UK FOOD GROUP
UKFG PRIORITIES
EUROPEAN NETWORKS
RESOURCES
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UK Food Group Resources
 The
UK Food Group is a network of non-governmental organisations from a broad
range of development, farming, consumer and environment organisations
who share a common concern for global food security.
| Securing our Future Food: towards ecological food provision |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 30/04/10 |
This Briefing Paper was prepared for the UK Food Group by Kevan Bundell, based on research and other contributions by Aaron de Grassi and Nicholas Parrott, with further inputs by many members of the UK Food Group and our EC consortium partners.
This timely Briefing shows why it is necessary to make the radical shift towards ecological food provision in order to secure future food for the world’s predicted 9 billion people. The systems that currently feed most people in the world are smaller-scale and locally-sourced. They can be enhanced through practices based on agroecology to meet current and future global demands for food. Research and trade policies and agricultural support measures urgently need to be reoriented in this direction.
The Briefing is the result of a process organised by the UK Food Group, as part of the EC public advocacy project, to gather information about the current challenges resulting from the industrial agriculture model of production and the opportunities resulting from more ecological approaches. In addition to the material summarised from a fully referenced, longer online document, boxed quotes from other processes are included, notably the outcome of the Forum for People’s Food Sovereignty now! and its preparatory process, which published the working document ‘Policies and Actions to Eradicate Hunger and Malnutrition’, and Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty. |
| EFSG Joint Contribution to EU Consultation |
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| Author: EFSG |
Date: 13/01/10 |
| EFSG Joint Contribution to the EU Consultation on the Issues Paper "Towards an EU policy framework to assist developing countries addressing agriculture and food security challenges" |
| The European NGOS members of CONCORD common position on the reform of the FAO Committee on Food Security (CFS) |
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| Author: CONCORD EFSG |
Date: 20/10/09 |
| The European NGO members of Concord have been heartened by the steps towards more effective cooperation and coordination that have been taken by international institutions over the past months. Now the reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) provides a decisive opportunity to set the global governance of food, agriculture and nutrition on a firm basis. As we move toward the final negotiations of the reform in the coming session of the CFS in Rome on 14-17 October the position of the European Union is crucial since its stance thus far has been generally supportive of the effort to transform the CFS into a strong and authoritative global policy forum. |
| Hidden Threats: an analysis of intellectual property rights in EU-ACP economic partnership agreements: unveiling the hidden thr |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 08/10/09 |
| This briefing, written by Andrew Mushita of the Community Technology Development Trust for the public advocacy project "African smallholders in focus - a voice in EU trade policy", provides an overview of how international rules on IPRs, as proposed to be included in the EPA texts, add significant challenges and threats to securing food supplies, food sovereignty and the sustainable use and conservation of agricultural biodiversity, especially in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. |
| The European NGOS members of CONCORD common position on the reform of the FAO Committee on Food Security (CFS) |
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| Author: EFSG |
Date: 07/10/09 |
| The European NGO members of Concord have been heartened by the steps towards more effective cooperation and coordination that have been taken by international institutions over the past months. Now the reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) provides a decisive opportunity to set the global governance of food, agriculture and nutrition on a firm basis. As we move toward the final negotiations of the reform in the coming session of the CFS in Rome on 14-17 October the position of the European Union is crucial since its stance thus far has been generally supportive of the effort to transform the CFS into a strong and authoritative global policy forum. |
| UK Food Group contribution to the White Paper |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 03/06/09 |
The UK Food Group (UKFG)1 2is making this submission to inform the preparation of the
White Paper. These comments refer to four of the five questions posed in the White Paper
consultation.
