📝 INTERVIEW | Seeds, GMOs and Sovereignty: A Conversation with Esquisa Omaña
Venezuelan researcher and activist Esquisa Omaña takes stock of the country's Seed Law and the struggle for food sovereignty.
Approved in 2015, the Seed Law bans the sowing of GMOs and uniquely recognizes two knowledge systems: certified seeds and those developed by campesino, Indigenous, and Afro-descendant communities.
But a decade later, Omaña warns that the law remains largely unimplemented. The biosecurity commission never took off, and the GMO detection lab remains unopened. As GMO imports continue and local varieties face contamination risks, the law’s vision, to protect agro-biodiversity and campesino knowledge, hangs in the balance.
🔗 Read the full interview here: https://shorturl.at/eGGWP
#FoodSovereignty#GMO#SeedLaw
📰 NEWS | Venezuela: Popular Organizations Push Direct Distribution Routes to Boost Food Security
Pueblo a Pueblo and the Communard Union are providing affordable access to fish and vegetables by connecting popular organizations. Pueblo a Pueblo delivered 1,000 packs of fish and seafood, each weighing 3.8 kilograms, in Caracas, Yaracuy, Lara and Trujillo. The packages, sold at $13, represented savings of 50–60% compared to local markets.
At the same time, the Communard Union transported 3.5 tons of vegetables from Trujillo to communes in Lara state. Between 500 and 600 people purchased potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes at prices around 40% below market levels. Both initiatives strengthen direct distribution routes between producers and communities.
🔗 Read the full report: https://shorturl.at/3HDgP
#CommunardUnion#FoodSovereignty#PopularPower#PuebloaPueblo
🗒️🗣️ INTERVIEW | Liccia Romero: ‘We Need a Policy to Fund Agroecology’
Biologist and organizer Liccia Romero discusses the achievements and challenges of agroecology in Venezuela, drawing from the experience of the Mano a Mano Agroecological Market in Mérida.
In the interview, Romero discusses how producers adapted to the pandemic, the blockade, fuel shortages, and changing consumption patterns. She also explains the importance of open-pollinated seeds, crop diversification, participatory agroecological certification, and Venezuela’s 2015 Seed Law.
“We need a funding policy for agroecological initiatives,” Romero says, arguing that agroecology is often limited to small-scale production because it lacks large-scale support.
Read the full interview 👉https://venezuelanalysis.com/interviews/liccia-romero-we-need-a-policy-to-fund-agroecology
#Agroecology#FoodSovereignty#PopularEconomy#SeedLaw