The World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) is planning two exchange trips later this year during which members will help develop policy on Ocean Grabbing and AgroEcology.
The programmes will take place in Sri Lanka and Kenya and each will involve five or six people from member organisations of the WFFP.
Grassroots members will reflect on real, lived experiences to shape policy for the organisation. In Sri Lanka, for example, the privatisation of public resources took place after the Tsunami of 2004, resulting in hotels and other recreational facilities being constructed. This then restricted or prevented access to the ocean for indigenous fishers. This is a prime example of Ocean Grabbing and participants will draw on the lessons.
In Kenya, the participants will focus on issues of inland fisheries and privatisation.
Ocean Grabbing is not confined to the oceans – as the term may suggest. It is essentially about the grabbing of marine and land natural resources that small-scale fishers depend on for their livelihoods and food sovereignty. Food sovereignty means peoples’ democratic control over the production, processing, marketing and consumption of food. In the case of fisheries, it relates to all types of food that is harvested, caught or produced by people from fishing communities. Marine resources include fish, shellfish, seaweed and other plants and caught animals harvested or from oceans, rivers and lakes.
Wikipedia defines Agroecology as follows:
Agroecology is the study of ecological processes that operate in agricultural production systems. The prefix agro- refers to agriculture. Bringing ecological principles to bear in agroecosystems can suggest novel management approaches that would not otherwise be considered. The term is often used imprecisely and may refer to “a science, a movement, [or] a practice.”[1] Agroecologists study a variety of agroecosystems, and the field of agroecology is not associated with any one particular method of farming, whether it be organic, integrated, or conventional; intensive or extensive.
The WFFP has 40 member organisations in more than 30 countries across the world.