We argue that the UK government should include food and farming as an essential part of
this White Paper, but that is not enough. It is essential that the government is both bold and
radical in suggesting real and meaningful changes to the sustainable production and
distribution of food. We argue that it should facilitate the implementation, without delay, of
changes in its international development programme that will assist countries and
communities to realise food sovereignty. For example, the IAASTD report, which the
government approved, offers the way forward – sustainable agricultural production based on
the wise and prudent and sustainable use of our environment. |
| 2008 monitoring report of the European Commission's proposal for Advancing African Agriculture (AAA) |
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| Author: European civil society organisations |
Date: 09/12/08 |
| This report is drawn from research carried out by a number of European CSOs and published in a longer background document (see below). |
| Advancing African Agriculture - The Impact of European policies and practices on African Agriculture (background document) |
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| Author: European civil society organisations |
Date: 23/10/08 |
Monitoring Exercise by European Civil Society Organisations of the EC's "Advancing African Agriculture" (AAA): proposal for continental and regional level cooperation on agricultural development in Africa (COM(2007)440 final. AAA aims at providing strategic guidance for allocating European Development Fund (EDF) and other EC resources and for overall coordination of European support to African agriculture by all Member States.
Despite expressed concerns about the food crisis in Africa, European policies and practices are still negatively affecting African Agriculture - radical changes, in the direction of policy coherence above all; are needed urgently to support Africa's small-scale farmers so that Africa Can Feed Itself.
The overall conclusions and recommendations of this exercise are that:
Whatever positive steps have been taken by DG Development in implementing AAA (e.g. support for African farmer networks currently under negotiation) have been more than overshadowed by the negative impact of European policies in other areas (trade, investment, agriculture, agribusiness).Effective mechanisms for enhancing coherence of bilateral and multilateral European support have not been put in place. A clear framework for involving European CSOs and African farmers' organizations has not be developed despite recommendations in this regard by the General Council and the European Parliament, The November 2008 review by these bodies needs to address these deficiencies.
The current food crisis offers an opportunity for promoting AAA and rethinking paradigms for agricultural development, the architecture for the global governance of food and agriculture issues, and modalities of North/South partnerships in order to realize food sovereignty and secure local food supplies. EU has an extremely significant role to play in this context. to play this role authoritatively will require a far higher degree of coherence than presently obtains.
European civil society - working with African farmers' organizations and other African civil society sectors - has an important role to play in proposing alternative approaches, such as food sovereignty, monitoring implementation (at both global and country levels) and pointing to coherence issues that governments and intergovernmental institutions have difficulty in acknowledging.
It is important in coming years to involve sectors of European civil society not normally concerned about African agriculture, including family farmers, consumers, environmentalists, trade unions, and to win their support for coherent European policies that promote sustainable, equitable development for both European and African society.
The 2009 European Parliamentary elections offer an opportunity to bring these issues to the attention of a wider public. |
| Food Price Crisis : What needs to be done? |
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| Author: CONCORD European Food Security Group |
Date: 22/10/08 |
The food prices crisis requires policy change, especially in the field of agriculture, based on the human right to food as well as short term and long term efforts in terms of aid governance.
Besides providing a short analysis of the causes of the current food price crisis and the impact they are having on the lives of the poorest, this document provides a critical outlook on the international responses already underway and sets out the main short, medium and long term policy responses necessary to tackle the crisis. The final part of the document details the calls to action by the EFSG regarding this crisis. |
| More Aid for African Agriculture: policy implications for small-scale farmers |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 28/08/08 |
This report is a call to governments to increase Aid for small-scale African farmers in ways that will help them to feed their people, improve their livelihoods and sustain the environment.
Aid to improve local food production and consumption does not, however, appear to be the priority, despite the urgency of the food crisis.
The evidence presented in a report published today “More Aid for African Agriculture: policy implications for small-scale farmers” is that there is an apparent consensus among major donors to focus aid rather on five main issues that support economic growth and the liberalisation agenda: aid effectiveness; market- and private sector-led agricultural growth; exiting agriculture; improved governance; and African ownership of problems and solutions. |
| UK Food Group submission to IDC enquiry World Food Programme and Global Food |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 14/05/08 |
UK Food Group submission to the International Development Committee - published July 2008.
