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Select moments from the Four Stories workshop, September 1-7 2019

This is a short film of moments from the Four Stories About Food Sovereignty workshop held in T'sou-ke traditional territory in British Columbia, Canada, from September 1-7 2019.

Select scenes from The Thinking Garden

Moira Simpson This is a film about resilience - three generations of older women in a village in South Africa came together in the dying days of apartheid to create a community garden. Filmed agained the backdrop of an epic drought gripping southern Africa, The Thinking Garden tells the remarkable story of what can happen when women take matters into their own hands, and shows how local action in food production can give even the most vulnerable peope a measure of control over their food and their futures.

FAO will cooperate with La Via Campesina, the largest movement of small food producers in the world

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Rome, 4 October 2013) Today, during a meeting between La Via Campesina and FAO's Director general Jose Graziano da Silva an agreement of cooperation was formalized which acknowledged the essential role played by small holder food producers. Their role was recognised as most important in the eradication of world hunger. The cooperation will focus on various key areas: strengthening peasant based agro-ecological food production, protecting small holders rights to access land and water, as well as improving farmers rights over seeds in accordance with international and national seed laws. This cooperation's framework will lay special emphasis on the key role played by youth and women in food production as well as the need to improve their access to land and other productive resources. According to Elizabeth Mpofu from the General Coordination of La Via Campesina,"this is an important step forward in our efforts to address UN institutions and governments to have a policy shift towards Food Sovereignty. We expect that this cooperation will give further support to our peasants and small farmers who work on their fields to produce food for the majority of the world population".

Evolutionary Plant Breeding in Jordan

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations The Use of genetic resources to establish a multi country program of evolutionary participatory plant breeding is a project sponsored by the Benefit-sharing Fund in its second round of project cycle with the overall aim of improving Food Security by empowering farmers' communities to manage genetic diversity and enhancing the adaptation of barley, wheat, maize and rice crops to climate change challenges through the adoption of evolutionary participatory plant breeding (EPPB). EPPB represents an attempt to make the process of in situ conservation more dynamic by combining participation and evolution in participatory breeding programmes. The Jordanian National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension and the Iranian Center for Sustainable Development, is engaged in developing models for giving a large number of farmers access to a great amount of biodiversity in a relatively short time.

Harvesting the Desert – Strengthening Food Security for Colombia’s indigenous people

EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations La Guajira is a desert stretching into the Caribbean Sea, covering north-eastern Colombia and north-western Venezuela, both countries with acute humanitarian needs. A remote, destitute region, La Guajira has suffered a seven-year drought worsened by El Niño’s disruption of usual rain patterns in recent years. Spread over 20 000 km² (about the size of Slovenia), this peninsula is home to Colombia’s largest indigenous population, the Wayuu, who number close to 300 000 people. The Wayuu have been battling drought and floods which devastate their crops, livestock and livelihoods. In 2016 alone, 86 children lost their lives to malnutrition. The EU and its humanitarian partners UNFAO and UNICEF are helping hundreds of Wayuu families improve their Food Security, through technical and material support for better, more sustainable farming. Recovering traditional ways of subsistence saves lives in the short term, but also builds up the resilience of the most vulnerable to future droughts and floods.

Farmers in Colombia Work to Protect Food Security (ASPROCIG)

American Jewish World ServiceThe Sinú River in northern Colombia has supported a diverse community of indigenous people for generations. The Zenu and Embera people who live by its banks depend on the river for fish, irrigation and drinking water. But in 2000, the Urrá Dam, built by a consortium of Colombian, Swedish and Russian companies, submerged over 7,400 hectares of land, crops, homes and sacred sites. The dam displaced 2,800 people and continues to threaten the lives of 70,000 by altering vital food supplies. Areas of severe periodic flooding and drought caused by its flow have stymied traditional farming practices. Compounding this reality is the construction of a new dam—many times the size—by the Colombian government, presenting a constant looming threat over this beleaguered rural community. Enabling survival in a changed landscape. In response to the radical changes brought about by the dam, a local NGO—Association for Community Development of the Cienaga Grande (ASPROCIG)—is working to restore the ecology and agricultural productivity of the region by helping farmers along the Sinú develop agriculture and aquaculture farms suitable to the changed environment. With AJWS's support this year, ASPROCIG-supported farmers will establish 100 new farming systems.

UBCIC 44th AGA - Grand Chief Ed John - Food Sovereignty & Impacts of Developments

UBCIC Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Grand Chief Ed John, speaking about Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Food Sovereignty: Valerie Segrest at TEDxRainier

TEDx Talks The Indian tribes around the Puget Sound have practiced sustainable balance with its foods for thousands of years, but now the prairie lands and mountain berry meadows are disappearing and salmons runs are dwindling. Valerie Segrest, a member of Muckleshoot tribe and native foods educator tells us to listen to the salmon and cedar tree, who teach us a life of love, generosity and abundance, and to remember when we take better care of our land, we are taking better care of ourselves. Valerie Segrest is a native nutrition educator who specializes in local and traditional foods. As an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, she serves her community as the coordinator of the Muckleshoot Food Sovereignty Project and also works for the Northwest Indian College's Traditional Plants Program as a nutrition educator. In 2010, she co-authored the book "Feeding the People, Feeding the Spirit: Revitalizing Northwest Coastal Indian Food Culture". Valerie received a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Bastyr University in 2009 and a Masters Degree in Environment and Community from Antioch University. She is a fellow for the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy. Valerie inspires and enlighten others about the importance of a nutrient-dense diet through a simple, common sense approach to eating.

Seeds of Sovereignty

The Gaia Foundation As the world's agriculture and food systems face a crisis of disappearing seed diversity, a new short film tells the story of how African farming communities and organisations are reviving traditional seed diversity across the continent, and resisting mounting corporate pressure to use industrialised seed and farming methods. This film is the follow up to our landmark 2012 film Seeds of Freedom, narrated by Jeremy Irons. Find out more and watch more films at seedsoffreedom.info

Global Struggle for Food Sovereignty: A Discussion with African Food Leaders & Farmers

Todd Boyle Global Struggle for Food Sovereignty: A Discussion with African Food Leaders & Farmers. October 12, 2014 African farmers are fighting for “food sovereignty,” the right of all people everywhere to control their food systems. You are invited to hear first-hand from African food leaders and farmers about how corporate “philanthropists” like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are working to transform African small-holder agriculture into American-style industrial agri-business, with all its problems. Join us for a reception and a panel discussion to learn about the struggle for global Food Sovereignty and how we can work in solidarity to change these alarming trends.