Knowra Food sovereignty Food sovereignty Food sovereignty is the principle that peoples and communities should control how food is produced, distributed, and consumed, and shape the policies governing those systems.
Food security : A condition in which everyone has reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Food security measures access to food; food sovereignty also asks who controls its production and distribution.
La Via Campesina : An international movement of peasants, small-scale farmers, Indigenous people, and rural workers. The movement introduced food sovereignty as a political demand at the 1996 World Food Summit.
Community-supported agriculture : A food system in which consumers share a farm’s costs and risks through direct membership or subscription. It shortens supply chains and gives communities closer ties to food production.
Neoliberalism : A political-economic approach that favors market competition, privatization, and reduced state intervention. Food sovereignty challenges market-led food governance and the concentration of control in private firms.
Declaration on the Rights of Peasants : A 2018 United Nations declaration setting out rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas. It recognizes rights related to seeds, land, food, and participation that align with food sovereignty.
Right to food : The human right to adequate food, protected under international human-rights law. Food sovereignty treats communities’ control over food systems as part of realizing this right.
1996 World Food Summit : A United Nations conference in Rome that addressed hunger and adopted the Rome Declaration on World Food Security. La Via Campesina presented food sovereignty there as an alternative framework for food policy.
Public procurement : The purchase of goods and services by governments and other public bodies. Local purchasing rules can direct institutional food spending toward small producers and regional systems.
Green Revolution : The mid-twentieth-century spread of high-yield crop varieties, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. Its input-intensive model contrasts with food sovereignty’s emphasis on local control and ecological practices.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples : A 2007 United Nations declaration articulating the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples. Its provisions on self-determination, lands, and cultural practice support Indigenous control of food systems.
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