Summary:
• This submission focuses on the need for improved cooperation, refocusing of goals and reorganisation of tasks between UN and other international agencies concerned with the governance of the global food system, including the Food and Agriculture Organisation, at a time of not only a food crisis, but also institutional crises in the agencies.
• It provides an historical overview through a selected overview of the, still relevant, outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference and a review of the current context including the impacts of increased concentration of economic power in the food system; trade rules; climate change; food and health; water and waste; and agrofuels.
• It argues that a new approach to secure future food supplies is needed, one that is based on local control of food systems, securing locally-procured and accessible grain stores and building on the knowledge of the world’s main food providers – small-scale producers – that defends their production systems, which work with nature. The multilateral agencies will need to work more effectively together and with States and meso-level institutions to implement such approaches.
• It supports the idea of a meta-evaluation of the key global food agencies, subsequent consultation at national and regional levels on the results of such an evaluation and the formulation in a global meeting of proposals for an inclusive body, comprising both State and Civil Society actors, that could provide oversight, coherence and accountability of the different agencies.
• It also suggests that the IDC may wish to follow carefully the processes on Aid Effectiveness and the review of DFID’s 2005 agriculture policy that need to consider institutional coherence and cooperation.
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 14/05/08 |
| Highlights about the global food crisis and some actions and events with which we are involved. |
| UK Food Group Annual Report 2007 |
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| Author: Patrick Mulvany |
Date: 31/01/08 |
| UK Food Group activities for the past year. |
| Food sovereignty principles |
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| Author: Patrick Mulvany |
Date: 03/01/08 |
| The six principles of food sovereignty derived from Nyéléni 2007: forum for food sovereignty, and an article written for the Food Ethics Council Bulletin about this forum are in this document. |
| New Year 2008 message from UKFG Chair |
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| Author: Patrick Mulvany |
Date: 03/01/08 |
| Message highlighting events and challenges in 2008 |
| Report UK World Food Day 2007 |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 06/11/07 |
“Defending Farmers and the Right to Food”
UK World Food Day 2007
FULL REPORT - 16pp PDF (550 kb)
The UK Food Group marked World Food Day on 16th October with a series of member-led seminars, briefings, publication launches and debates. The seminars and debates described how food providers should be integrated into decision making processes and could be better supported in order to realise the Right to Food and food sovereignty. |
| World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 29/10/07 |
| The World bank has published its World Development Report 2008 "Agriculture an Development". The attached PDF file contains and links to comments by NGOs (Oxfam, Action Aid, IATP) as well as links to the contents of the full report. |
| Comments on DFID draft White Paper “Eliminating World Poverty” |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 03/04/06 |
We welcome the opportunity to participate in the process to deliver a new White Paper this year to the extent that it will build upon and strengthen the initiatives and policies proposed in the previous two White Papers. Our support is also qualified by the extent to which the new White Paper will signal a decisive shift in the manner of
development assistance towards an inclusive, deliberative process of inclusion of poor women and men and their representative organisations in decision making about, and actions resulting from, aid policies and programmes. |
| Achieving fairness in trading between supermarkets and their agrifood supply chains |
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| Author: UK Food Group Briefing Paper |
Date: 30/10/05 |
Authored by Anne Tallontire and Bill Vorley.
What are the prospects for fair trade to become the norm rather than exception for trading between supermarkets, their suppliers, and farmers at home and around the world?
That is the question asked in this paper, which comes at a time of widespread scrutiny of UK supermarkets and their influence on the livelihoods of food producers and suppliers. The paper reviews the opportunities and risks in incorporating fairness into supermarkets' trading practices. It concludes with a series of public policies, especially competition policy, that would be required to underpin fairness and equity in companies’ mainstream trading practices. |
| UKFG response to DFID consultation on “Productivity growth for poverty reduction: an approach to agriculture” |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 12/10/05 |
The UKFG engaged with DFID in its consultation process on developing its new long-term agriculture and poverty reduction guidelines for its programmes and country offices, in particular facilitating responses from CSOs to its 14 working papers. The UK Food Group submitted it's response in September 2005.
