One more step forward in the struggle for food sovereignty

1^st March, 2007

The Forum for Food Sovereignty is coming to a close. After five days of intense
debate and meetings in the countryside at Selingue (Mali), peasants,
fisherfolk, women, herdspeople, consumers, etc. have approved a final
declaration in which they present a series of specific demands in the struggle
for food sovereignty and the strategies for achieving it, and in which they
condemn the imperialist and neo-liberal system which confronts them.

The objective of food sovereignty is to place at the centre of the food system
those who produce, distribute and consume, taking a stand against the demands
of markets and corporations. It is a question of prioritizing local and
national markets and strengthening small-scale agriculture, fishing and
stockbreeding, putting food production, distribution and consumption on a
socially, economically and environmentally sustainable basis.

The delegates have declared that they are fighting for a world in which all
peoples can define their own food systems, which recognizes the rights and the
role of women in the production of food and in which there is genuine and
comprehensive agrarian reform, which recognizes the absolute right of peasants
to the land. A world in which, in the words of the final declaration, ‘we can
divide up our land peacefully and fairly amongst our peoples’.

The participants have stressed the need to oppose the neo-liberal and
patriarchal system and, specifically, the international financial institutions,
the World Trade Organization, free trade agreements and transnational
corporations, as well genetically-modified organisms and food dumping. On
another front is the fight against the paternalistic and patriarchal values
that have been spread by globalization.

Finally, there is emphasis on the will to strengthen alliances and solidarity
between the different sectors working in favour of food sovereignty. To achieve
this objective, a schedule of action has been drawn up, setting out the
proposals that have been put forward by the different working groups and this
will be made public in the very near future. This is the progress that has been
made in the Forum for Food Sovereignty in Selingue – one more step forward in
the struggle for food sovereignty.

 Making progress with the creation of alliances and a common strategy for food sovereignty

27 February

The Forum for Food Sovereignty, which is currently taking place in Selingue
(Mali), is making progress on the tasks it has set itself. More than 500
delegates from 98 countries, especially invited for the forum, have come
together over the past few days to meet in seven thematic groups. Their
objective was to debate and establish strategies in relation to food
sovereignty, as well as what we must fight for, what we must fight against and
what action we can take. Based on the results of these debates, a joint
declaration and a call to action will be drawn up before the Forum draws to a
close on 27 February.

Access to land

One of the central debates of the Forum relates to access to land
and natural resources and the conflicts that arise between the different actors
involved in their management. For example, in some countries, the law prevents
women from having access to land, and in others, although they have access by
law, tradition and practice constitute obstacles to such access.

With regard to the tensions that exist between different sectoral groups, one of
the objectives is to take steps to resolve these conflicts, emphasizing the
specific interests between farmers and herdspeople, producers and consumers,
the urban world and the countryside, etc. As Mamadou Goita of the Malian
peasant organization CNOP said, in Africa disputes between farmers and
herdspeople are common, as are the different interests of producers and
consumers: the first want to sell their products at a high price, the second
want to buy them for as little as possible. This is why it is essential to
create alliances and mutual understanding as a way of finding a solution to
these conflicts.

A forum in the countryside

The debates and meetings are being held in Selingue
at a dedicated site which, when the Forum is over, will be managed by the
national peasant organization CNOP and used as a training centre for West
African organizations. The site has more than 50 mud and straw huts to house
participants and other buildings for meetings and plenary sessions. All of the
materials used in the construction of the site are local, respecting
traditional architecture, the workforce used being made up of people from the
village of Selingue.

The site is located next to the hydroelectric dam on the river Sankarani, a
tributary of the Niger, constructed by the World Bank with serious
environmental and social consequences. Its construction gave rise to the
displacement of large numbers of people to the area with the aim of living from
fishing, but the mass migration resulted in overexploitation of the natural
resources and the consequent impoverishment of the population once they had
been exhausted. This is just one further example of the need to resist the
policies of the World Bank and the IMF which, instead of generating the
self-proclaimed “development” they promise, bring poverty and debt. These
matters are currently the subject of debate in the Selingue countryside.

See also: Ester Vivas, Women and farmers campaign for food sovereignty

 Nyeleni 2007-Forum for Food Sovereignty about to get under way

21 February 2007

Preparations for the opening of Nyeleni 2007-Forum for Food Sovereignty are
complete. It is expected that more than 500 delegates from organizations of
peasants, women, indigenous communities, fisherfolk, shepherds, etc. from all
over the world will take part in the event, which will run from 23 to 27
February in Selingue, a village in rural Mali, 140 km from Bamako, the capital.

The press conference to introduce the Forum to the local and regional media was
held this morning, 21 February, attended by representatives of regional and
international peasants’ and women’s social movements. Alberto Gomez, leader of
the Mexican peasant organization UNORCA and a member of Via Campesina’s
International Coordination Committee, set out the political objectives of the
Forum: the creation of common strategies in the fight for the right to food
sovereignty, a fight which, as Gomez pointed out, includes defending peasant
agriculture and confronting the industrialized, export-oriented agriculture of
the multinationals. According to Gomez: “in order to achieve food sovereignty
it is essential to promote public policies that foster peasant and family
agriculture and combat social exclusion”.

The director of Friends of the Earth Swaziland, Thuli Makama, said that Nyeleni
2007-Forum for Food Sovereignty is a process and an opportunity for
organizations of women, peasants, fisherfolk, etc. to engage in debate and
establish working strategies in favour of food sovereignty. Makama explained
the seven themes on which the Forum is based and said that the most important
element in all of them will be “the local control of resources, which will
determine food sovereignty”.

On 22 February, immediately before the Forum begins, a meeting of women was held
in Selingue coordinated by the World March of Women with the aim of discussing
common strategies and contributions in favour of food sovereignty. Nana Aicha
Cisse, coordinator of the World March of Women and Secretary of CAFO, the
Coordination of Feminist Organizations of Mali, introduced the day-long
meeting, stressing the need to articulate the struggle and the defence of
natural resources (seed, land, water, etc.) as humankind’s inheritance.

Finally, the coordinator of ROPPA, the Network of Peasant Organizations and
Producers in West Africa, Magha Mohamoud, pointed to the Structural Adjustment
Policies promoted by the World Bank and the IMF as the main culprits
responsible for the food dependency of countries in the region, causing the
break-up and privatization of basic services. Mohamud [sic]defended the food
capacity of the countries of the South to provide for their own peoples.