The government led by Giorgia Meloni has introduced food sovereignty among the competences of the agriculture department, now entrusted in Italy to Minister Francesco Lollobrigida. The ABC to follow, with some brief reflections and proposals.
A) Food sovereignty, notion
Food sovereignty it expresses the synthesis of the values and objectives shared in the international peasant movement La Via Campesina. (1) Its definition hinges on:
- the right of peoples to healthy food consistent with their cultures, which must come
- produced with ecological and effectively sustainable methods, through
- self-determination in agricultural and food production systems.
'food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food, produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems'(La Via Campesina, 1996).
B) Food sovereignty, the six pillars
Il Forum for food sovereignty, meeting in Mali in February 2007, defined the six pillars of food sovereignty in Nyéléni's declaration:
1) right to food. All States must give political priority to the guarantee of the right to food, not to be understood as a simple bargaining chip,
2) value of work. Food production must be encouraged through support for sustainable livelihoods and respect, including through decent remuneration, for all workers,
3) short supply chain. Food systems must be rooted in territories and populations. This means:
a) reduce the distance between suppliers and consumers (localization, disintermediation),
b) delete the dumping and inappropriate food aid, (2)
c) reduce dependence on distant and not responsible suppliers,
4) means of production. The land and the means of production must remain under the control of local producers, who must have the right to live and share territories. Natural resources must not be privatized,
5) culture. Traditional knowledge must be supported and passed on to future generations also thanks to research. Rejecting technologies (e.g. GMOs, synthetic pesticides) that undermine local food systems,
6) ecology. Synergy with nature is essential to maximize the contribution of ecosystems and improve their resilience. Energy-intensive, monocultural, industrialized and destructive methods of production are rejected. (3)
C) Rights of peasants and rural communities
La A Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, approved by the UN General Assembly on 19.11.18, underlines the responsibility of its 193 members to guarantee food sovereignty, with attention to biodiversity and the fight against climate change.
Member States of the UN and the EU itself, which participates in it as a supranational body, must also guarantee:
- a dignified life to human beings involved in the supply chains. Social justice, which translates into fair payments of agricultural commodities (so-called fair trade) and adequate remuneration for workers,
- agrarian reforms structural, designed to ensure the availability of land to those who work it. And to protect the populations against the robbery of the lands, cd land grabbing,
- freedom use of their own seeds, which farmers and workers must be able to conserve, use, exchange and sell. (4)
Z) Food sovereignty in Italy
In Italy food sovereignty is still to come, outside the virtuous circuits of peasant and organic agriculture. 75.847 certified organic farmers today work 17,4% of the agricultural area used in Italy, an encouraging figure and almost double the EU average (9,2%). (5) But peasant agriculture - which perhaps expresses the greatest potential for growth even in urban and peri-urban areas - has been waiting for a law for a dozen years. (6) And social agriculture still awaits the proper support it deserves. (7)
Italian agricultural policies - always enslaved at Palazzo Rospigliosi (first Federconsorzi, then Coldiretti) - they went bankrupt precisely because of the systemic conflicts of interest. The #VanghePulite saga, on this site, has shown only a part of the enormous bonfire of public and private resources caused in recent years by the magic circle of Coldiretti. A 'union' entangled in various business where one speculates on farmers and breeders, as well as evading the tax authorities, with useful results only for the holders of always lavish positions, in spite of often disastrous management. (8,9,10,11,12). This is how the following data are explained.
Italy, abandoned agriculture
The Agricultural Area Used (UAA) in Italy collapsed from 1982 to 2020, from 15,8 to 12,5 million hectares. And cereal crops have halved in half a century, from 6 to 3 million hectares (Istat data). Neighboring France has thus become the leading producer of agricultural commodities in the EU.