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| FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: towards democracy in localized food systems |
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| Author: ITDG Publishing / FIAN |
Date: 22/05/05 |
This paper was launched by the author, Michael Windfuhr, at a UK Food Group Seminar in June 2005.
"FOOD SOVEREIGNTY: towards democracy in localized food systems" by Michael Windfuhr and Jennie Jonsén, FIAN. ITDG Publishing - working paper. 64pp. 2005. Also available in Spanish.
The paper provides a comprehensive history, overview and analysis of the Food Sovereignty Policy Framework. Links to many key statements and documents produced over the past decade.
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| EU Competition Rules and Future Developments from the Perspective of Farmers and Small Suppliers |
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| Author: British Institute for International and Comparative Law |
Date: 31/03/05 |
| This briefing outlines the EU legal framework on competition policy. It specifies the opportunities for action that CSO’s can take at the national and European level, in order to curb the harmful impact of supermarket power on small farmers. |
| DFID’s Agriculture Review: UK Food Group seminar report |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 10/12/04 |
| Report on the UKFG seminar on 30th of November "DFID’s Agriculture Review" including the DFID and IIED presentations and our follow up letter to Hilary Benn. |
| Dialogue on Agricultural Trade Reform, Subsidies and the Future of Small and Family Farms |
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| Author: Tom Lines |
Date: 01/04/04 |
This paper is intended to serve as the main input to a conference on Agricultural Trade Reform, Subsidies and the Future of Small and Family Farms and Farmers, to be held in June 2004. It reports on a survey conducted for the U.K. Food Group (UKFG) / Sustain Working Group on Trade and Agriculture. An invitation to participate in the survey and associated dialogue was extended to numerous non-governmental organisations in October 2003.
Also see the list of submissions to the paper with links to the submission papers. |
Food, Inc.
Corporate concentration from farm to consumer |
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| Author: Bill Vorley, UK Food Group |
Date: 30/10/03 |
This new report details the impact of buyer power on the food chain, notably detailing its impact on farmers and farm workers, both in the North and the South. It examines the impact of the growing concentration of those companies who trade, process, manufacture and sell agricultural goods and the impact on a range of commodities. The report also points to policies that can ensure more equitable trading relationships and provides options for re-balancing the markets.
Summary version of same document (text only) click here (35k)
For hard copies of the report, contact the UK Food Group |
| GM Crops and Developing Countries |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 11/07/03 |
This 2-page briefing presents the UK Food Group's rebuttal of the biotech lobby's claims that GM crops are "necessary to eradicate hunger".
High res graphics version of same document click here (780k) |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 20/01/03 |
| Brochure about The UK Food Group. Explains the objectives, working methods and acheivements of the UK Food Group. Contains directory of contact details for member organisations. |
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| Author: UK Food Group / Sustain |
Date: 08/07/02 |
| The European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must be transformed to embrace new social, environmental, animal welfare, rural and international development, and health objectives. |
| Common Agricultural Policy Briefing 2 |
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| Author: UK Food Group / Sustain |
Date: 01/07/02 |
| Options for reform and their potential impact. |
| Common Agricultural Policy Briefing 1 |
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| Author: UK Food Group / Sustain |
Date: 01/02/02 |
| How the CAP operates, the key commodities, competitors and markets for the EU. |
| Selling out: the cost of free trade for India’s food security |
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| Author: UKFG |
Date: 01/12/99 |
| An essay by Devinder Sharma: As the world’s leaders gather in Seattle to negotiate the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), this essay considers how free trade threatens the very foundations of India’s hard-won food security. |
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| Author: UK Food Group |
Date: 31/03/99 |
Hungry for Power details the impact of food and agriculture transnationals on food security. Between then, the food and agribusiness corporations have huge control over every part of the food chain, from land to seeds, crops to chemicals, processing to marketing.
