Sunday June 1

10:00-12:00: Agrofuel brunch (in front of FAO, co-organised with Italian organisations)

11:30-12:30: IPC press conference (in front of FAO)

17:00-19:00: Official forum opening (Città dell’Altra Economia, open to the public)

- Mystica

- Framing the issues: Brief overview of the main issues followed by representatives of constituencies providing their assessment (“testimonies”) of the problem and ways
forward.

- Intervention of Mr. Lennart Båge, President, IFAD (to be confirmed)

- Intervention of Mr Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

- Intervention of M. Jacques Diouf, FAO DG (to be confirmed)

- Intervention of M. Gianni Alemanno, Rome mayor (to be confirmed)

Monday June 2

9:00-12:30: Plenary
- Introduction/overview of key themes and issues, objectives and outcomes of the forum, the problems and proposed solutions (About the Forum: Maryam Rahmanian,
Political overview: Antonio Onorati)

- Discussion

12:30-14:30: Lunch

14:30-18:00: Working groups by theme

18:30-20:00: Evening side events

- Agricultural research for food sovereignty (organised by the International Institute for Environment and Development)

- The future of Agriculture. a roundtable discussion by the journal "Development"

Tuesday June 3

9:00-12:00: Working groups by theme

12:00-15:00: Walk to Temple of Cerere (Roman goddess of grain), press conference, walk to FAO

13:30-15:00: NGO/CSO panel as side event of the FAO Conference (only NGO/CSOs with prior accreditation will be allowed inside the FAO building)

15:00: Walk back to Città dell’Altra Economia

16:00-18:30: Plenary to share information between the working groups

- 10 minutes presentation from each group followed by plenary discussion

- Drafting group presents an outline of the declaration

19:00-20:30: Evening side event

- How global finance and neoliberal investment agenda impacts struggles for land control and food sovereignty of social movements (CRBM, CIC and Corner House UK)

Wednesday June 4

99:00-12:30: Working groups by theme

12:30-14:30: Lunch

14:30-17:30: Closing plenary to discuss conclusions of the thematic working groups and ways forward; read and approve final declaration

18:00-19:30: Evening side event

- Right to Food (organised by FIAN)

- Presentation of the report, “We know what we want”, Action Aid

Food crisis
Prices on the world market for cereals are rising. In countries that depend heavily on food imports some prices have gone up dramatically and protests and political chaos have resulted. What are the causes of this crisis and what is the best way to respond? What are the political responses at national, regional and global levels by governments and institutions? DOWNLOAD THE BACKGROUND PAPER

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The model of agricultural production and its effects on the climate crisis.
Which model of agricultural production is the best option to cool down the planet?
Why are peasant based agriculture, herding and artisanal fisheries part of the solution to the climate crisis? What contribution can peasants, fisher folk, pastoralists, indigenous people,.. make to help solve the climate crisis? What are the negative effects of the industrial, corporate-led agriculture, livestock and fisheries production? What is the role of the corporate actors in this? How to react on the issue of methane emission by cows and rice fields?
DOWNLOAD THE BACKGROUND PAPER

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Energy and agrofuels
What are the negative effects of their large scale introduction? What are the interests behind the introduction of agrofuels? Are there conditions under which agrofuels could give a positive contribution and reduce the use of fossil energy? This includes an analysis of the use of energy in agriculture, transportation, model of consumption, the effects of agro-fuels on land use, agro-fuels as an instrument of corporations to gain control, impacts on food production, on rural communities, on the environment. DOWNLOAD THE BACKGROUND PAPER

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Increased land conflicts related to the climate crisis.
The degradation of land because of erosion and droughts, the flooding of certain coastal areas and the increased pressure to produce agrofuels may lead to more intensive conflicts around land, in particular collective land. How do we analyse this issue and what are our proposals?

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What policies are needed regarding agriculture, livestock and fisheries in order to respond to the climate crisis?
This would include an analysis of the effects in the different regions (in particular Africa and Asia will be strongly effected). How can we increase the resilience against potential effects of the climate crisis (e.g. the role of agricultural biodiversity)? How can we strengthen models of peasant-based production, small-scale herding and artisanal fisheries that contribute to a reduction of climate gasses? What is our assessment of the Kyoto process? What kind of policies do we need at national and international level? What role do we expect from FAO and IFAD? What is our analysis of the policies envisions so far to respond to climate change by the major institutions (such as the World Bank's Climate Investment Fund)?