See you in Barcelona!
Rachid el Abdi
President
We are not newcomers to the food debate. Since 2008 our foundation, ORU Fogar, has an agreement with the FAO and a Working Group on Food Security and Food Sovereignty, but, above all, what proves our dedication to the issue are the five Zero Hunger Summits we have organized.
In 2010, in Dakar, our first summit was the occasion for the regions to raise our finger and say: 'Here we are in the fight against hunger'. In the midst of the 2008 crisis, we denounced how food speculation had begun to take place as never before. And attention was drawn to how low-priced imports, allowed by globalization, were, in many territories, destroying local agricultural sectors.
In 2012, in Antioquia, Colombia, the leading role of the regions was emphasized, showing many good practices, such as the Maná project of the Colombian department itself. In 2018, in Azuay, Ecuador, it was said, “We are the generation that is going to end hunger in the world.” We did not know that the COVID19 pandemic was going to ruin our purpose. At that III Summit, in any case, the importance of protecting and dignifying the peasantry was highlighted, but also of defending the rural world, a strategy in which ORU Fogar has persevered and made its own.
In the IV Summit, in Araucanía, Chile, where I was already president, I think we did a great job. After years of debate, we decided to assume the concept of Food Sovereignty, as a way to overcome the concept of “Food Security”. From my point of view, however, the most remarkable thing about that meeting was the impact that the presentation of the Basque Country's anti-food-waste policy had on everyone. I believe that, after the increase in hunger figures from COVID and the war in Ukraine, we all saw in that policy a very real possibility within everyone's reach to reduce hunger statistics. No less impactful was the lecture by the author Paul Robert, whose “The Coming Hunger” was a serious warning about what could happen to us in this area in the future.
And the V Summit will be held for the first time in Europe, specifically in an area where much is known about the subject: Catalonia. To speak there of food sovereignty is, undoubtedly, a great challenge because Catalonia only produces 40% of what is consumed, which means that 60% comes from abroad. The Catalan government, in any case, has a very clear food strategy that includes the promotion of a food sovereignty law, a very consolidated policy of designations of origin, the promotion of all kinds of products, an accredited food research institute, a very broad agricultural vocational training and, finally, to continue promoting a gastronomy that is a reference in the world. Alongside these assets, there are also serious problems that are being faced, the most serious of which is the drought and how it is conditioning Catalan agriculture. And next to the drought, the Catalan agricultural sector, like the rest of Europe, is highly mobilized against bureaucratization and what they understand to be “unfair competition” from products coming from outside the European Union.
We are going to talk about all this in Barcelona from October 2 to 4, in a program that we have prepared with the Government of Catalonia, to whom we are very grateful for the effort made. An extraordinary moment to share good practices, to listen to the FAO or to attend to the recommendations arising from the debate of those three days. We look forward to seeing you all.
