RICE FESTIVAL DECLARATION SUPPORTING FARMERS’ RIGHTS FOR FOOD SECURITY

RECOGNIZING that access to safe food is a basic human right that is encompassed in all the Human Rights Conventions to which all nations of the world have ratified and which must be fully implemented in the basic policies of all governments;

CONSCIOUS that protection and promotion of Farmers’ Rights as well as the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources are vital in order to ensure that farmers and farming communities are able to continue their important role in enhancing plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and to make them available for future use;

CONSCIOUS of the need for food security and the broadening of the diversity of plant genetic resources in light of the alarming erosion of the planet’s biodiversity, and the current focus in agriculture on commercial trade and market liberalization;

CONSCIOUS also of the need to strengthen farmers’ seed system responsive to farmers’ needs and local conditions, particularly in eventualities of crisis and emergencies;

CONCERNED about the absence of legislations or policies in many countries in support of farmers’ rights to seeds and sustainable community-based initiatives as a means to enhance food security and contribute to poverty alleviation, and CONSCIOUS of the need to provide a supportive policy environment to promote food security and poverty alleviation;

BELIEVING that the conscious recognition of farmers’ rights to seeds and sustainable community-based initiatives in agriculture enhances food security by increasing farm productivity, ensuring safe and healthy food, and protecting the environment, as well as increasing income of farmers and farming communities;

BELIEVING that investment in agriculture should focus on recognizing and enhancing farmers’ rights to seeds and community-based initiatives;

NOTING the growing movement across the world and in countries advocating for safe food and farmers’ rights to seeds through sustainable community-based initiatives in agriculture and several national and local governments that have formulated policies and legislated laws in promotion thereof;

NOTING the relevance of the advocacy for farmers’ rights and the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources at the regional, national and local levels in light of their inclusion in the Agenda of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture for 2007;

PARTICIPATING in this Regional Conference on Sustainable Community-based Initiatives as Expressions of Farmers’ Rights held October 18, 2006 at MetroCenter, Tagbilaran City, Philippines we hereby call for:

1. The participatory conservation, development and sustainable use of plant genetic resources;

2. The strengthening of farmers’ seed system and research to intensify farmers’ capacity and flexibility in response to local conditions, and on occasions of crisis and emergencies;

3. The promotion and advancement of seed knowledge cultural exchanges among farmers and farming communities;

4. The promotion of sustainable community-based initiatives in response to securing farmers’ rights to seeds and in addressing issues on food security;

5. The adoption and promotion of a comprehensive strategy toward food self-sufficiency and sovereignty, as well as the improvement of the lives of the farmers;

6. The adoption and enforcement of national and local legislations for farmers’ rights to seeds and in support of sustainable community-based initiatives in agriculture, and of strategies, policies, and legislations in promotion, institutionalization, and implementation of farmers’ rights and the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources at the regional, national, and local levels;

7. The people’s active participation in policy-making processes in all levels of government and in international agreements related to food and agriculture policies

*Rice Festival Declaration Supporting Farmers’ Rights for Food Security (Regional Conference on Sustainable Community-based Initiatives as Expressions of Farmers’ Rights on October 18, 2006 at MetroCenter, Tagbilaran City, Philippines)