Food Sovereignty: moving from theory to practice
In February 2007, Inter Pares staff member Eric Chaurette attended the first global summit on food sovereignty, in Sélingué, Mali. The week-long meeting gathered over five hundred activists from eighty countries around the globe to share, learn, and plan actions to advance the movement for food sovereignty. After the summit, Eric travelled to Guinea-Bissau to visit Inter Pares' long-time counterpart Tiniguena, and to witness how they are laying the foundations of this movement in their country. Below is Eric's mosaic of photos, testimonies, and reflections on the theory and practice of food sovereignty.
Part 1. Nyéléni: The 2007 World Forum on Food Sovereignty
February 23rd, Nyéléni Village, Sélingué, Mali
A three-hour drive south of Bamako takes you to Sélingué, a town on the banks of Lake Sélingué, a reservoir created from the damming of the Sankarani River. Stepping out of the truck into the baking sun, the air is dry and dusty. I walk to the entrance of Nyéléni Village, newly built to be the venue for the World Forum on Food Sovereignty. The five hundred or so delegates to Nyéléni are lodged in small round adobe huts scattered on the sand. Those who have arrived late are taken in by families living in the nearby village. There is a festive atmosphere in the air as people from every corner of the world greet each other.
Walking through the village, I am struck by how quickly things have been organized. Wells have been dug with potable water accessible to all, and a large amphitheatre stands on the edge of the settlement overlooking the wide and tranquil lake. Interpreters are working steadily with technicians to get the necessary gear in place and functional for the opening day, when people will be able to communicate in English, French, Spanish, Korean and Bambara. The Internet will soon be up and running, and cell phones are serving as both a link to the rest of the world and as walkie-talkies for people to meet amidst the growing crowds.
Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations.
(
www.nyeleni.org/)
Nyéléni is the culmination of ten years of work. In 1996, at the international World Food Summit convened by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, the international peasant movement La Via Campesina, along with over a thousand other civil society organizations, condemned what they saw as a hijacking of the FAO by agri-business interests. In a publicly read statement, they denounced the lack of accountability of transnational corporations and government policies that sought to promote industrial-scale fishing and agriculture - a system that has resulted in massive unemployment, low wages, the destruction of rural economies, and the bankruptcy of family farmers worldwide.
They called for the defence of small farmers, biodiversity, and the right of countries to define their own agricultural policies rather than having them dictated by the World Trade Organization or the World Bank. They called this vision "food sovereignty," and in the ten years that followed, the concept continued to evolve and gain momentum. The moment was at hand to reconvene and see how to further advance this vision.
Sitting among the hundreds of delegates, we are officially welcomed. Amidst dancing and drumming, a beautiful statue made of ebony is unveiled on the centre stage for all to see. It is the silhouette of a woman; her name is Nyéléni. All those gathered understand the significance of this statue. As Ibrahim Coulibaly, one of the leaders of Mali's national farmer organization, explains: "There is a woman who left her mark in the history of Mali, as a woman, and as a great farmer. When you mention her name everyone knows what this name represents. She is the mother who brings food, the mother who farms, who fought for her recognition as a woman in an environment which wasn't favourable to her. This woman was called Nyéléni."
Through her care and dedication, Nyéléni came to domesticate fonio and small millet, two staple crops in West Africa. She has become a living legend in Mali, and for those gathered here today, she is a powerful symbol of the crucial role that women play in agriculture and food security.
February 24-26th workshops
Early in the morning, sheltered from the beating sun, we are gathered to receive orientation. During the week, working groups will be broken up by region, sector (farmer, fisher, urban), or by issue. In these smaller groups, delegates will discuss and deepen their understanding of everything from world trade, genetic engineering and intellectual property rights, to seed saving. Each evening, all groups will convene in the amphitheatre, where their analysis will be brought together and shared for collective discussion. The main ideas will then be recorded and will serve as the basis for the coming year of reflection, learning, and action.
