Like in 2015, the training weekend took place at the Dutch family farm Buitenverwachting. After a short introduction, our host, Corneel van Rijn, guided the group around his farm explaining how the farm works and sharing his views on agroecology. Buitenverwachting means “beyond expectation”, and the farm has been true to its name since, 1862: for over four generations, the farmers have worked on nature conservancy to maintain the biodiversity that sustains their land. This diversity is not only seen in the number of wild plants and animals, Buitenverwachting is a highly agrobiodiverse farm with 40 milk cows, rabbits, hens, pigs, goats, ducks and honey bees, as well as a vegetable garden.

Next, Hanny van Geel from the European Coordination Via Campesina  introduced participants to agroecology and its political connections to the concept of food sovereignty, a term coined by the international peasants movement in 1996. In her presentation, she explained the importance of agroecology and food sovereignty for peasants; they challenge and transform structures of power in society and put the control of seeds, biodiversity, land and territories, waters, knowledge, culture and the commons in the hands of the people who feed the world. Hanny cautioned that agroecology as a concept is currently ‘at a crossroads’; many multilateral institutions, governments, universities and research centers, NGOs, corporations, now recognise agroecology, but often redefine the concept as a set of technologies that appear to ease the sustainability crisis of industrial food production. By co-opting the term, coorporations make sure the existing structures of power remain unchallenged.

Diana Quiroz from ILEIA introduced the global food sovereignty movement and the interactions between science and practice of agroecology. Diana started by explaining the important differences between the dominant discourse of ‘food security’ and the movement concept of ‘food sovereignty’; while food security emphasizes access to adequate nutrition for all, it does not question where and how the food was produced. Instead, food sovereignty, as defined by the worldwide peasant’s organization La Via Campesina, goes a step further by saying that “the people who produce, distribute, and consume food should control the mechanisms and policies of food production and distribution, rather than the corporations and market institutions they believe have come to dominate the global food system”. After Diana’s presentation, participants split up in working groups to act out what they as individuals could become part of the food sovereignty movement.

Boaventura Monaje from Mozambique discussed the consequences of the agroindustrial food system in Africa, as well as how people unite themselves to resist it and build ‘food sovereign alternatives’. The rights and livelihoods of peasants are compromised by investors that eye their lands for export crops. Boaventura challenged the participants to shift their perspectives in a North–South learning exercise.

On Sunday morning, Henk Renting of the RUAF Foundation gave a talk about city region food systems and urban-rural relations. The bulk of the world’s population live in cities nowadays, therefore, rethink the relations between cities and the countryside is paramount for rebuilding our food systems. In the world café setting that followed, participants were divided in groups and spread around the farm garden to discuss four forms of food citizenship that have to do with urban rural linkages (grow, buy, cook/taste/eat and spoil/waste). The results of the brainstorm sessions were presented to the whole group afterwards.

The last speaker of the weekend was Sylvia Kay from TNI, who introduced the upcoming Nyéléni Forum in Romania in more detail and explained how people can get involved in the preparations for the delegation from the Netherlands.

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Farmers, especially women, have been the custodians of the world’s biodiversity through saving, using, exchanging and selling seed and propagating material. The rights of farmers to do this are a core component of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, as well as their right to participate in decision making and in the sharing of benefits arising from the use of plant genetic resources.

However, only a small number of governments have established effective farmer-centred measures for the implementation of access and benefit sharing of genetic resources. Yet, there are various examples of successful farmer-led initiatives, some of which happen through a collaboration between researchers and farmers. What are the lessons of effective access and benefit sharing for family farmers?

The panel discussion was organised on the occasion of Farming Matters’ special issue on this topic. During the event, the magazine was launched and made available to all participants. The magazine presents inspiring examples from Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, Iran, India, the Netherlands, China and Zimbabwe, as well as expert perspectives on the challenges and possible solutions.

At the panel discussion, professor Edith Lammerts van Bueren talked about a unique collaborative model of potato breeding in the Netherlands. While there are other examples of collaborative relationships between farmers and breeders in Europe, the Dutch potato breeding model stands out in terms of its long track record, and the institutional integration of the relationship which up to today facilitates access to genetic materials and financial benefit sharing. Other speakers included: René Groenen (farmer breeder at De Groenen Hof), Ronnie Vernooy (Bioversity International) and Vanaja Ramprasad (Green Foundation, India), who spoke at the even via video message.

Watch the event

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The second ‘Voedsel Anders’ (Food Otherwise) conference in Wageningen, the Netherlands, brought together 1000 people working on fair and sustainable food systems.
The conference was a big success with many inspiring keynote speakers and over 60 workshops about practical and political ways to make the food transition. The workshops provided space for exchanging ideas and experiences on topics such as agroforestry, seeds, closed-loop farming, short chains, community supported agriculture, new peasants, urban farming, land rights and trade policies.
ILEIA was a part of the group that initiated and organised this event, which was supported by many individuals, dozens of farmer networks, civil society organisations and research institutes.

ILEIA hosted three sessions: Edith van Walsum facilitated a workshop on SRI with speakers Willem Stoop (researcher) and Pascal Gbenou from the Council of Rice Farmers in Benin. Janneke Bruil moderated the workshop “Agroecology worldwide: a practice, a science and a movement” with speakers Jyoti Fernandes from La Via Campesina and Heitor Teixeira (leader of the Brazilian student movement for agroecology). And finally, ILEIA’s Jessica Milgroom facilitated a session with Irene Cardoso on how agroecology was embedded in policy after strong advocacy by social movements in Brazil.

Olivier De Schutter, former UN Rapporteur on the Right to Food, made an intervention on how to transition to more sustainable systems.
More videos, reports and photos of the conference are available at www.voedselanders.nl.

Voedsel Anders is an emerging movement in the Netherlands and Belgium to make the transition to fair and sustainable food systems. It encompasses farmers, fisherfolk, scientists, beekeepers, students, artists, academics, policymakers, journalists and other active citizens. Voedsel Andersis organised around four major themes: agroecology, short chains and urban agriculture, fair and just trade policies and land rights and access to land.

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