The Venezuelan Food Sovereignty Experiment

[Judi Lynn]

The Venezuelan Food Sovereignty Experiment
by Christina Schiavoni, originally published by Solutions Journal | Mar 10, 2015



In Brief

In 1999, at the start of its process of social transformation known as the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuela became among the world's first countries to adopt a national policy of food sovereignty. Its newly reformed constitution guaranteed its citizens the right to food through a secure national food supply based on sustainable agriculture as a strategic framework for rural development, to be carried out through a series of laws, institutes, and programs. This move could be seen as a leap of faith for a highly urbanized country that had largely abandoned agriculture as it built its economy around its petroleum industry over the last century. And yet, against these odds, Venezuela has moved forward in its efforts to build food sovereignty, drastically cutting hunger while bolstering domestic food production. This has been carried out through a host of government programs, in partnership with communities, ranging from land reform to feeding programs to urban agriculture. Today, some of the most promising efforts toward food sovereignty in Venezuela are coming from citizen-run social institutions known as comunas, which are forging relationships and carrying out innovative projects across the urban–rural divide.

Key Concepts

•Food sovereignty—defined as "the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems"—is a concept coming from social movements in response to the injustices of the global food system.
•Thus far, a handful of countries have adopted food sovereignty into state policy. Among the first to do so was Venezuela in 1999. This was a bold move for a highly urbanized country that had abandoned its agriculture sector as it focused instead on oil production over the last century.
•Today, there is a wide range of support for food production and distribution in both rural and urban areas coming from the Venezuelan government, working in conjunction with citizen-led efforts. These initiatives have dramatically reduced hunger while bolstering domestic food production.
•Some of the most promising efforts toward food sovereignty in Venezuela today are coming from citizen-run social institutions known as comunas, which are forging relationships and carrying out innovative projects across the urban-rural divide.

As I wandered through the streets of Caracas on my first trip to Venezuela nine years ago, a huge urban farm in the midst of concrete high-rises caught my attention. It wasn't tucked away on a side street or in a residential area, but was right out in the middle of the bustling downtown. I asked a local walking by if he could tell me anything about the farm—whose initiative was it, how long had it been there, who farms the land? With a matter-of-fact shrug he said, "Es parte del proceso." It's part of the process. Part of what process, I wondered. Did he mean Venezuela's broader process of political and social transformation, the Bolivarian Revolution? Or did he mean the efforts to transform Venezuela's food system? Later, I would learn that the two concepts were inseparable.

Now having followed the processes unfolding in Venezuela for nearly a decade, I often reflect back on this early moment for the meaning behind that simple exchange. In the US, where I'm from, there are also inspiring community food projects, which are local manifestations of the alternative food system that many hope for, dream about, and painstakingly work toward. Yet these still remain pockets of change in an otherwise broken system—in the US and globally—where profits come before people, good food is a privilege for those who can afford it rather than a right for all, and food production comes at the expense of farmers, workers, the environment, and human health. There is often talk of 'scaling up' positive models of food system change as a way forward, but there are few blueprints or examples as to how this might be done.

More:
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-03-10/the-venezuelan-food-sovereignty-experiment

[Marksman_91]

1. Venezuela imports most of its food now because Chavismo ruined its production

They control around 70% of agricultural land, and yet the country is suffering a grievous food scarcity. There is no "food sovereignty" in Venezuela, at least not anymore now under the Chavista regime