Food Sovereignty Day

18 October 2011

Food Sovereignty Day
Building the movement to reclaim our food system
18 October 2011
House of Commons, Public entrance –St Stephen's Gate

The global food system is in crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are going hungry, many more small farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk and indigenous people are losing their livelihoods and the planet’s resources are being depleted. This crisis is happening because decisions about what is produced, what is consumed, how it’s produced and who has access to food are defined by multinational corporations that control the entire food chain with the complicity of international financial institutions. The struggle to regain control over our food is more important than ever.

Food Sovereignty is the solution to the current food crisis. Come and join us for a day of discussion, debate and strategising to build the food sovereignty movement and reclaim our food system. You are welcome to attend one or all of the meetings below.

Seminar: Building Strategies
10am – 1pm Committee Room 10

This seminar will offer space to share initiatives that are already taking place to challenge the dominant, corporate agribusiness model in the UK and at a global level. There will also be space to discuss the development of a strategy to build the food sovereignty movement in the UK.

Contributors:
Janeatte Longfield: Co-ordinator of Sustain
Diana Fisher:  Education officer Garden Organic
John Hilary: Executive Director, War on Want
Luis Muchanga: National Coordinator, National Peasants’ Union of Mozambique (UNAC)
Nicole Vosper: Somerset Community Food
Helen Rimmer: Tescopoly
Les Levidow: Open University, Development Policy and Practice
Deepak Rughani: Biofuelwatch

Seminar: Democratising Research
2 – 4pm Committee Room 11

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology will host this seminar on democratising research, giving the opportunity to hear about and discuss the importance of conducting agroecological research that is accessible to small food producers and enables them to input into the range and nature of work undertaken.

Contributors:
Dr Julia Wright: Deputy Director of the Centre for Agroecology and Food Security University of Coventry
Professor Martin Mortimer: University of Liverpool Mark Hodkinson freelance agronomist and soil scientist
MP Robert Flello: Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology

International Rally: Food Sovereignty Now! 
6:30 – 8:30pm Grand Committee Room

You will have the opportunity to hear representatives of the small-scale farmers’ movement, La Via Campesina, from Sri Lanka, Brazil and Mozambique. A Cuban delegate will also talk about how agroecology and food sovereignty have been successful in building a food system based on democratic, environmentally sustainable and socially just principles.

Contributors:          
Sarath Fernando: National Coordinator, Movement for National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR), Sri Lanka
Delwek Matheus: National Coordinator, Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), Brazil
Dr. Roberto Caballero: Cuban Association of Technicians on Agriculture and Forestry (ACTAF)
Hellen Yego: National Secretary, Ngoma Farmers Campaign, Kenya
Baroness Susan Miller: Co-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology (APPGA)
Robert Flello MP: Co-Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Agroecology (APPGA)
John Hilary: Executive Director, War on Want
Graciela Romero: International Programmes Director, War on Want

The day is open to all but registration is essential due to limited spaces. Please register by emailing ktekateka@waronwant.org, or 020 7324 5065