Via Campesina

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Via Campesina (from Spanish la vía campesina, the campesino way) describes itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe". They are a coalition of over 100 organizations, advocating family-farm-based sustainable agriculture and were the group that first coined the term "food sovereignty".[1] Food sovereignty refers to the right to produce food on one's own territory. Probably their best known spokesperson is the French farmer José Bové. The organisation was founded in 1992 by Rafael Alegría, and had its original headquarters in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The headquarters office of Via Campesina is now in Jakarta, Indonesia. Henry Saragih is the International Operative Secretary.

Organized worldwide into eight regions, the group has members throughout the world. It receives support from UK charity War on Want amongst others.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Global Small-Scale Farmers' Movement Developing New Trade Regimes", Food First News & Views, Volume 28, Number 97 Spring/Summer 2005, p.2.

[edit] External links

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