January 9th, Thursday, watch Sagari Ramdas, member of the Food Sovereignty Alliance and other organisers across the globe convene, to discuss this important question-What does an anti-fascist farming movement look like? https://orfc.org.uk/session/what-does-an-anti-fascist-farming-movement-look-like/
The concluding day of the campaign was marked by vibrant celebrations commemorating World Food Day, bringing together the community in the spirit of shared purpose and the visions of food sovereignty. Cultural performances, local food exhibitions, dialogues and gatherings furthered the commitment to building resilient, self-reliant food systems.
Celebrations across the districts Eluru, Nagarkurnool, Alluri and Manyam districts :
Dialogues with women and men, deepened the resolution to attain Food Sovereignty. Women expressed their need too not just control what they grow, but also what they eat. As one of the members poignantly reflected ” We love eating dishes like Birakayi beef curry, fish, and jonna gatka, but we rarely get to cook what we truly enjoy. Instead, we end up making meals based on what others, especially our husbands, prefer. It’s time to change that. We are going to cook and eat the foods we love, and to do so, we need to grow what we like to eat.”
The men delved upon on the crisis at hand and debt traps that affect their lives. The following quote aptly captures this reflection –“Cotton and paddy are the predominant crops grown in our village for income. However, our calculations show that the costs of cultivation far exceed the returns, leaving us in debt. To make matters worse, we end up spending more money to buy food, which only deepens our financial burden. This system of farming, forced upon us, provides neither sufficient food nor sustainable income—only debt. We cannot continue this way. Change is imperative.”
Dialogues with Women across Komram Bhim, Tirupati and Alluri districts :
Dialogues with Men across Eluru, Komram Bheem, Medak, Sangareddy and Tirupati Districts :
“We need to change. We want to be the change.” This message echoes the emphatic voice of youth involved in the campaign to advancing food justice . As the backbone of the movement, they demonstrate continued determination to organising for food sovereignty through dialogues across districts. The youth actively engaged in discussions particularly delving into topics on food, farming, and the loss of autonomy over food. They analysed the changes, shared their thoughts and emotions and developed collective strategies to strength the campaign.
Sangareddy, Telangana :
Khomaram Bheem, Telangana :
Alluri, Andhra Pradesh:
Eluru, Andhra Pradesh:
Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh:
Youth community organisers facilitated engaging conversations and activities with children centered around food.
Children visualised their favourite foods and asked the eldest members of their households about the foods they enjoyed in their youth. Through this exchange, the children learned that their elders cherished dishes like jonna ghatka, ambali, and jonna roti—traditional recipes that have largely disappeared from today’s everyday diet and, in many cases, these were foods the children had never tasted.
They also discovered that these dishes were made from ingredients grown on their elders’ lands and home gardens, cultivated naturally without chemicals or pesticides. In contrast, the children realised that their favourite foods were often made from ingredients bought from the market, likely produced with chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
Moved by these insights, the children expressed a desire for change: “We want our parents to grow food like our grandparents did. We want to eat food that we cultivate ourselves, free from chemicals.”
Sangareddy, Telangana :
Kamaraj Bheem, Telangana:
Elluru, Andhra Pradesh :
Alluri, Andhra Pradesh
Trirupati, Andhra Pradesh:
Members of the Food Sovereignty Alliance are bringing in the World Food Day, on October 16th, with a series of affirmative actions between 5th to 16th October 2024 in the continued fight for food justice and sovereignty!
To participate in these actions or to support please email foodsovereigntyalliance@gmail.com
సంయుక్త కిసాన్ మోర్చా (SKM ), సెంట్రల్ ట్రేడ్ యూనియన్లు, స్వతంత్ర ఫెడరేషన్లు, సంఘాలు కలిసి ఇచ్చిన 16 వ తేదీ భారత్ బంద్, పారిశ్రామిక , సెక్టోరల్ సమ్మెను ఆహార సార్వభౌమాధికార వేదిక మద్దతును తెలియ చేస్తున్నది.
ఈ సమ్మెలో భాగంగా మేము తెలంగాణ , ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ రాష్ట్రాలలో మా సభ్యులున్న గ్రామాలలో రైతు ఉద్యమానికి మద్దతుగా చర్చలు, సమావేశాలు, నిరసన కార్యక్రమాలు నిర్వహిస్తున్నాము. కార్పొరేట్ ఆదిపత్యానికి వ్యతిరేకంగా , ప్రజాస్వామిక హక్కుల పునరుద్దరణకు, లౌకిక స్ఫూర్తి కాపాడాటానికి వివిధ కార్యక్రమాలను రైతులు, కూలీలతో నిర్వఫిస్తున్నాము.
