"In the economic sector, states in particular need to
articulate policies of industrial and agricultural development concerned with
social progress and the growth everywhere of constitutional and democratic
states. The creation of ethical structures for currency, financial and
commercial markets is also fundamental and indispensable; these must be
stabilized and better coordinated and controlled so as not to prove harmful to
the very poor. With greater resolve than has hitherto been the case, the concern
of peacemakers must also focus upon the food crisis, which is graver than the
financial crisis. The issue of food security is once more central to the
international political agenda, as a result of interrelated crises, including
sudden shifts in the price of basic foodstuffs, irresponsible behaviour by some
economic actors and insufficient control on the part of governments and the
international community. To face this crisis, peacemakers are called to work
together in a spirit of solidarity, from the local to the international level,
with the aim of enabling farmers,
especially in small rural holdings, to carry out their
activity in a dignified and sustainable way from the
social, environmental and economic points of view."
Pope Francis
