{"id":5170,"date":"2025-06-26T12:43:42","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T12:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/?p=5170"},"modified":"2025-06-26T12:43:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T12:43:42","slug":"building-a-healthy-and-a-thriving-future-food-sovereignty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/?p=5170","title":{"rendered":"Building a Healthy and a Thriving Future: Food Sovereignty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Poster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I rejoice today to be surrounded by such incredible power, extraordinary strength, brilliance, wisdom, grace, and leadership. When women unite, we spark each other\u2019s light, and together, we move mountains, catalyse action, shape the future, and drive real transformative change. No wonder they say that “when women gather, the world shifts a little. And change happens!”<\/em><\/p>\n

In the words of one of my Mentors, Dr. Vadana Shiver Food is <\/strong>L<\/strong>ife. Food is <\/strong>D<\/strong>ignity. Food is <\/strong>P<\/strong><\/em>ower<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0 He who controls your food controls your society, and he who controls your seeds controls life on Earth. Thomas Sankara also said<\/strong><\/em>, \u201cThose who feed you \u2013 control you.\u201d Food sovereignty means power. The power of choice is in the hands of the people<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our local food is more than just nourishment; it\u2019s a vessel of history, it\u2019s community bonding, and indigenous knowledge passed down through generations. Preserving this heritage is an urgent necessity. Our children deserve to inherit a rich food tradition that promotes health, pride, and cultural continuity.\u00a0 WE ARE WHAT WE EAT. In our campaigns, we say, WHAT YOU EAT MUST NOT EAT YOU!<\/em><\/p>\n

There is systematic infiltration targeted at our local crops, staples, and diets, which undermines the cultural value of our indigenous diets and risks creating a generation disconnected from their Food roots, which invariable threatens our Food Sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it strange in a world of abundance, too many of our people face hunger, malnutrition, toxic food environments, and ecological collapse? My Father, Comrade Nnimmo Bassey, paints this picture aptly in His Poem \u2018Mountains of food; Oceans of hunger!<\/p>\n

This is not an accident. Our Food system is threatened. It is corporate-controlled, profit-driven, and extractive, and it is harming our people, our planet, and our health. It is painful to note that our small-scale farmers are still the first victims of this industrial model of production. Sad, that the ones producing food can hardly live from the land anymore in our societies.<\/p>\n

At this point on the pathway and road to COP30 and Beyond, we want to make it abundantly clear to the corporations and multinational companies. You cannot tell our story or our narratives without us in the room. We will not back down, we will not be silenced, we will not look away. We are Here! We are Rising and we are bringing change!<\/p>\n

We cannot allow the retrogressive messaging of industrial corporate bodies, agencies, and their local actors to continue unchallenged.\u00a0 We cannot continue to make chemical giants happy at our expense. It is time to advance a common-sense approach.<\/p>\n

It is not all doom; there is hope. A transformative solution exists –Food Sovereignty to rescue. \u00a0<\/strong>This is how we will build a healthy and thriving future.<\/p>\n

It is the right of people, of communities, to define their food systems.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is about who controls land, seeds, water, food, and knowledge.<\/em><\/p>\n

It is about local control, not corporate control.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s about respect for the people who produce the food<\/em><\/p>\n

It is about growing food in ways that nourish people and the planet: agroecology, biodiversity, and deep cultural knowledge.<\/em><\/p>\n

It puts women, Indigenous peoples, small-scale farmers, and communities<\/strong> at the centre, not corporations.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why does this matter so urgently?<\/strong> Because the industrial food system is driving:<\/p>\n

Climate change<\/strong> \u2014 responsible for up to one-third of global greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

Biodiversity collapse<\/strong> \u2014 destroying nature\u2019s web of life.<\/p>\n

Land grabbing<\/strong> \u2014 pushing people off their ancestral lands.<\/p>\n

Unhealthy, toxic diets<\/strong> \u2014 driving pandemics of disease and malnutrition.<\/p>\n

Without Food Sovereignty, there can be no food justice.
\nWithout Food Sovereignty, there can be no climate justice.
\nWithout Food Sovereignty, there can be no health justice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And what is the role of women in this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Women grow more than 50% of the world\u2019s food<\/strong>.
\nWomen are the true seed savers. The knowledge holders. The custodians of biodiversity.<\/p>\n

Yet, too often, women are denied land, excluded from decision-making, and marginalised in policies.<\/p>\n

Building Food Sovereignty is feminist work; <\/strong>it means dismantling the patriarchal and corporate power structures in food systems.<\/p>\n

Women must be in the front and centre<\/strong> in this struggle.<\/p>\n

So what must we do?<\/strong> Even as we \u00a0prepare to go to Brazil for COP30 and also to Sri Lanka for the 3rd<\/sup> Ny\u00e9l\u00e9ni Forum \u00a0in September,<\/p>\n

We must:<\/p>\n

Reclaim our local food systems<\/strong> \u2014 from seed to plate.<\/p>\n

Defend women\u2019s land rights<\/strong> \u2014 no land, no food sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Resist corporate capture<\/strong> of food, land, seeds, and governance.<\/p>\n

Promote agroecology<\/strong> \u2014 for health, resilience, and life.<\/p>\n

Build strong alliances<\/strong> across women\u2019s movements, Indigenous movements, farmers\u2019 movements, youth, and urban communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mariann Bassey Orovwuje<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally \u2014 the vision.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Food Sovereignty is not just a dream; it is being built right now by women, farmers, and Indigenous peoples across the world.<\/p>\n

It is a radical, hopeful vision for food systems that nourish our bodies, our cultures, and our planet.<\/p>\n

A Thriving<\/strong> F<\/strong>ood <\/strong>S<\/strong>ystem is not only possible<\/strong>, <\/strong>\u00a0it is urgent. <\/strong>And as women, \u00a0we must lead boldly.<\/p>\n

We are not guests at these tables of power \u2014 we are here to reshape them. And together, we will build a healthy, thriving future, rooted in Food Sovereignty. We are Here! We are Many! We are Ready! \u00a0And we will not be stopped. Thank you.<\/p>\n

A presentation by Mariann Bassey Oruvwuje at Global Women’s Assembly for Climate Justice: Path to COP30 and Beyond on Tuesday, June 24, 202,5, on Zoom. Mariann is the deputy Executive Director of ERA\/FoEN.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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I rejoice today to be surrounded by such incredible power, extraordinary strength, brilliance, wisdom, grace, and leadership. When women unite, we spark each other\u2019s light, and together, we move mountains, catalyse action, shape the future, and drive real transformative change. No wonder they say that “when women gather, the world shifts a little. And change […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8,11,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-era-in-the-news","category-field-reports","category-news","category-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5170"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5175,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170\/revisions\/5175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erafoen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}