On this first day, I join the "technology and local knowledge" group. A Sri Lankan delegation describes their experience with industrial agriculture. In the 1960s, Sri Lanka embarked on the Green Revolution, adopting hybrid seeds, and the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for the production of rice. This model depended on the use of monocultures, large expanses of lands devoted to a single crop, and the eradication of any other plant growing on the same field. The effects on both the environment and on their communities were profound. Farmers became deeply indebted as the price for seeds, fertilizers and pesticides increased. Meanwhile, plants that farmers depended upon were no longer available, increasing their vulnerability. Farmers in Sri Lanka are now coming together to reclaim the autonomy and knowledge they have lost, and many of them have successfully gone back to ecological agriculture. As one farmer stated, "With ecological agriculture, there is no dependence on capital because everything comes from nature."
Mamadou Goïta
The group then discusses the immense pressure countries in the South are facing to accept genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to Mamadou Goïta, social economist from Mali and one of the organizers of Nyéléni, the World Bank and some foreign aid agencies are aggressively promoting genetically modified crops. "As debtors to the World Bank, our governments' hands are tied, and we are pressured into accepting policies that will open the door to GMOs."
But for Dr. Assetou Samaké, professor of plant genetics at the University of Bamako and leader from COPAGEN, a network of peasant organizations spanning nine countries across West Africa, farmers already know how to produce enough food; GMOs are not an appropriate solution. Food security in Africa depends on small farms growing a large diversity of crops whose seeds are saved from year to year. Dr. Samaké believes GMOs are incompatible with this agricultural system. Since genetically modified seeds are patented, they cannot be saved or exchanged but rather must be purchased each year along with agricultural chemicals to protect them from pests and help them grow, turning autonomous farmers into dependent clients of seed and fertilizer companies.
In another working group, participants discuss international trade. Agricultural dumping is already taking a heavy toll on Africa's economies. In Ghana, the poultry industry has suffered a severe blow. In Mali, the Peul, a herding people, have suffered as subsidized milk enters the country. "How can it be that tomatoes, chicken, or milk, from half a world away are sold in markets in Dakar or Bamako at half the price of our own food?" asks a farmer.
Agricultural dumping will only get worse with the coming into force of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). EPAs call for countries to drastically lower their import tariffs - the only available means for African countries to defend their economies from heavily subsidized imports. This European trade initiative has been referred to as "free trade on steroids," and many unions and other civil society groups are organizing to resist them.
Key elements of food sovereignty:
- National policies that prioritize local agriculture production for national consumption rather than for export;
- National policies that prioritize and support organic agriculture over high-input industrial agriculture;
- Access of peasants and landless people to land, water, seeds, and credit;
- Rejection of GMOs in agriculture and food;
- The right of countries to protect themselves from agricultural dumping;
- The recognition of the rights of women farmers, who play a central role in the production of food.
February 27th, closing day
After four intense days of discussion, reflection, and consensus-building, we are now gathered in the welcome shade of the amphitheatre to share the fruits of our work.
Among the Canadian delegation to Nyéléni is Colleen Ross, Women's President of the National Farmers Union, and a respected activist and farmer in Canada. She has farmed in Australia and now runs an organic farm with her husband in eastern Ontario. Colleen is honoured with the task of reading out the common declaration, the result of ten years of reflection and four intense days of negotiation:
We, more than 500 representatives from more than 80 countries, of organizations of peasants/family farmers, artisanal fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, landless peoples, rural workers, migrants, pastoralists, forest communities, women, youth, consumers and environmental and urban movements have gathered together in the village of Nyéléni in Sélingué, Mali to strengthen a global movement for food sovereignty. We are doing this, brick by brick, as we live here in huts constructed by hand in the local tradition, and eat food that is produced and prepared by the Sélingué community. We give our collective endeavor the name "Nyéléni" as a tribute to and inspiration from a legendary Malian peasant woman who farmed and fed her peoples well.
( http://www.nyeleni.org/?lang=en).
As Colleen stands and reads the declaration, I cannot help but feel a sense of pride for what all of us have accomplished at Nyéléni. I also feel a deep sense of responsibility. As all others assembled here, we are entrusted with bringing back, and taking forward, in our own communities the analysis and vision nurtured here at Nyéléni.
Previous page | Next page
| Reviewed July 31, 2009 |  |
Publishing Policies |