Hungry for power spotlights the activities of Nestle, Cargill, Monsanto, Chiquita, Zeneca and British American Tobacco - all are charged with undermining global food security. |
| EFSG Common position on the reform of the Committee on Food Security |
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| Contact: EFSG |
Date: 08/10/09 |
The current crisis of the food system is the product of decades of wrong policies, of neglect of agriculture and rural development, of faith that markets would suffice to guarentee the right to food of the world’s population. The food crisis – interlinked with the financial, climatic and energy crises - has worsened the intolerable situation of the over one billion persons in the world who suffer from chronic hunger. At the same time, however, it has opened a window of opportunity by highlighting the urgency of deep changes in both the paradigms and the governance we adopt while seeking to attain food and nutrition security.
The European NGO members of Concord have been heartened by the steps towards more effective cooperation and coordination that have been taken by international institutions over the past months. Now the reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) provides a decisive opportunity to set the global governance of food, agriculture and nutrition on a firm basis. As we move toward the final negotiations of the reform in the coming session of the CFS in Rome on 14-17 October the position of the European Union is crucial since its stance thus far has been generally supportive of the effort to transform the CFS into a strong and authoritative global policy forum.
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| AGRICULTURE AT A CROSSROADS: Implementing the findings of the international agriculture assessment |
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| Contact: IAASTD |
Date: 22/09/08 |
30th October, 2:00-5.00pm, London.
Sponsored by: Andrew George MP and Alan Simpson MP.
Keynote speaker: Professor Bob Watson, Director IAASTD and DEFRA Chief Scientist. More information as 125kb PDF |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 25/02/10 |
Development House, 56 - 64 Leonard Street, London
Thursday 25th February 2010, 1:30pm – 5:00pm
The first session, which was opened with the screening of the trailer of The Pig Business, a documentary by Tracy Wurster on the operations of factory farming, was the opportunity to review the past year and planning future activities. Members and friends were able to exchange information on their issues and priorities for 2010/11. This session was also the opportunity for the UK Food Group to discuss with members its ways of working and UKFG priorities for 2010/2011, one of which is the issue of “models of production”, the theme for this year’s EC project with European and African partners.
The second session was the opportunity to hear Mr Davo Vodouhe, coordinator of the Beninese Organisation for the Promotion of Organic Agriculture (OBEPAB), who offered insight of the issues surrounding sustainable cotton production in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Annual Meeting was brought to a close with the screening of Joy Carey’s short summary of her longer film, ‘Organic is the only sensible way’. |
| Seminar on Agroecology and Environmental Approaches to Agriculture |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 24/02/10 |
All Party Parliamentary Group On Agriculture And Food For Development in conjunction with the UK Food Group
House of Lords — Wednesday 24th February 2010
Speakers: Prof. Martin Wolfe, Research Director — Organic Research Centre, Elm Farm; Dr. Julia Wright, Research Associate — Garden Organic; Patrick Mulvany, Senior Policy Adviser — Practical Action and co-chair UK Food Group; Dr Michel Pimbert, Principal Researcher, Natural Resources Group, Food and Agriculture, Biodiversity — International Institute for the Environment and Development.
