H I S T O R Y

History of the IPC

The Plan of Action 1996 Forum for Food Security – Food for All not Profit for the Few - underscored the crucial role that civil society can play in implementing the commitments underwritten by governments, and that civil society involvement is vital if the goal of halving the number of undernourished people in the world by no later than the year 2015 is to be reached.

© Gunnar Album

In preparation for the 2002 World Food Summit: five years later, a network of some of the major NGO/CSO regional, thematic and constituency networks concerned with food and agriculture issues came together to form the International NGO/CSO Planning Committee (IPC). Our intensive preparations resulted in an active civil society presence at the WFS:fyl and a dynamic and productive NGO/CSO Forum for Food Sovereignty parallel to the Summit, in which three quarters of the delegates came from developing countries and the majority from organizations representing rural people. The Forum adopted an Action Agenda, to be carried out by the IPC, which identifies a series of priority areas to be acted upon at national/regional/global levels.

Key Events in development of the IPC and Food Sovereignty

1995
· NGO/CSO process involving civil society and social movements in all regions developed an agreed strategy on food and agriculture issues.

1996
Forum on Food Security
· NGO/CSO organised the Forum on Food Security, held in parallel to the World Food Summit, launched the concept of Food Sovereignty.

2000
Formation of the IPC
· 52 CSOs came together as the IPC to plan for maximum impact on the World Food Summit: five years later.

2001
Regional NGO/CSO Consultations in preparation for the WFS:fyl
· Dialogue held with member governments in regions.
· Recommendations made about on-going cooperation with FAO.
· The draft NGO/CSO position paper and draft Political Declaration of Civil Society for the WFS:fyl were debated and prepared in a process involving more than 2000 CSOs, social movements worldwide.

8-13 June, 2002
NGO/CSO Forum for Food Sovereignty, Rome
· Over 600 Organizations, mostly from the global South, participated directly.
· Adopted broad Action Agenda and prioritised four issues.
· Mandated the IPC to facilitate implementation of the Action Agenda.

January, 2003
Agreement with Director General of FAO
· FAO committed to work with the IPC as the principal Civil Society interlocutor for follow-up to the WFS:fyl and the Forum for Food Sovereignty.
· Agreed with the Director General a programme of work on the four priority issues of the Action Agenda.
· IPC organises Civil Society lobbies and Side Events at the FAO committees and the FAO Conference.

2004
· Organisation of regional NGO/CSO Consultations in conjunction with the FAO regional Conferences.
· The implementation of the action agenda continues worldwide.
· Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food adopted by FAO Members, in part due to effective CSO lobby.

2005
· Food producers organisations participated to the FAO technical committees (fisheries, commodity products, agriculture, world food security);
· The IPC continues supporting the Food Sovereignty agenda in the regions and at international level : the Caravan for Food Sovereignty in Asia, workshops on GMO and food sovereignty in Amman, Tunis, Porto Alegre, IPC general meeting in November.
· The IPC facilitates the NGO/CSO/Social Movements preparation process towards the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development.

2006
· The IPC participates in the World Social Forum in Bamako and organises a seminar on Land Reform.
· First Steering Committee of the Nyeleni 2007 – Forum for Food Sovereignty to be held in Mali in February 2007.
· The IPC facilitates the 5th NGO/CSO Consultation for Africa.
· The IPC facilitates the participation of civil society organisations at the Forum “Tierra, terriorio y dignidad”, to be held in parallel to the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in Porto Alegre, March.
· Other events where the IPC will facilitate NGO/CSO participation: FAO Regional Conferences, WFS “Special Forum”.

Forum for Food Sovereignty: Four Priority Areas

· The right to food and food sovereignty: NGOs/CSOs affirm that the right to safe, adequate and nutritious food and healthy water is a fundamental human right of individuals and groups and food sovereignty that of peoples and nations, as well as the right of farmers, peasants and fisherfolk to produce food for their own families and their domestic markets. These fundamental human rights have to be respected by international institutions, governments and the economic actors.

· Access to, management of, and local control of, natural resources: commitment to ensuring that small-scale farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk and Indigenous Peoples should have equitable access to and control over land, water and genetic resources necessary to maintain their livelihoods in a sustainable manner.

· Small-scale family and community-based agroecological food production: commitment to prioritising agroecology as the mainstream sustainable and appropriate production system for food and farming, livestock raising and fisheries.

· Trade and Food Sovereignty: commitment to promoting an equitable and fair trade system that is a positive force for development and does not detract from the realisation of any human rights.

© Gunnar Album

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