EVENTS
Invitation to October Dialogue
August 12, 2005
Dear friends,
Ten years ago the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and the TRIPS agreement came into force. These ten years have witnessed a corporate highjack of our food and agriculture systems, marginalizing our farmers, pushing them into a debt trap and in extreme cases to suicides. In December yet another Ministerial meeting of WTO will take place in Hong Kong. The last Ministerial at Cancun failed because of deadlock in agriculture negotiations and protests by farmers and civil society movements. The suicides of Korean farmer Lee at Cancun will stay with us as a reminder of the price small farmers are paying worldwide for trade liberalization and free markets in agriculture.
In these ten years initiatives to build alternative production and distribution system to the corporate driven industrialized agriculture and liberalized trade have also grown in the form of biodiversity based organic farming, fair trade and direct marketing.
On 30 th September and 1 st October , Navdanya / Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology is planning to organize a two day convention on “ Alternatives to Corporate Agriculture and WTO” at the Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi. The first day (30.9.2005) will be dedicated to a session on “Ten Years Of WTO: Taking Stock of the Distratous Impact on Farmers and Agriculture” during which we will take stock of ten years of impact of WTO and trade liberalization on Indian agriculture. During day two (1.10.2005) on “The Next Ten Years : Building An Agriculture of Hope and Prosperity” we will share our experiences in building alternatives to corporate agriculture through organic fair trade.
We would like your organization to send a delegation to participate in and contribute to the two-day farmers convention on agriculture. Please let us know which session your team would like to contribute to and send us your written contribution prior to the meeting for distribution. We enclose a draft programme as well as a registration form for you to fill and return to us before 10 th of September, 2005.
Please bring photographic exhibitions, seed exhibitions, videos related to both the impact of WTO and Globalisation on agriculture and on alternatives you are involved in creating.
Looking forward to building a strong movement together to change the unfair rules of trade and to defend our small and marginal farmers.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Vandana Shiva
Founder Director
DRAFT PROGRAMME
DAY I (30-9.2005)
TEN YEARS OF WTO: TAKING STOCK OF THE DISTRATOUS IMPACT ON FARMERS AND AGRICULTURE
Session - I 10.00 – 11.00 |
Opening Plenary
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Invited Speakers S.P. Shukla, Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, Vandana Shiva |
11.00 – 11.30 |
Tea Break
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|
Session - II 11.30 – 1.00 |
Rising Costs Of Production and Corporate Monopoly on Seed
|
Farmers Representatives from different regions of India + Invited Speakers |
1.00 – 2.00 |
Lunch Break
|
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Session - III 2.00 – 3.30 |
The Collapsing Farm Prices |
Farmers Representatives from different regions of India + Invited Speakers |
3.30 – 4.00 |
Tea Break
|
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Session - IV 4.00 – 5.00 |
The Debt Trap Of Globalised Agriculture And Farmers Suicides |
Farmers Representatives from different regions of India + Invited Speakers |
DAY II (1.10.2005)
THE NEXT TEN YEARS: BUILDING AN AGRICULTURE OF HOPE & PROSPERITY
Session - V 10.00 – 11.00 |
Plenary |
Invited Speakers
|
11.00 – 11.30 |
Tea Break
|
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Session - VI 11.30 – 1.00 |
Biodiversity based Organic Farming : Reducing Corporate Dependence and High Costs of Income |
Farmers Representatives from different regions of India + Invited Speakers |
1.00 – 2.00 |
Lunch Break
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|
Session - VII 2.00 – 3.30 |
Fair Trade and Just Prices |
Farmers Representatives from different regions of India + Invited Speakers |
3.30 – 4.00 |
Tea Break
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Session - VIII 4.00 – 5.00 |
New Rules of Trade For An Agriculture of Hope |
Invited Speakers
|
CONVENTION ON
ALTERNATIVES TO CORPORATE AGRICULTURE & WTO
30 TH SEPTEMBER & 1 ST OCTOBER 2005
CONSTITUTION CLUB, RAFI MARG
NEW DELHI
National Convention on Community Rights to Natural Resources and the Constitution |