What is IPC

The International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty is an international network that brings together several organizations representing farmers, fisherfolks and small and medium scale farmers, agricultural workers and indigenous peoples, as well as NGOs, providing a common room for mobilization that holds together local struggles and global debate. Therefore the IPC constitutes, on the global level, the only platform aggregating large organized bodies that represent together hundreds of millions of food producers, aiming to play an active role in the debate on global governance and accountability (and effectiveness) of the international institutional architecture in order to support or undermine the ability of national governments to protect the interests of small food producers and consumers. The IPC opens a new path, to broaden the opportunities of political negotiation for people organizations and movements within FAO, with the aim of establishing an effective democracy, not only bringing new social actors right where decisions are taken, but also their contents, working methods and militancy.

Our program

What is and what it does then the IPC?

The IPC acts facilitating the discussions between NGOs, social organizations and movements, as well as facilitating the dialogue with FAO. Therefore it is a tool for discussion and opinion sharing, first of all among social organizations at time struggling to communicate and better recognize themselves, which is legitimated by the common need to advance the struggle for Food Sovereignty, particularly in reference to FAO, with the hope of indentifying in this United Nations agency at least formally responsible to fight hunger, an attentive interlocutor.

Since 2003 the IPC has facilitated the participation of over 2,000 representatives of small food producers and indigenous peoples in FAO’s regional conferences, technical committees and global negotiation processes for treaties and conventions, opening FAO up to voices which were previously absent from its policy forums. This has involved not just mobilizing resources for travel, but also diffusing documentation, conducting training on the issues concerned, supporting the formulation of People’s Movement position papers and, on some occasions, organizing parallel civil society forums. In this way, the IPC has facilitated significant contributions by PMs to processes such as the formulation and adoption by the FAO Conference of Voluntary Guidelines on the Application of the Right to Food at National Level in 2004, the 2006 International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development and the civil society forum held in parallel to it, the implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the development of specific instruments to defend the interests of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the context of the FAO Code of Conduct on Responsible Fisheries. The IPC is currently supporting advocacy by civil society/people’s movements regarding solutions to the food crisis and changes to be made in global governance of food and agriculture, in particular the reform of the FAO Committee on World Food Security.

Our believes

The IPC formally came into existence in the preparations for the June 2002 World Food Summit: Five years later. The assumptions that define the framework for the IPC’s political initiative are found in particular in two key documents that summarize its analysis and mission:

-Food Sovereignty: a right for all. Political statement

-Food Sovereignty: an action

The global Civil Society Forum for Food Sovereignty held in parallel to the Summit adopted a Declaration and an Action Agenda and mandated the IPC to carry them forward.

Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty

Definition of Food Sovereignty

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. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation. It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers and users. Food sovereignty prioritises local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal - fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just incomes to all peoples as well as the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition. It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food. Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social and economic classes and generations.

Six Principles of Food Sovereignty
(from Synthesis Report)

Food Sovereignty:

is FOR

is AGAINST

1.

Focuses on Food for People:

Food sovereignty puts the right to sufficient, healthy and culturally appropriate food for all individuals, peoples and communities, including those who are hungry, under occupation, in conflict zones and marginalised, at the centre of food, agriculture, livestock and fisheries policies;

and rejects the proposition that food is just another commodity or component for international agri-business

2.

Values Food Providers:

Food sovereignty values and supports the contributions, and respects the rights, of women and men, peasants and small scale family farmers, pastoralists, artisanal fisherfolk, forest dwellers, indigenous peoples and agricultural and fisheries workers, including migrants, who cultivate, grow, harvest and process food;

and rejects those policies, actions and programmes that undervalue them, threaten their livelihoods and eliminate them.

3.

Localises Food Systems:

Food sovereignty brings food providers and consumers closer together; puts providers and consumers at the centre of decision-making on food issues; protects food providers from the dumping of food and food aid in local markets; protects consumers from poor quality and unhealthy food, inappropriate food aid and food tainted with genetically modified organisms;

and rejects governance structures, agreements and practices that depend on and promote unsustainable and inequitable international trade and give power to remote and unaccountable corporations.

4.

Puts Control Locally:

Food sovereignty places control over territory, land, grazing, water, seeds, livestock and fish populations on local food providers and respects their rights. They can use and share them in socially and environmentally sustainable ways which conserve diversity; it recognizes that local territories often cross geopolitical borders and ensures the right of local communities to inhabit and use their territories; it promotes positive interaction between food providers in different regions and territories and from different sectors that helps resolve internal conflicts or conflicts with local and national authorities;

and rejects the privatisation of natural resources through laws, commercial contracts and intellectual property rights regimes.

5.

Builds Knowledge and Skills:

Food sovereignty builds on the skills and local knowledge of food providers and their local organisations that conserve, develop and manage localised food production and harvesting systems, developing appropriate research systems to support this and passing on this wisdom to future generations;

and rejects technologies that undermine, threaten or contaminate these, e.g. genetic engineering.

6.

Works with Nature:

Food sovereignty uses the contributions of nature in diverse, low external input agroecological production and harvesting methods that maximise the contribution of ecosystems and improve resilience and adaptation, especially in the face of climate change; it seeks to “heal the planet so that the planet may heal us”;

and rejects methods that harm beneficial ecosystem functions, that depend on energy intensive monocultures and livestock factories, destructive fishing practices and other industrialised production methods, which damage the environment and contribute to global warming.