The abandonment of cultivated land however, it is not due to their 'improper use', as the so-called 'Informatore Agrario' blatantly. (13) Rather, to policies that have made it uneconomical to cultivate the land and work in the fields, among other things also favoring the hiring. (14)
The agri-food heritage
Biodiversity linked to the territories is the real heritage to be preserved, together with the culture and traditions that characterize the . An example above all, the rediscovery and enhancement of ancient grains and varietal mixtures of organically grown wheat, to make bread and pasta with a negative carbon footprint. (15)
Toxic innovation which today the great agricultural confederations aim at is based on the new GMOs. To strengthen the dependence of Italian farmers on Big 4, the global pesticide and seed monopolists. In the opposite direction to biodiversity, eco-agriculture (FAO, 2019) and the protection of ecosystems (16,17).
Food sovereignty or colonialism?
To the new minister we renew the appeals already formulated to your predecessors. Food sovereignty means breaking free from the colonialism of Corporation transnationals, (18) which are expressed through the dominant agricultural confederations, in a systematic conflict of interests. (19) Allocate public resources to support farmers, starting with the smallest and most environmentally friendly ones, rather than financing solar plants for sterile businesses and unnecessary tractors. (20)
#FoodSovereigntyNOW
Dario Dongo
Cover image from La Via Campesina. See note 18
Footnotes
(1) The La Via Campesina movement, founded in 1993 in Mons (Belgium) by farmers from various continents. 182 organizations in 200 countries around the world participate, representing approximately 200 million people. In Italy it is present with ARI, the Italian Rural Association
(2) Kamini Krishna. Is international aid the panacea for Africa's problems? https://www.jstor.org/stable/48505001 World affairs, Autumn 2007, Vol. 11 No 3
(3) Declaration of the Forum for Food Sovereignty, Nyéléni Village (Sélingué, Mali). 27.2.07
https://nyeleni.org/IMG/pdf/DeclNyeleni-en.pdf
(4) Dario Dongo. Rights of the peasants, UN Declaration. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 23.11.18
(5) Dario Dongo, Alessandra Mei. Pesticide residues in organic products, accidental contamination under control. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.10.22
(6) Dario Dongo, Giulia Caddeo. Popular campaign for peasant agriculture, pending the law. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.9.19
(7) Dario Dongo, Giulia Caddeo. Social farming, opportunities awaiting support. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.5.21
(8) Dario Dongo. Nextalia sgr, Coldiretti's new tentacle in high finance. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 20.2.21
(9) Dario Dongo. Germina Campus, the Coldiretti holding company that speculates on farmers. #Clean shovels. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 13.6.21
(10) Dario Dongo. Illicit to the detriment of farmers and tax evasions, Campagna Amica continues. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 10.9.21
(11) Dario Dongo. AgriCorporateFinance, yet another Coldiretti fiasco at the expense of farmers. #Clean shovels. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.4.22
(12) Dario Dongo. Food sovereignty in the Constitution, the example of the Canton of Ticino. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 15.6.21
(13) Gabriele Canali. What do we mean by food sovereignty. https://www.informatoreagrario.it/news/cosa-dobbiamo-intendere-per-sovranita-alimentare/ The agricultural informant. 25.10.22
(14) Dario Dongo, Sabrina Bergamini. Water and sanitation, governments and corporals. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 28.7.20
(15) Dario Dongo, Paolo Caruso. Biodiversity in agriculture, varietal blends of high quality organic wheat and bread. Ecosystems, health and taste. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.2.22
(16) Dario Dongo, Riccardo Clerici, Silvia Comunian. New GMOs, it is essential to strengthen the risk analysis. Scientific review. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 14.6.20
(17) Dario Dongo. New GMOs at the service of agrotoxicants. Evidence of 9 in Monsanto's new GE corn. Petition. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.7.20
(18) 16 October 2022, International Day of Action for Peoples' Food Sovereignty against Transnational corporations. La Campesina Via. https://viacampesina.org/en/event/16-october-2022-international-day-of-action-for-peoples-food-sovereignty-against-transnational-corporations/
(19) Dario Dongo, Marta Strinati. CAP post 2020, environment and health at risk. Appeal to the EU Parliament. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.10.20
(20) Dario Dongo. PAC, the European Commission rejects Italy's National Strategic Plan. #Clean shovels. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 14.4.22
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
