Food Sovereignty: A Feminist Struggle of the World March of Women

Video looks back on the history of struggles for food sovereignty waged by the WMW as a political endeavor to defend common goods and territories

The agenda of struggles of the World March of Women includes defending food sovereignty, territories, and common goods as part of the struggle to dismantle the different forms of violence experienced by women. In a capitalist, racist, patriarchal society, the economic dimension of domestic and care work—including food-related work—is concealed and rendered invisible. Not only that, this work is also considered natural for mothers, wives, grandmothers, and sisters.

Through personal accounts, interviews, and records by militants of the WMW from around the world, the video Food Sovereignty: A Feminist Struggle of the World March of Women looks back on the history of the movement in defense of food sovereignty and feminist networks and practices that have been producing and ensuring food for thousands of years. It also provides a time line featuring important processes toward building a shared viewed on the topic with ally movements, including La Via Campesina and Friends of the Earth International. One example is the first global forum on food sovereignty, the Nyéléni Forum, held in Sélingué, Mali, in 2007.

The video was produced by the World March of Women and the Capire portal and it was launched during the international webinar Food Crisis, held by the WMW on May 22nd, 2023. The webinar discussed what women have been building in terms of agroecology and feminist economy, as well as the food crisis the entire world is facing, and which has become increasingly worse since the COVID-19 pandemic.

We thank all National Coordinating Bodies of the WMW, participating groups, militants, and ally organizations and movements that have shared materials with us about the struggles and topics related to defending food sovereignty and the peoples.

The video is available in English, Spanish, and French. You can watch the English version below.