It was not unpredictable and for the past ten years we have kept on warning the international community about the current world food crisis. Maryam Rahmanian, from the Iranian Centre for Sustainable Development & Environment (CENESTA) opened with these words the press conference of “Terra Preta”, the forum of social movements held in parallel to the High-Level Conference on World Food Security in June. “The final declaration will not fill any plate and the recommendations for more liberalisation will lead to more violations of the right to food” continued Maryam Rahmanian. The High-Level Conference on World Food Security was echoed by strong criticism from civil society movements participating to the “Terra Preta” forum.

“Terra Preta” press release defined the Conference as a “failure” stating that “the final Declaration would continue to favour speculation”. Civil society held a forum parallel to the Conference with the objective of addressing the issues of food sovereignty right to food. International representatives of small farmers, fisherfolks, indigenous peoples, pastoralists and NGOs gathered in Rome for their forum and about 900 CSOs and NGOs signed their statement “No More Failures as Usual”.

The civil society community underlined how the current crisis is the result of decades of neglect of the agriculture sector by governments and United Nations agencies. “It is disappointing that governments still do not recognize that the present food crisis is the result of decades of structural adjustment policies that have systematically violated the right to food” explains Flavio Valente, Secretary General of FIAN International, the international human rights organization that advocates for the realization of the right to food. Civil society movements appealed for concrete actions in order to face the crisis. Among these, the end of financial speculation, inclusion of agriculture in the Kyoto framework, and justice for the victims of the crisis, are needed. Moreover, the civil society community appeals for the establishment of a United Nations Commission on Food Sovereignty, which would guarantee the realization of food sovereignty and the human right to food.

“The solutions agreed on the Declaration do not add anything new but only repeat the measures already adopted by governments in the past and which have led to the current food crisis” said FIAN Secretary General. “The only new point is the creation of a Task Force on the Global Food Crisis which, however, will be set under the responsibility of the UN agencies, World Bank and International Monetary Fund” continued Flavio Valente. “We are very concerned that this plan of action will not be presented to governments for discussions but is meant just to reflect the consensus between the United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions” said Maryam Rahmanian. FIAN Secretary General further explained that the maintenance of “the current neoliberal model of production is a clear violation of the right to food”, which is protected under international human rights law with clear binding obligations for States.

 More about “Terra Preta” forum : www.foodsovereignty.org/new/