FIMARC EUROPEAN CONGRESS Luznica – Croatia – September 2008

The FIMARC gathered 30 Militants from 12 European countries[i] invited from 7^th to 15^th September to Luznica (Croatia) around the theme: “Concrete steps towards food sovereignty[ii] and solidarity economy”.

The European Coordination of the FIMARC strongly denounces the causes of the current global food crisis and expresses its solidarity to the poorest people of the world. It supports and joins all the efforts and struggles of the social movement of the planet for the access to water, seeds and defends a true food sovereignty as well as a solidarity economy. The right to food, a fundamental right mentioned in the Charter of Human Rights is flouted every day and it is unacceptable that the farmers who produce food for the planet constitute the big majority of those who suffer and die every day from hunger.

On the basis of the analysis of the experiments presented by participants and the ones visited in Croatia, the participants to the seminar observed a disconnection between decision making authorities and the promoters of initiatives. They underlined the presence of alarming indicators related to the conservation of planet Earth and the need for an action towards change based on solidarity and trust between producers and consumers. First of all, it requires changes in our ways of life and consumption at a personal level, which will lead to a collective change.

Consequently, in memory of Jesus who shared his life with the inhabitants of Galilee, the seminar plenary assembly invites its member movements to analyze their practices of rural development and Christian militancy in the eyes of criteria that allow, in the framework of solidarity economy, personal fulfillment and primacy of the human being over monetary profit, the production of common goods and services that respect the environment, and that are organized on the basis of a participatory economy.

In the framework of food sovereignty, we are in favor of a fair allocation of land and an access to resources in the respect for peasants’ and consumers’ autonomy in terms of setting selling prices and incomes and the choice of products quality for a sustainable development in all countries.

On the basis of these criteria, the movements of all countries will have to define specific evaluation criteria.

The European Coordination proposes that its movements should:

· Evaluate their local initiatives to build on the acquired knowledge on the basis of these experiments.

· Share the evaluations of successful experiments using FIMARC’s communication tools

· Actively contribute to public policies on agrarian reforms and access to funds

· Participate to the elaboration of an international charter of Solidarity Economy and Food Sovereignty in partnership and network with other organizations and to integrate it at the national and local level in order to activate the system of Solidarity Economy and Food Sovereignty.

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[i] Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Croatia, Rumania, Ukraine, Bosnia, Bulgaria.

[ii] According to Via Campesina, Food Sovereignty designates the RIGHT of populations, their countries or Unions to define their agricultural and food policy, without dumping vis-à-vis third countries.