La Via Campesina
La Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small and medium sized farmers and producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. They defend the values and the basic interests of members. They are an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation. Their 148 members are from 69 countries from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas.
Paul Nicholson, a Basque farmer and member of La Via Campesina, describes the organisation’s philosophy and vision in this short movie clip.
La Via Campesina in Australia
Delegates from La Via Campesina on a Farm Tour in Australia
In June 2010, the Food Connection Foundation was delighted to welcome representatives of the 500 million strong group to a forum in Brisbane. This was a fantastic event, which started the conversation of building solidarity and creating long term solutions amongst Australian farming families. The video clip below shows Nick Rose, Director of the Food Connection Foundation talking about overproduction of food, the problems facing Australian farmers and food sovereignty. You can also click here to read a transcript of the presentation given by Nette Wiebe, a founding member of La Via Campesina from Canada.
