Newsletter no 18 - Creating knowledge

Creating knowledge for food sovereignty
There is movement in the many worlds that are creating knowledge for food sovereignty!
The stories in this newsletter provide a glimpse into some of these worlds. They show that we are questioning the assumption of a single truth based on objective knowledge. Also that our understanding of the world is enriched by considering it from multliple perspectives, multiple cosmovisions. They indicate that for these multiple cosmovisions to enter into an (...)

It is not surprising that peasant, local and indigenous knowledge is important to food sovereignty. Food sovereignty was built by peasants themselves, based on their own experiences and collective analysis – first that of La Via Campesina, and since then an increasingly diverse group of actors who have been enriching this dynamic concept with their own perspectives.
Over the past few years, however, the rhythm of innovation, experimentation and dialogue related to knowledge for food (...)

Box 1: Decolonizing Research and Relationships: Revitalizing Traditional Grease Trails Indigenous scholars and holders of traditional knowledge in British Columbia, Canada, are developing a research protocol to guide their collaborative research. The Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty (WGIFS) (http://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/about) will bring together key Indigenous scholars and holders of traditional knowledge relevant to the Grease Trails (traditional trade routes) to (...)

Voices from the field 1 Documenting successful cases for horizontal learning
Peter Rosset , La Via Campesina
The "academy" is no longer the epicenter of knowledge production– if indeed it ever was. In today’s world, much of the important new knowledge, and even theory, on alternatives to conventional, exclusionary development, is being generated by social movements. I had the opportunity to participate in one of the self-study processes of La Via Campesina (LVC). In this case the object (...)