Facilitating learning and action for food sovereignty on family and community levels: Discussion notes

TY - CONF

T1 - Facilitating learning and action for food sovereignty on family and community levels

T2 - Discussion notes

AU - Vaarst, Mette

PY - 2014/1/24

Y1 - 2014/1/24

N2 - This paper focuses on strengthening local communities in West Uganda, where an approach focusing on building up social capital and sharing responsibilities for own development within and between families. We see it as an approach to reach food sovereignty because it takes its roots within the family itself, where the responsibility for both family food and cash crops exists and is not always shared equally. When families start working together and use the resources in a group of both men and women, elders and youth, a local community becomes stronger and can match the capacities within the group with the need for knowledge.New methods on e.g. agro-ecological practices are learned in a context-relevant way together, and together with old practices e.g. on seed saving.The paper argues in particular for - Collaboration within families is crucial, and the families are important institutions in reaching food sovereignty,- Building social capital in local communities is a key to control over food,- Context-specific learning and knowledge in combination with an organizational and institutional capacity in local CBOs or NGOs all are paramount for strengthening food sovereignty on a local level and addressing issues to the local and regional politicians, authorities and civil societies,- Many strategies can strengthen the families’ and community groups’ control over their own food; two of them are 1) selling surplus of own production on local markets, and 2) forming cooperatives of the same product which are specifically sold as cash crop.

AB - This paper focuses on strengthening local communities in West Uganda, where an approach focusing on building up social capital and sharing responsibilities for own development within and between families. We see it as an approach to reach food sovereignty because it takes its roots within the family itself, where the responsibility for both family food and cash crops exists and is not always shared equally. When families start working together and use the resources in a group of both men and women, elders and youth, a local community becomes stronger and can match the capacities within the group with the need for knowledge.New methods on e.g. agro-ecological practices are learned in a context-relevant way together, and together with old practices e.g. on seed saving.The paper argues in particular for - Collaboration within families is crucial, and the families are important institutions in reaching food sovereignty,- Building social capital in local communities is a key to control over food,- Context-specific learning and knowledge in combination with an organizational and institutional capacity in local CBOs or NGOs all are paramount for strengthening food sovereignty on a local level and addressing issues to the local and regional politicians, authorities and civil societies,- Many strategies can strengthen the families’ and community groups’ control over their own food; two of them are 1) selling surplus of own production on local markets, and 2) forming cooperatives of the same product which are specifically sold as cash crop.

M3 - Paper

ER -