All over the world the sovereignty of people, farmers and nature has been violated by the imposition of agrotoxins, GMOs and ultra-processed foods, destroying diversity and ancient food cultures along with land, water, and biodiversity.

In March of 2023, NI issued a joint declaration by the women of the Diverse Women for Diversity network in support of Mexico’s struggle, emphasizing the global importance of protecting maize in its center of origin.

The case of Mexico is a people’s attempt to guard their biodiverse cultures, their millennial food inheritance,  their health and the health of their ecosystems. It is a case of a people demanding their sovereignty be respected, and stands as a beacon of hope to places where this imposition continues. People have the right to have sovereignty over their health, and that starts with food sovereignty.

INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE

Over the course of these various events, NI invited representatives from movements from Latin America such as Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Costa Rica amongst others in collaboration with Mexican civil society organizations, and various Mexican ministries, to help demonstrate that this struggle goes beyond individual countries.

We also saw it as imperative to bring together these movements and voices when we are seeing a new wave of imposition in the form of new GMOs and ultra-processed fake foods.

All over the world the impositions continue to take place, directly violating the sovereignty and rights of people and nature, in favor of corporate agenda. In the face of this, building relationships based on common struggle and common vision of an ecological future help to create international networks of resistance and solidarity.

MARCH 12- “FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND SMALLHOLDER AND INDIGENOUS AGRICULTURE” CONFERENCE 

On March 12, NI President Dr. Vandana Shiva participated in a seminar held by the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER) and Subsecretary of food self-sufficiency, Víctor Suárez Carrera, and saw participation from: member of the Mayan collective of the Chenes, Muuch-kambal ac, Leydy Pech; José Bernardo Magdaleno Velazco (Nino), President of the Peasant Union, Totikes, Chiapas; Jesús Ramírez Cuevas, general coordinator of social communication and spokesperson for the Government of Mexico; and General Director of the National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (Conacyt), Dr. María Elena Álvarez-Buylla Roces.

The event articulated a new definition of sovereignty, stating that the denial of sovereignty is denial of life itself, with Dr. Shiva highlighting how the protection of native food systems and native seed is central to the fight for the future. In line, Jesús Ramírez Cuevas declared, “Mexican sovereignty starts with food sovereignty.” Ledy Pech also emphasized, “In Maya, we have no word for GMO, we call them instead seeds that have no heart, seeds with no life. Our seeds, our knowledge is our inheritance, with this destruction what will we inherit in the future?”

The event ended with Dr. María Elena Álvarez-Buylla Roces, presenting the new findings of studies undertaken by the CONACYT on the effects of glyphosate on biodiversity and the toxic load in water and food. She stated, “On a global level the deregulation and imposition of GMOs and toxic food systems is a denial of sovereignty and right to health on multiple levels. Mexico’s success in asserting its own sovereignty on seeds and food policies would be a beacon for other countries to be able to assert their food sovereignty and seed freedom in turn.”

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IFOAM – Organics International is extremely concerned about the litigation against the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiated by an organic farmer in the USA.

The lawsuit alleges that group certification of organic farmers is being used to cover up fraudulent practices and create an uneven playing field between organic American farmers who have an individual responsibility for certification and organic farmers organised in producer groups that are subject to Internal Control Systems (ICSs).

It questions whether USDA has the authority to delegate the responsibility of inspecting every farm every year and questions whether the new regulation provides for an adequate number of third-party inspections of producer group members to meet the intent of the organic legislation.

The litigation highlights widespread misunderstanding about the role and function of grower group certification, which we seek to clarify in the explainer below.

IFOAM – Organics International considers group certification a vital tool for ensuring millions of organic farmers around the world can access global markets whilst ensuring the robust integrity of the products produced. We understand that the USDA’s new regulation for producer groups differs from both the recent EU legislation and IFOAM Norms for grower groups in a few ways, but still support the regulatory recognition of producer groups in the USDA rule [1].

Grower groups play a key role in supporting organic farming and provide organic market access for millions of honest, hard-working smallholder farmers that care for the land and provide ecological benefits. As a result, they should be considered a strong force for good in rapidly scaling climate and nature-friendly farming that mitigates and addresses the biggest crises of our times.

We also recognise the crucial importance of robust governance of ICS. The oversight process for grower groups is different to the process for individual farmers. An appropriate level of rigour must be maintained in both approaches.

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