Demand -Food Sovereignty

Nyéléni & the Global Food Sovereignty Movement 1. Origins of Food Sovereignty • Food sovereignty emerged in 1996 when La Via Campesina, a global movement of peasant and small-scale farmer organizations, introduced the concept at the World Food Summit. It offered a bold alternative to corporate-driven, globalized food systems—shifting focus to local economies, community rights, and democratic control over food systems Nyéléni Global Forum+1. • Its roots also trace back to global mobilizations against corporate trade agreements like the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture around the same time, as small-scale producers sought to protect their livelihoods Nyéléni Global Forum. ________________________________________ 2. The First Nyéléni Global Forum (2007) • The first Nyéléni Forum was held in February 2007 in Sélingué, Mali, where over 500 delegates from around 80 countries gathered to build a global movement for food sovereignty. The forum cultivated shared vision and strategies for equitable, people-led food systems Nyéléni Global Forumfoei.orgviacampesina.org. • The name “Nyéléni” honors a legendary Malian peasant woman who resisted patriarchy, prioritized farming, and became a symbol of resilience, sovereignty, and grassroots agricultural traditions Wikipediafoei.org. ________________________________________ 3. Building Momentum & Regional Forums • Following the 2007 gathering, the movement expanded through regional forums. For instance, Nyéléni Europe met in 2011 (Austria) and again in 2016 (Romania), drawing hundreds of participants from dozens of countries to build regional solidarity and strategies for food sovereignty nyeleni-eca.net+1. • In 2015, a special International Forum on Agroecology reaffirmed that agroecological farming—and peasant, indigenous, and family farm systems—must be central to addressing climate and biodiversity crises nyéléni+1. ________________________________________ 4. The Nyéléni Process & Systemic Transformation • The Nyéléni Process represents an ongoing, multi-year global effort led by grassroots movements and the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC). This process fosters regional consultations and builds a cohesive political agenda rooted in food sovereignty, climate justice, gender equity, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, peace, and democracy nyéléni+1foodsovereignty.org. • It is framed by the urgent rallying cry: “Systemic Transformation Is Now or Never!” Reflecting the need to confront intersecting global crises—economic, social, environmental, and political—through collective, transformative action foodsovereignty.orgnyéléni. ________________________________________ 5. The 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum — Sri Lanka, September 2025 Overview • Scheduled for September 2025 in Kandy, Sri Lanka, the forum will convene over 500 grassroots activists and leaders from more than 80 countries and 50+ social movements, making it one of the most inclusive assemblies of food sovereignty and allied social justice movements World March of Women+1Nyéléni Global Forum+1. Why Sri Lanka? • Sri Lanka represents both crisis and resilience. The country has endured crippling debt crises, neoliberal austerity imposed by structural adjustments, and erosion of public services—yet also demonstrated powerful resistance, notably through the Aragalaya uprising of 2022, where working-class movements ousted corruption and sparked renewed hope for systemic justice phmovement.org+1World March of Women. Who Will Participate? • A broad coalition: peasant farmers, Indigenous Peoples, fishers, pastoralists, agricultural workers, artisans, feminist and climate justice organizations, health workers, migrant laborers, trade unions, social and solidarity economy activists, students, artists, researchers, and more—all committed to building democratic, equitable, and resilient systems Nyéléni Global Forumviacampesina.orgphmovement.org. Objectives & Themes • Develop shared analyses of global interlinked crises. • Build alliances and joint strategies, celebrate cultural diversity, exchange knowledge and experiences. • Advance common vision for: o People’s economies and democracy o Food sovereignty & agroecology o Land, territory, health for all o Climate justice & energy sovereignty o Solidarity and international cooperation • Rejecting capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, racism, fascism—pushing toward systemic transformation for a just future Nyéléni Global Forum+2Nyéléni Global Forum+2nyéléniWorld March of Women+1phmovement.org. Organizing Process • Coordinated through six regional processes and guided by a Global Steering Committee of social movements and grassroots networks, supported by NGOs in solidarity with technical expertise Nyéléni Global ForumWorld March of Women. ________________________________________ 6. Summary Table: Key Milestones of Nyéléni Year / Era Milestone 1996–2001 Launch of food sovereignty concept by La Via Campesina at World Food Summit; elaborated in Havana, Cuba (2001) Nyéléni Global Forum+1. 