International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty - Europe and Central Asia
In Europe, especially in ECVC, we are working on some political proposals to support an ambitious transition to peasant farming. There is an urgent need for Europe to transition to genuine social, economic and environmental sustainability. It is time to think about how we can viably move away from industrialized livestock farming models and ensure that in Europe, the number of animals reared does not exceed what each given territory is capable of sustaining, starting by how much animal feed that can produce. At the same time, farmers must also be duly remunerated for the fruits their labor. This is what we refer to as the re-territorialization of livestock farming.
This process could be really important for our initiative. The Guidelines should serve indeed to facilitate political processes at the regional level to implement legal frameworks to ensure the sustainable livestock and pastoralism. The Guidelines should look at creating a legal policy environment that would facilitate the small-scale livestock in their daily work and livelihoods.
The nature should be voluntary guidelines (as the SSF Guidelines or the VGGTs) in order to facilitate the process of negotiation and avoid blocking from some more agro-industry oriented countries. We need to have a tool that can facilitate the creation of specific policies at national level. The voluntary guidelines at global level can also represent an easier tool to be implemented to the national or local context.
The process should consider the different regional perspectives, and it should somehow support the CSOs in having autonomous consultations with a respect on the gender and geographical balance in order to not leave anyone behind.
Suggested documents to deepen the issue: https://www.eurovia.org/publications/livestock-farming-in-the-european-…
Sr. Stefano Mori