పంజాబ్, ఉత్తరప్రదేశ్, హర్యానా రైతుల చలో ఢిల్లీ కార్యక్రమంపై, కేంద్ర, రాష్ట్ర ప్రభుత్వ నిర్బంధాన్ని, అణిచివేతను మేము ఖండిస్తున్నాము. భావప్రకటన స్వేచ్చా హక్కులపై నిర్బంధాన్ని నిరసిస్తున్నాము. పోరాడే రైతులకు మా పూర్తి సంఘీభావాన్ని తెలియచేస్తున్నాము. రైతు ఉద్యమాల డిమాండ్లను వెంటనే పరిష్కరించాలని ప్రభుత్వాన్ని డిమాండ్ చేస్తున్నాము.
ప్రజా ఉద్యమాలు వర్ధిల్లాలి !
న్యాయం లేనిదే శాంతి లేదు!!
జై భూతల్లి జై ఆదివాసీ జై భీం
The Food Sovereignty Alliance extends its support to the Grameen Bharat Bandh and Industrial / Sectoral Strike on 16th February 2024, a call given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions, Independent/Sectoral Federations, Associations.
Our actions today, in our villages and communities in districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, advances our struggle against aggressive State supported corporate hegemony and loot, and asserts our commitment to protect democratic rights, our constitutional values, and secular polity.
Our protest today also reflects our condemnation of the repression of people’s movements including the current repression and violence being unleashed by the Central and Haryana state government against farmers from Punjab, blocking them from entering Delhi. We extend our solidarity to the farmers who are asserting their constitutional right to expression, movement and assembly.
Power to the People !
No Peace without Justice !
Jai Bhuthalli ! Jai Adivasi ! Jai Bhim
Tune into this amazing podcast to hear Sagari Ramdas, on the series Who Will Control the Food System, that uncovers the industrial agriculture complex, and dissects the latest corporate strategies, taking inspiration from the peoples and movements fighting back.
‘Zahra Moloo talks to Sagari R Ramdas, a member of the Food Sovereignty Alliance in India, about the impact of disruptive technologies in indigenous territories in India. Sagari is a veterinary scientist and a popular educator at the Kudali Learning Centre, where she facilitates education programs in social justice, food sovereignty and buen vivir. She writes and works on issues related to social justice, food sovereignty, livestock and ecological governance.’
Click here for more information : https://www.etcgroup.org/content/disruptive-digital-food-and-ag-techs-invading-indigenous-territories-india
In December 2013, beneath the effervescent skies and wise toddy trees of East Godavari, amid a vibrant gathering echoing with hundreds of voices and beating of the drums- the Food Sovereignty Alliance was formed. The vision was set in stone on the sacred land of Pellipadugu, paying homage to the resilience of Mother Earth, the wisdom of the ancestors, and the sovereign future generations. Among the individuals instrumental in laying the foundation of FSA, we take this moment to honour Chundru Nookaraju.
This interview, ‘The food sovereignty movement must be anti-caste’, featuring Chundru Nookaraju, Marskola Kamala, N. Madhusudhan, Murugamma and Sagari Ramdas published in Agroecology Now on December 2, 2023, holds timely significance on various fronts. Not only does it commemorate the 10th anniversary of FSA’s creation, but it also stands as one of the last interviews Nookaraju shared with us. The piece renders our imaginations of a new order, a casteless society and world where food justice is central to our way of life.
Translation of the interview in Telugu :
Jai Bhim! Jai Bhootali! Jai Adivasi!
On October 16th 2023, on the occasion of World Food Day/ World Hunger Day, members of the Food Sovereignty Alliance across 8 districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gathered to reaffirm their determination and commitment to take back control over their food and farming systems.
They discussed how the recently announced Global Hunger Index 2023 which ranks India 111 of 125 countries, points overwhelmingly to the complete failure of the capitalist industrial food farming system to achieve food and nutritional security. They called out the system for being at the root cause of hunger, chronic malnourishment, the climate crises and deepening inequality. Members pointed out how the agribusiness corporations facilitated by the State, capture the food system from farm to plate. Their burgeoning profit accures from exploiting the labour of adivasi and dalit-bahujan-muslim women. These corporate conglomerates have trapped millions of small farmers into becoming completely dependent on these Big Ag-Big Business-Big Tech players for their seeds, inputs for production and the knowledge related to these. Further, Brahminism is propelling hunger by advocating for devious narratives and ideologies that vilify the cultures of meat, especially beef.
FSA members celebrated their resistance and advanced the project of life, through the exchange of seeds, knowledge, songs and dance, and community cooking where everyone shared and enjoyed the flavourful diverse cuisines. This culturally rich food was sourced from food cultivated agroecologically or foraged / collected. The youth members of the Food Sovereignty Alliance, led the process with their communities, building upon the intergenerational strength toward food justice!
Photos : Dialogue , Seed Exchange, Dance, Song, Community Cooking and Cuisine
Districts: Medak, Sangareddy, Komram Bhim Asifabad and Nagarkurnool (Telangana), Eluru, Alluri Sitaramaraju, Srikakulam, Manyam, Tirupati, Annamayya and Prakasham (Andhra Pradesh).
Food Sovereignty Alliance 