Agroecological approaches to food provision will contribute to addressing environmental issues while maintaining and increasing productivity. This was a Key Finding of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which DFID Ministers approved back in June 2008. The APPG report "Why no thought for food", launched last month, recommended that DFID must implement the findings IAASTD. The implications of these findings are a need to fundamental changes to agricultural policy and practice, if hunger is to be averted in ways that will ensure equity and restore the environment. This seminar will explore and discuss how to move towards these necessary agroecological approaches. |
| Food Sovereignty and the Right to Food |
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| Contact: UKFG |
Date: 28/01/10 |
Keynote Presentation: Michael Windfuhr, author “Food Sovereignty: towards democracy in localised food systems”
28 January 2010
This seminar will inform, discuss and deepen understanding of the ways in which implementing the food sovereignty framework and realizing the right to food will strengthen our food systems and eradicate hunger, secure livelihoods of food providers and sustain the biosphere. Michael Windfuhr’s presentation will provide insight into the stark choices for the food system in the face of multiple crises. |
| Rewriting the Rules... to secure our future food |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 28/09/09 |
| Our well-attended conference discussed urgent solutions to rising hunger and the multiple crises affecting the world’s dysfunctional food system that leaves one billion hungry and makes one billion obese. It discussed and proposed changes to national and international rules and regulations that should be rewritten if we are to secure future food supplies in ways that are socially and environmentally sustainable. Policy analysts and farmers from Europe and Africa led debates about specific rule changes and alternatives, in the context of food sovereignty |
| Soya, Amazon destruction and climate change - a perspective from Brazil |
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| Contact: UKFG |
Date: 15/03/09 |
The 24 February meeting Soya, Amazon destruction and climate change - a perspective from Brazil, attended by more than 50 people, was the chance to hear the dynamic Father Edilberto Sena, both a Roman Catholic priest - influenced by Liberation Theology - and a campaigner who is seeking to defend Amazonia against land-grabbers, loggers, ranchers and agribusiness multinationals. "We are small and we are fighting multinationals like Cargill - people who are using soya as a commodity. But I'm sure there are at least 200,000 Amazonians listening to my broadcast. Our objective is to educate the people, provide critical and objective news."
The UKFG is very grateful to Friends of the Earth and Sustain for co-sponsoring the meeting, to Father Edilberto Sena, Claire Oxborrow, Friends of the Earth and Sue Branford, regular author and columnist on Latin American issues and Chair of War on Want, for speaking at the meeting and to Patrick Mulvany, UK Food Group, for chairing. |
| Agriculture at a Crossroads: Implementing the findings of the international agriculture assessment IAASTD |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 30/10/08 |
The 30 October UKFG meeting "Agriculture at a Crossroads: Implementing the findings of the international agriculture assessment - IAASTD" was enriched by the participation of about 100 people in a packed Committee Room in the Houses of Parliament. We are very grateful to Andrew George MP and Alan Simpson MP for sponsoring the meeting, to Bob Watson, Director IAASTD and DEFRA Chief Scientist, Patrick Mulvany, Practical Action, and Janet Cotter, Greenpeace, for speaking at the meeting and to Jeanette Longfield, Sustain, for chairing.
The meeting deepened understanding about this important UN/World Bank-sponsored report from the IAASTD and explored ways to implement its findings. |
| UK Food Group Seminar on The Future Control of Food: IPRs and Trade Agreements |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 11/02/08 |
The Future Control of Food: IPRs and Trade Agreements
UK launch of a seminal book on this subject
THE FUTURE CONTROL OF FOOD A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Food SecurityEdited by Geoff Tansey and Tasmin Rajotte
Published by Earthscan
The launch will be followed by a discussion on Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Partnership Agreements
We are delighted to be able to confirm this meeting. It comes at the start of an important year for policy debase on agriculture, food, the environment and development. Some of these were highlighted in Patrick Mulvany’s New Year message www.ukfg.org.uk/docs/UKFGchairNewYear2008.pdf
On these and related matters we have decided to focus our first meeting of 2008 on the upcoming debates on agricultural biodiversity, agrofuels, GMOs, Terminator and IPRs in the context of the meetings of the Convention on Biological Diversity – the first of which is from 18 – 22 February in Rome – and the ongoing negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements.
There will also be an opportunity to update on the UKFG’s and member organisations’ activities. The afternoon session will give us an opportunity to examine a key issue in greater depth.