2007 1st Nyéléni Forum in Mali, 500+ delegates from ~80 countries; named after Malian heroine Nyéléni Nyéléni Global Forumfoei.orgWikipedia. 2011 & 2016 Regional Nyéléni Forums in Europe & Central Asia, consolidating movement at continental level nyeleni-eca.net+1. 2015 International Forum on Agroecology emphasizes agroecology’s role in confronting environmental crises nyéléni+1. 2020s Launch of multi-region Nyéléni Process by IPC—focused on systemic transformation and intersectional justice nyéléni+1foodsovereignty.org. Sept 2025 3rd Global Forum in Sri Lanka: landmark convergence of global movements to drive transformative agendas Nyéléni Global Forum+1phmovement.orgWorld March of Women+2World March of Women+2. ________________________________________ 7. Why This Matters • The Nyéléni forums and process embody a people-centered alternative to neoliberal, extractivist food systems, aiming to build a resilient, democratic, and just global food system. • The Sri Lanka forum marks a significant expansion—bringing in broader social movements to address not just food systems, but integral issues like health, energy, climate, gender, and economic justice. • It models collective, intersectional mobilization, where frontline voices co-create solutions, challenge systemic oppression, and envision systemic transformation in a fractured world. නියෙලෙනි කථාව 1996 දී ලෝක ආහාර සමුළුවේදී La Via Campesina ගොවීන්ගේ ජාත්යන්තර ආණ්ඩුවේ නොවන ජාලය විසින් “ආහාර සාරවත්භාවය” (Food Sovereignty) යන නාමය එකතු කළේය. මෙය මහා ව්යාපාර හා ගෝලීයකරණය වෙනුවට ජනතා අයිතිකම් සහ ප්රාදේශීය ආර්ථිකයන් රැක ගැනීමේ අදහසයි. 2007 දී මාලි රටේ Selingué නගරයේ ප්රථම “නියෙලෙනි” ගෝලීය මණ්ඩපය පැවැත්විණි. රටවල් 80කට අධිකව සහභාගිවූ නියෝජිතයින් විසින් ගොවීන්, මසුන්පිලිස්, අන්දිජන ජාතීන්, කම්කරුවන් සහ ජනතා සංවිධාන එකට ගෙන ආහාර පද්ධති පවත්වා ගැනීමේ එකම දැක්මක් ගොඩනගා ගත්හ. “නියෙලෙනි” නම මාලි රටේ ගොවී කාන්තාවක් වූ නායකියෙක්ගෙන් ගත් එකකි. ඇය ගොවීන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ කාන්තා සමානත්වය සඳහා සටන් කලේය. 2025 සැප්තැම්බර් – ලංකාව [Srilanka ] මෙවර 3 වන ගෝලීය මණ්ඩපය ශ්රී ලංකාවේ Kandy නගරයේ පැවැත්වේ. රටවල් 80කට අධිකව සිටි 600ට වැඩි නියෝජිතයින් සහ කම්කරුවන්, ගොවියන් ,ධීවරයන්, ආන්තික ජන කොටස්,ස්වදේසිකයින්, කාන්තා හා පරිසර අයිතිවාසිකම් සඳහා සටන් කරන සංවිධාන සහභාගී වේ. ප්රධාන මූලික අවධානයන් • ජනතා ආහාර අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ කෘෂි පද්ධති (Food Sovereignty & Agro ecology) • භූමි, ජලය, සෞඛ්යය සහ පරිසරය රැක ගැනීම • ලෝක උණුසුම්වීම හා අලුත් බලශක්ති සඳහා සටන • ජාත්යන්තර සහයෝගීතාව සහ සාමය • නූතන නව-ආර්ථික පීඩනය, වාණිජවාදය, පෞරුෂ පාලනය, වර්ණවාදය, නව-නේවාසිකත්වය ප්රතික්ෂේප කිරීම. මෙය ආහාර පද්ධති පමණක් නොව, සමූහ සහභාගීත්වය මත පදනම් වූ සාමය සහ සාධාරණය ගොඩනගන විශාල ජාත්යන්තර උත්සවයකි. ந்யேலேனி வரலாறு 1996-ல் உலக உணவு உச்சி மாநாட்டில் La Via Campesina எனும் சர்வதேச விவசாயிகள் இயக்கம் “உணவு இறையாண்மை” (Food Sovereignty) என்ற கருத்தை அறிமுகப்படுத்தியது. இது பெருநிறுவனங்கள் மற்றும் உலகமயமாக்கலுக்குப் பதிலாக மக்களின் உரிமைகள் மற்றும் உள்ளூர் பொருளாதாரங்களை பாதுகாப்பது என்ற நோக்கத்துடன் வந்தது. 2007-ல் மாலி நாட்டின் Selingué நகரில் முதல் ந்யேலேனி உலக மாநாடு நடந்தது. 80-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட நாடுகளில் இருந்து வந்த விவசாயிகள், மீனவர்கள், பழங்குடிகள், தொழிலாளர்கள் மற்றும் சமூக அமைப்புகள் ஒன்றிணைந்து உணவு அமைப்புகளை மக்களின் கட்டுப்பாட்டில் வைக்கும் நோக்குடன் ஒருங்கிணைந்த கண்ணோட்டம் உருவாக்கினர். “ந்யேலேனி” என்ற பெயர் மாலி நாட்டின் ஒரு புரட்சிகரமான பெண் விவசாயியிடமிருந்து எடுத்தது. அவர் விவசாயிகள் உரிமைகள் மற்றும் பெண்கள் சமத்துவத்திற்காக போராடினார். 2025 செப்டம்பர் – இலங்கை மூன்றாவது உலக மாநாடு இலங்கையின் கண்டி நகரில் நடைபெற உள்ளது. 80-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட நாடுகளில் இருந்து 500-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட பிரதிநிதிகள் – விவசாயிகள், மீனவர்கள், பெண்கள், சூழல் உரிமை ஆர்வலர்கள், தொழிலாளர் சங்கங்கள் – பங்கேற்கிறார்கள். முக்கிய கவனப்பகுதிகள் • மக்களின் உணவு உரிமை & இயற்கை வேளாண்மை (Food Sovereignty & Agroecology) • நிலம், நீர், சுகாதாரம், சுற்றுச்சூழல் பாதுகாப்பு • காலநிலை நீதி மற்றும் புதுமையான ஆற்றல் • சர்வதேச ஒற்றுமை மற்றும் அமைதி • முதலாளித்தனம், குடியேற்ற ஆதிக்கம், வன்முறை ஆட்சி, இனவெறி ஆகியவற்றை நிராகரித்தல் இது உணவு அமைப்பை மட்டுமல்லாமல், மக்களின் பங்களிப்பில் அமைந்த நீதி, அமைதி மற்றும் ஒற்றுமையை உருவாக்கும் ஒரு பெரிய சர்வதேச கூடுகையாகும்.