Public policies for food sovereignty

Public policies for food sovereignty
Think piece series Food for Thought No.1

What is the political significance of leveraging public policies in support of food sovereignty?

Food sovereignty is based on the right of peoples to define their own food system and to develop policies on how food is produced, distributed and consumed. It is above all a political call for action that it is based on empowerment processes and the generation of critical knowledge in support of the collective and popular construction of alternatives.

These alternatives take their inspiration from three main sources:

1. The defense of peasant economies, and the production, distribution and consumption systems connected to these.
2. Agroecology, conceived as both a way of producing food and a movement for change encompassing both socio-economic and socio-political dimensions.
3. Equitable and sustainable food systems that guarantee the right to adequate food for all.

From a food sovereignty perspective then, there is a demonstrable need to identify some of the key elements of an analytical framework for the design and implementation of public policies that strengthen food sovereignty and are based on the Right to Food. This discussion paper sketches out some of these elements.