Last month, the Third Nyéléni Global Forum in Sri Lanka brought together social movements and grassroots organizations from across the world to strengthen our collective struggles for food sovereignty, agroecology, and systemic transformation.
The program was highly participatory, with over 700 delegates representing 100 nationalities, and 65% of the attendees were women—demonstrating a commitment to feminist leadership.
Members of WhyHunger’s Global Movements Program team attended the Forum as part of the People in Philanthropy Delegation. We appreciated the opportunity to connect, learn, and strategize with existing and new partners working in food sovereignty, agroecology, and social movement building.
On World Food Day, October 16, we’re sharing reflections from WhyHunger’s Betty Fermin, Co-Director of Global Movements Program, and João Fonseca, Global Movements Program Manager, on the impact of the Nyéléni Global Forum and the fight to build a more just food system.
What has been the most powerful takeaway for you from the Nyéléni Forum?
Changing the system is not easily done or a quick task. The theme at the core of the 3rd Nyeleni Global Forum was “Systemic Transformation Is Now or Never” and by the end of the time together, people had changed it to “Systemic Transformation Now and Forever.”
This work is long-term, and as one of the social movement leaders shared, it “requires a lot of patience, care, love and revolutionary love, willingness and generosity to actually change the world we live in.”
Being part of the People in Philanthropy Delegation, we were left thinking about the accountability that is crucial to the philanthropic sector and the commitment, new and renewed, that we have to each other and the social movements we support.
Philanthropy does not have to be a separate sector, but an important piece of the puzzle to continue the struggle to achieve food sovereignty and other necessary social changes. There was a sense that progressive or solidarity philanthropy is an effective method for supporting social movements and organizations to plan their own agendas, set their own goals and envision their future.
How has connecting with grassroots movements and food sovereignty leaders at this forum shaped your perspective or work?
It was inspiring to be in a space where we get to witness the commitment and energy that folks in movements continuously bring to the struggle. Over 700 people from all over the globe showed up to represent and be the voice of their local communities with so much hope and resilience, despite all the daunting challenges we face.
Continuing to strengthen relationships with the social movements and grassroots organizations working towards food sovereignty and agroecology is key to building the world we all want to see. Accompaniment is necessary in order to support communities to be sustainable, self-determining, and flexible.
We had a day of field visits, and it was an honor to be hosted by the Community Development Centre in the Sabaragamua Province. We learned about how it started because of the dedication of one woman, who helped the local women navigate domestic violence and learn entrepreneurship and farming skills. They have since found 52 varieties of yam! The Executive Director of the CDC Damayanthi Godamulla shared how yams can be used in so many ways—from nutritious food to health properties.
It was powerful to see this example of food sovereignty in action and how local people are taking power into their own hands.
The Forum brings together voices from across the globe. How do you see these connections strengthening the fight for food justice?
This has been and is a long collective process. Coming out of the Forum, we have the Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA), a tool that will strengthen social movements’ work and deepen solidarity.
The CPAA is a powerful political document collectively shaped by peasants, Indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, workers, pastoralists, feminists, migrants, grassroots environmentalists, urban poor, solidarity economy activists, health activists, consumers, researchers and artists. It seeks to confront and transform capitalist, patriarchal, imperialist, colonialist, racist, casteist, and supremacist systems of oppression.
The goal is to launch the CPAA at the People’s Summit in November in Brazil, with people’s sovereignty placed at the heart of the global agenda.
WhyHunger will continue to support the work coming out of the Forum with grassroots organizations and social movements building food systems that work for all.
The Forum also reaffirmed agroecology as the pathway to food sovereignty and systemic transformation, while highlighting the urgent need to strengthen the agenda with feminist economies, care, peace, trade justice, and climate justice. For WhyHunger, this is both a validation of our work and a call to deepen our contribution to building territorial food systems, reclaiming Indigenous knowledge, and advancing a feminist, people-led transition.