Hundreds of people’s organizations and support NGOs will take part in the People’s Caravan 2004 (PC2004) for People’s Food Sovereignty on 1-30 September 2004 across 15 countries in Asia and Europe. This year’s People’s Caravan will bear the theme “Asserting Our Rights to Land and Food” and will feature activities such as simultaneous protests, mass education and mobilization.  It will kick off in Malaysia and will culminate in Nepal with a public rally and the Conference on Alternatives to Globalization on 30 September.

PC 2004 is a follow-up to the first People’s Caravan held in November 2000, dubbed as People’s Caravan 2000: Land and Food Without Poisons.  The Caravan in 2000 strengthened the linkages among groups working on land issues, pesticides and GMOs, and helped empower marginalized sectors, especially women.  Four years later, the organizations that took part in the PC 2000 will come together to put forward important issues in land and food and bring these to various organizations and communities across Asia.

The Caravan aims to raise awareness among a broad range of sectors that include peasants, indigenous people, workers, fisherfolks, consumers, policy makers and the media on the important issues involved in food sovereignty, and to build a strong and broad network of advocates for people’s food sovereignty.  It also aims to gather support from a broad range of sectors to push for the People’s Convention on Food Sovereignty that will be presented to governments and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the World Food Summit + 10 in 2006. The Caravan will provide information and mobilize people towards policy advocacy at various levels on such issues as the World Trade Organization (WTO), genetic engineering (GE), pesticides and agrochemical transnational corporations, and towards the promotion and support to sustainable agriculture.

The Philippine leg

The Philippine leg of the Caravan will be held on 8-16 September.  The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) serves as the Philippine Coordinator, with RESIST as the host organization. A series of forums, debates, dialogues and protests is scheduled in Metro Manila, Panay, Bicol, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Davao City. 

PC 2004 in the Philippines will highlight the following issues:

1. Right to Land and Food.  Main focus will be on the people’s rights to land and productive resources.  The Caravan will advocate for a genuine land reform that gives access to and control over the land, seeds and water to poor peasants; pesticide-free and GM-free production for the present and future generations; support for the rights of peasant women; and strengthening of communities in the rural areas.

2. WTO Out of Food and Agriculture. The Caravan will campaign for measures to remove food and agriculture from the control of the WTO.

3. Eliminate Pesticides and Genetic Engineering. PC 2004 will demand for the stop of the commercialization of GMOs and pesticides, and will educate the general public on their dangers and threats to food, health and the environment. 
   
4. Resist Agrochemical TNCs. The Caravan will continue to push the resistance against agrochemical corporations.  

The activities lined up for the Philippine leg are presented in the Box on this page.

For further information, please visit website of Pesticide Action Network-Asia and the Pacific (PAN-AP) which is the main organizer of the PC 2004 (http://www.panap.net/caravan/index-en.cfm) and RESIST (http://resistagrochem.blogs.com/) or email us at resist@tri-isys.com and kmp_intl@tri-isys.com . 

Let your voice be heard.  Join the People’s Caravan 2004!!!
 
 

* Ikuko Ueba , is from Japan who volunteered to KMP since July 2003 in her commitment to learn from and serve the Philippine peasants and Filipino people in general.