(This article originally appeared on peicanada.com)
Several members of the National Farmers Union (NFU) will travel to the Basque Country to participate in La Via Campesina’s 7th International Conference, July 16-24.
La Via Campesina (LVC) is a global movement that brings together organisations representing small- and medium-scale farmers, peasants, agricultural workers, and Indigenous people. LVC promotes social justice and dignity for food producers and strongly opposes corporate-driven agriculture that destroys social relations and nature. Women and young farmers play a crucial role in LVC. The NFU is a founding member of LVC and an important voice for the movement in North America.
The International Conference of LVC, held every four years, is the movement’s highest decision-making forum. Adopting the slogan “We feed our peoples and build the movement to change the world!” and collectively representing over 200 million people, delegates will decide common strategies, host internal debates for the growing global movement, and adopt a collective action plan for the next four years.
Delegates will discuss topics such as the Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, the impact of Free Trade Agreements on food sovereignty, the influence of intellectual property rights on seed, and solutions to climate change.
