has been bought by a multinational company and you are no longer allowed to farm it. Half of your remaining paper will be removed. Scenario 3 Food price rises After decades of progress, the number of people in the world without enough to eat is actually increasing, and the rising cost of food is a big part of the problem. That's because, when you spend up to 75% of your weekly income on food as many poor families are forced to do sudden rises have an especially destructive effect. Despite the potential benefits of this to you as a farmer, you can no longer afford all of the essentials you need in the very short term. You don t have any savings so you have to sell assets, such as farming equipment, to continue. Half of your scissors and pencils will be removed. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 3

4 Scenario 4 Investment Already, 500 million small farms help to put food on the plates of two billion people or one in three people on earth. With effective government support and a focus on sustainable techniques, productivity can soar. In Vietnam, for instance, the number of hungry people has halved in just 12 years a transformation kick-started by government investment in small farmers. The productivity of your farm is boosted thanks to government investment. You will receive additional scissors, pencils and paper. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 4

5 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 5