People's Caravan tours Asia for Food Sovereignty

Over 100 grass-roots civil society organizations participated in the tour of 13 Asian countries known as the People's Caravan for Food Sovereignty held from 1 to 30 September 2004 to raise awareness on the issue of hunger and malnutrition and people's lack of access to food and productive resources.

With the support of asian NGOs/CSOs grassroots organizations a mass mobilization was led starting off in Malaysia and culminating in Kathmandu, Nepal. The caravan, which went from Mongolia down to Indonesia and from India to Japan, celebrated the diversity of Asian culture and the knowledge of local food and agriculture while forging solidarity among various social movements in Asia and elsewhere.

One of the key passages of the caravan was the dialogue with public officials and policy makers in each country to adopt national programs of food sovereignty. Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP) coordinated the overall initiative in collaboration with various organisations of peasants, Dalits, women, indigenous people, fisher folks, agricultural workers, as well as with relevant FAO country offices.

For more information on the outcomes of the Caravan per region please visit the PAN AP website at http://www.panap.net/caravan