These six principles are interlinked and inseparable: in implementing the food sovereignty policy framework all should be applied.

Our proposals
In January 2003, the IPC and FAO co-signed an Exchange of Letters which laid out a programme of work in follow-up to the Summit and the Forum in four priority areas:

1. The right to food
2. Agro-ecological approaches to food production
3. Local access to and control of natural resources
4. Agricultural trade and food sovereignty

As precondition for any negotiation, the IPC calls for:

1. A recognition and respect for the principles ruling its work,
2. The strengthening of the institutional space for dialogue between FAO and social organizations
3. An extended political dialogue, from the center to the periphery (FAO regional and national offices)
4. Atrue cooperation in field activities and in the Agency legislative work

FAO accepted the principles of civil society autonomy and self-organization and pledged to take steps to enhance the institutional environment for relations with civil society, while the IPC acknowledged its responsibility to ensure broad outreach to people’s organizations and social movements in all regions and facilitate their participation in policy dialogue.

Sources:
Right to Food - Luca Colombo, Antonio Onorati
Strengthening Dialogue: UN Experience with Small Farmer Organizations and Indigenous Peoples - Nora McKeon and Carol Kalafatic

English / Español / François

Useful Documents

Relation with FAO

FAO Declares War on Farmers not on Hunger. (31/05/2004) (An open letter to Mr. Jacques Diouf, Director General of FAO )

Letter of Agreement between FAO and IPC. (16/01/2003)

Developing a new relationship between FAO and NGO/CSO Organizations: principles and action. (01/11/2002) (Proposals presented IPC to the Director- General of FAO, Jacques Diouf)

What is IPC

Useful Documents

Highlights

Inside view

Nyéléni 2007: Forum for Food Sovereignty Definition of Food Sovereignty
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. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It defends the interests and inclusion of the next generation. It offers a strategy to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers and users. Food sovereignty prioritises local and national economies and markets and empowers peasant and family farmer-driven agriculture, artisanal - fishing, pastoralist-led grazing, and food production, distribution and consumption based on environmental, social and economic sustainability. Food sovereignty promotes transparent trade that guarantees just incomes to all peoples as well as the rights of consumers to control their food and nutrition. It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food. Food sovereignty implies new social relations free of oppression and inequality between men and women, peoples, racial groups, social and economic classes and generations.
Six Principles of Food Sovereignty (from Synthesis Report)
	Food Sovereignty:	is FOR	is AGAINST
1.	Focuses on Food for People:	Food sovereignty puts the right to sufficient, healthy and culturally appropriate food for all individuals, peoples and communities, including those who are hungry, under occupation, in conflict zones and marginalised, at the centre of food, agriculture, livestock and fisheries policies;	and rejects the proposition that food is just another commodity or component for international agri-business
2.	Values Food Providers:	Food sovereignty values and supports the contributions, and respects the rights, of women and men, peasants and small scale family farmers, pastoralists, artisanal fisherfolk, forest dwellers, indigenous peoples and agricultural and fisheries workers, including migrants, who cultivate, grow, harvest and process food;	and rejects those policies, actions and programmes that undervalue them, threaten their livelihoods and eliminate them.
3.	Localises Food Systems:	Food sovereignty brings food providers and consumers closer together; puts providers and consumers at the centre of decision-making on food issues; protects food providers from the dumping of food and food aid in local markets; protects consumers from poor quality and unhealthy food, inappropriate food aid and food tainted with genetically modified organisms;	and rejects governance structures, agreements and practices that depend on and promote unsustainable and inequitable international trade and give power to remote and unaccountable corporations.
4.	Puts Control Locally:	Food sovereignty places control over territory, land, grazing, water, seeds, livestock and fish populations on local food providers and respects their rights. They can use and share them in socially and environmentally sustainable ways which conserve diversity; it recognizes that local territories often cross geopolitical borders and ensures the right of local communities to inhabit and use their territories; it promotes positive interaction between food providers in different regions and territories and from different sectors that helps resolve internal conflicts or conflicts with local and national authorities;	and rejects the privatisation of natural resources through laws, commercial contracts and intellectual property rights regimes.
5.	Builds Knowledge and Skills:	Food sovereignty builds on the skills and local knowledge of food providers and their local organisations that conserve, develop and manage localised food production and harvesting systems, developing appropriate research systems to support this and passing on this wisdom to future generations;	and rejects technologies that undermine, threaten or contaminate these, e.g. genetic engineering.
6.	Works with Nature:	Food sovereignty uses the contributions of nature in diverse, low external input agroecological production and harvesting methods that maximise the contribution of ecosystems and improve resilience and adaptation, especially in the face of climate change; it seeks to “heal the planet so that the planet may heal us”;	and rejects methods that harm beneficial ecosystem functions, that depend on energy intensive monocultures and livestock factories, destructive fishing practices and other industrialised production methods, which damage the environment and contribute to global warming.
These six principles are interlinked and inseparable: in implementing the food sovereignty policy framework all should be applied.