Call For Articles – 25 Years of Envisioning Food Sovereignty
CALL FOR ARTICLES (AND MEDIA MATERIALS)
DURATION: JULY – DECEMBER 2021
CONTEXT:
La Via Campesina (LVC)[1] Founded in 1993 by the peasants, men, and women, smallholder farmers, family farmers, indigenous peoples, rural populations, agricultural workers, the youth in urban and rural areas, to oppose the destructive capitalist industrial model that is causing hunger, inequality, and the climate crisis. Via Campesina offered food sovereignty and agroecology as alternatives to transform society.
At the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome, LVC put words to this vision by defining “food sovereignty” – as the right of people to autonomously produce healthy, nutritious, climatically, and culturally appropriate food, using local resources and through agroecological means, primarily to address the local food needs of their communities.
For us, food sovereignty and peasant agroecology are the solutionsto strengthen localized food systems critical in the fight against hunger and cool the planet, preserve biodiversity, and respect peasants’ and workers’ rights. The current COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the importance and the resilience of local food systems that have kept many people from hunger and starvation. Thus, we continue to push for a radical transformation strategy towards a fair and decent food system for all, which recognizes peoples’ needs, accords dignity and respects nature, and puts people above profits, and resists corporate capture. Now is the time to transform and build a better society.
Since its launch 25 years ago in Rome, food sovereignty has had far-reaching implications on public policies, picked up by many organizations and institutions such as the United Nations bodies (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD], Human Rights Council [UN HRC], etc). Some governments such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Mali, Bolivia, Nepal, and Senegal, etc have included it in their policies and some in constitutions. Recently, despite the “no vote” to the referendum to adopt food sovereignty in Switzerland, shows how far the vision of food sovereignty has made inroads even in developed countries. The Adoption of UNDROP by the UN General Assembly in 2018 and FAO recognition of Agroecology in 2015 are a testament to broader recognition and acceptance. Despite these successes, the corporates work tirelessly to stall and roll back further entrenchment of food sovereignty and agroecology in public policies. The recent attempt, the UN Food System Summit, is a clear example that corporate capture is in overdrive, using the COVID-19 pandemic and the increased food insecurity to push for their profit-driven interests.
In 2021, we celebrate 25 years of peasant-led efforts and campaign in our communities to bring food sovereignty to reality and continue to resist the capitalist model. We are still a long way away from achieving food sovereignty for our people and territories worldwide. Yet, the persistent efforts around the world over the last two decades ought to be recorded and used as evidence to further this vision.
DETAILS OF THE CALL
La Via Campesina is pleased to announce a call for articles (1000 – 2000 words) to the 25 Years of Food Sovereignty Celebration to come forward and help us record and archive several efforts going around the world and build evidence for this vision for food sovereignty. This call will run until the end of 2021 and is open to writers, researchers, activists, scholars – from or associated with our member organizations or allied organizations.
Scope of call
This call aims to bring together an intergenerational network of writers, artists, activists, and researchers from all over the world; to strengthen and contribute towards building a platform for people pushing for food sovereignty.
The invited persons will be expected to explore, record, and produce written or audio-visual materials in English, Spanish or French, in one or more of the following themes. These materials could be produced either by carrying out interviews, field visits (wherever possible) or focused group discussions with members and agroecology schools of La Via Campesina:
- To reflect on the future role of Food Sovereignty? What are the key issues coming up etc?
- How local food systems have been resilient over the years to face various challenges, including the current COVID-19 pandemic
- Food Sovereignty through Agroecological practices as a solution to global warming and as an alternative to the industrial agriculture: Experiences from around the world
- Food Sovereignty as a solution to address rural to urban migration: Experiences around the world
- Food Sovereignty as the Rights of People: Experiences from Nepal and other countries where FS has been turned into a constitutional or legal right
- Food Sovereignty and Popular Peasant Feminism – Role of women in realizing food sovereignty
- Food Sovereignty and Youth
- Food Sovereignty and Autonomy of Rural Communities in defining the global food system
Ownership and Publication of the produced materials: The ownership will remain with LVC, and the writer/producer will be acknowledged duly. The materials produced will be first published on LVC’s official website or social media channels, and any further publication of the materials will be subject to internal approvals.
Contact for Information
Those who are interested to participate in this call and for more information, kindly send your confirmation to the following email: lvcweb@viacampesina.org
[1] The movement comprises 182 local and national organizations in 81 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.