Initiatives to promote food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and responsible consumption have been on the rise in Europe and gaining increasing number of supporters. However, much still remains to be done in the field of consumer and citizen awareness building. It is essential to reliably present existing dependencies and links between developed and developing countries in the area of food production and distribution, the causes of degradation of family agriculture in various parts of the world, and consequences of these phenomena, which are hunger and poverty. A lot of attention and engagement are also needed to promote sustainable local food production and consumption as well as the right to participatory democracy. Furthermore, consumers in rich countries have to be made aware of the impact of their consumption patterns on the situation of the communities in developing countries. In this context, it is important to initiate and strengthen national and international cooperation among civil society organizations (non-governmental, farmer, consumer etc.) working on these issues.
A good example of this kind of cooperation is a project “Central European partnership for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty”, co-financed by International Visegrad Fund, which brings together organizations from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The objective of the project is to build partnership and strengthen cooperation among non-governmental organizations from the Visegrad Group countries in the field of supporting fair, sustainable and ecological food production and consumption both in Europe and in the Global South. The project is a part of a bigger advocacy and awareness raising campaign on food sovereignty and sustainable agriculture co-funded by the European Union and implemented by Polish Green Network and its partners.
In order to share knowledge and experience, the organizations participating in the project have prepared short articles on various activities and initiatives promoting sustainable agriculture, responsible consumption, food sovereignty, fair trade and other related issues, which have been undertaken by civil society organizations in their respective countries.
We invite everyone to familiarize themselves with the articles presented below in order to get inspired and learn from the experience of the organizations and individuals from the Visegrad Group countries.
Articles (to download in .pdf)
- CEPTA - CEPTA and sustainable agriculture activities in Slovakia
- CEPTA - Introducing AGROKRUH
- EAP - Debt as an obstacle to development
- EAP - The Ecumenical Academy Prague and its activities on fair trade
- Glopolis - Food sovereignty as a way to achieve food security
- NaZemi - Introducing OnEarth
- PZS - Polish NGOs' contribution to work towards food sovereignty and fighting hunger
- Vedegylet - Introducing the Hungarian orchardist network
- Vedegylet - SZOVET - an example of the food sovereignty initiative in Hungary
The articles have been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of Polish Green Network and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The article has been produced also as a part of the project “Central European partnership for sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty” co-financed by the International Visegrad Fund.