We will host the UK launch of Geoff Tansey’s book “The Future Control of Food” and then have a discussion on the impact of Intellectual Property Rights clauses that may be inserted into trade agreements, in particular Economic Partnership Agreements, and what we could do about this. |
| World Food Day 16 October: defending farmers and the Right to Food |
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| Contact: UK Food Group |
Date: 20/10/07 |
16 October 2007, 9:30-17:30, NCVO, Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London, N1 9RL
Registration: anita.mccabe@concern.net |
| ANNUAL MEMBERS MEETING 2007 |
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| Contact: UKFG |
Date: 14/02/07 |
UK Food Group Members' Meeting
Wednesday 14 th February 2007
Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street , London EC2A 4JX (Nr Old Street tube station)
Basement meeting room, please ring for Pesticide Action Network
Maplink: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=533123&y=182358&z=1&sv=533123,182358&st=4&ar=Y&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf
Agenda
12 noon – 1:15pm UK Food Group business
• Chair's review of the year's activities (15 mins)
• Roundtable of members' food and agriculture activities for 2007 (30 mins)
• Adoption of the UKFG constitution and changes to the management group (15 mins)
• AOB
1:15pm – 1:45pm Buffet lunch
Agricultural song from Humberto Ríos Labra
1:45pm – 4:30pm Afternoon session on Food Sovereignty
1:45pm Colin Hines, author
Co-author with Caroline Lucas MEP, of the new report ‘ Fuelling a food crisis' ' which will be available at the meeting. Colin will be asking “ What alternative agriculture policies should there be? What are the policy changes that are necessary in order to move away from our dependence on oil in the food chain?” (15 mins)
Questions
2:10pm Dr. Humberto Ríos Labrada , Garden Organic partner
Food Sovereignty and small farmer innovation in Cuba (10 mins)
Panel on Food Sovereignty and Nyéléni 2007 - Forum for Food Sovereignty, Sélingué, Mali 23-27 Feb
2:20 pm Aksel Naerstad , Norwegian Development Fund and European member of the organising committee for Nyéléni 2007
Nyéléni 2007 and the importance of European engagement in food sovereignty debates (15 mins)
Questions
3:00pm 5 mins from each of the UK Nyéléni 2007 Delegates on their perspectives on food sovereignty and what they hope to bring back from Nyéléni 2007:
• Rachel Sutton (UKFG coordinator): UK Platform for Food Sovereignty perspective
• Mike Hart (Small and Family Farmers Association/ Via Campesina): A UK smallholder farmer's perspective
• Joe Zacune (Friends of the Earth): An environmentalist's perspective
3:20pm Discussion
How can UK NGOs take the food sovereignty message forward? What do we want the Nyéléni 2007 process to achieve? How can we as UK NGOs build solidarity with others actively practising food sovereignty as in Cuba ? What measures can we take to promote the localisation of food production and consumption and move away from our dependence on oil for food production?
4:15pm Summing up by the Chair
4:30pm Close
Contact: Rachel Sutton, UK Food Group co-ordinator 0207 713 5813 / 07858 149 784 rachel@ukfg.org.uk
* * Date for Your Diary * * There will be a Nyéléni 2007 feedback session at the next UKFG WG (SusAg&Trade/PTT) meeting* *
* * 14 March 2007, 12:30 – 3:00pm, Thorne Room, The Commonwealth Club, 18 Northumberland Ave , London , WC2N 5BJ * *
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| AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY COALITION (UK) |
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| UKabc is an activity of the UK Food Group: Bringing together Public Interest UK organisations concerned with Sustainable Use, Conservation, Benefit Sharing, Trade, Patents, Intellectual Property, Biopiracy, Biotechnology, Genetic Engineering, Biosafety and other issues related to the Equitable Use of Agricultural Biodiversity for Local Food and Livelihood Security. |
| BOND (British Overseas NGOs for Development) |
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| The UK Food Group represents BOND on food and farming issues. |
| CONCORD - European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development |
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| Being the network that represents British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND) on global food and farming issues, the UKFG attends CONCORD’s European Food Security Group (EFSG) meetings. |
| European Platform for Food Sovereignty |
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| The European Platform for Food Sovereignty (EPFS) is a cooperation between different national platforms. The UK platform is coordinated by the UK Food Group. |
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