The future of food and challanges for agriculture in the 21st century

21 February 2017 - In February 2016, the ISS (International Institute for Social Studies in The Hague) in collaboration with the Transnational Institute (TNI) hosted the 6th Edition of the Initiatives in Critical Agrarian Studies (ICAS) International Colloquium, a platform for critical dialogue among engaged academics, activists and policy practitioners.
Since then, an organizing committee (composed by ISS/ICAS, EHNE Bizkaia, TNI and La Via Campesina) have been working towards broadening the conversation around critical agrarian studies by regionalizing the ICAS network and initiatives.

Now, they are kickstarting the broadening of this initiative with a major ICAS Colloquium in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country) in April 24-26, year 2017: "The future of food and agriculture" - in collaboration with the Basque farmers union EHNE Bizkaia (member of La Via Campesina) and Etxalde, the growing movement for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty in the Basque Country.

This event will address various dimensions of food and delve into the realities and challenges to provide insights into the future. The issue of food is complex and touches many aspects of our lives.
This colloquium aims to be a space to discuss this complexity and bring together perspectives from different sectors (the peasantry, fishing, public institutions and research, etc.) to enrich the debate. The challenge of how to feed the world is a historical debate, but the novelty of this meeting is intended to go beyond the mere question whether it is possible or not.
Here, the idea is to go into the details of how it is being done at present; what practices are currently
taking place and with what consequences; how is the vision of food sovereignty being put into practice; what can we learn from the interrelated experiences with activism and research on the food system that seek to define our future path...
Given the gravity of the economic, ecological and social crises shaping and being shaped by the global food system today, it is necessary to analyze the current context. However, the goal in this colloquium is to channel the force of these analyzes to better understand the steps we need to take into the future.
Food sovereignty is the most developed proposal for an alternative food system to date, but there is still much to understand about how to "operationalize" the concept. Ten years have passed since the declaration of Nyeleni where the six pillars of food sovereignty were articulated, marking an important step towards putting ideas into practice.
These six pillars have helped bring the concept to life and have shown the breadth of topics and areas involved in the transformation that La Via Campesina and allies are proposing with this idea.
This colloquium will take up these issues, according to the thematic axes laid out below.
In each axis the focus will always remain on the concrete steps that are being taken towards transformation.

  1. Capitalism, class, agriculture, livestock and fisheries
  2. Climate Change and convergences
  3. Models of development in the context of flows of capital, goods and people
  4. Access and control over the means of production
  5. Consumption, health, nutrition and the Right to Food
  6. Movements for Food Sovereignty

A specific website with all updated information will be available the 3rd week of February.