Report: CIDSE Workshop at WSF 2013: Which investment for the right to food? – CIDSE
    Shalmali Guttal of Focus on the Global South

    Report: CIDSE Workshop at WSF 2013: Which investment for the right to food?

    Shalmali Guttal of Focus on the Global SouthBrussels: 1 degree C.

    Tunis: 21 degrees and rising.

    Perfect.

    After an amazing opening march of the World Social Forum yesterday, meetings with friends and allies from across the globe, and settling in at the Campus El-Manar in Tunisia, the CIDSE delegation today held our first workshop under the title Which investment for the right to food?

    The workshop addressed the concern of small scale food producers regarding investments in agriculture; of particular concern is the role of multinational companies in the agriculture sector. While small holders are the primary providers of food, they are also the ones who are most affected by food insecurity; these small holders are the main investors in agriculture, yet they are neglected by governments who are increasingly turning to the private sector for false solutions. In this context, the workshop aimed at:

    1. informing civil society about the consultation organized by the FAO Committee on World Food Security on principles for responsible agricultural investment;
    2. mobilizing, spreading and articulating civil society proposals; and
    3. collecting contributions for an autonomous consultation.

    Opening March at WSF TunisThe workshop counted with contributions from social movements in Taiwan, Indonesia; Argentina, Senegal and Tunisia. As Riza Damanik from Indonesia for Global Justice said: “Farming and fishery is about dignity, it’s about feeding the world”. This cannot be done without small scale food producers. Investments must first and foremost be directed towards them.

    Now the CIDSE team will split up, you can find some of us at the CCFD-event on the impact of the Arab Spring on migration, or heading out to side meetings. Don’t miss our workshops on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and on a Financial Transaction Tax tomorrow morning, as well as our events on Food Sovereignty and on the Agricultural Transition in the afternoon!

    Greetings and many thanks,

    The CIDSE team at the WSF 2013

     

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