Agroecology can change the world
Solidarity and strong direction at the third Nyéléni Forum
Around 700 delegates from more than 102 countries, representing hundreds of millions of people, attended the third Nyéléni Global Forum for Food Sovereignty, held in Kandy, Sri Lanka in September 2025.
The 10-day forum was the largest gathering of social movements and grassroots organisations in the world. It focused on the effects of the “dominant, patriarchal, imperialist, colonialist, racist, caste and supremacist capitalist system” on food systems.
At the opening event, a giant puppet was knocked down on the stage, an act symbolising defiance against the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and the debt of the countries of the South to the Global North.
The Sri Lankan Minister of Plantation and Community Infrastructure, Samantha Vidyaratna, spoke at the conference inauguration. She said:
We will move forward united, because, with agroecology, we can change the world. Of course, we face difficulties, but we are committed to working together for systemic change in favour of Food Sovereignty.”
A key theme at the conference was the injustice done to farmers, food producers and, ultimately, communities by the corporate control inherent in biotechnology and genetic engineering.
Musa Sowe is Second Vice President of the Network of Farmers’ and Agricultural Producers’ Organizations of West Africa and the Africa representative on the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty. Speaking from the Forum, he said:
Agroecology promotes economic viability and is a solution where farmers can define, determine and engage in production without extra cost, because they use the natural environment… We don’t want to accept corporate ‘solutions’ that only benefit a few. We are building our own solutions, from the ground up.”
The conference included cultural performance, agroecological markets, discussions and, on day five, a fascinating spotlight on popular Ceremony at Nyéléni 2025 communication—from storytelling to grassroots media—as a vital tool for advancing Food Sovereignty.
After days of intense discussion, shared reflection and solidarity, delegates came together at the closing ceremony to present recommendations drawn from the Nyéléni Declaration. These formed two documents: the Declaration of Kandy and the Common Political Action Agenda. The Agenda has six tenets: achieving Food Sovereignty and agroecology; building and defending democracy and the rights of the people; achieving peace and internationalist solidarity; building popular economies; establishing health for everyone, and achieving climate justice and energy sovereignty.
Next steps include the Global Day of Mobilisation against imperialism, genocide, war and the use of hunger as a weapon, and dialogue sessions with trade union movements.
Samah Abunemah, head of a women’s co-operative in the West Bank village of Battir, took part in the conference. She spoke to GM Freeze:
We’re an association of 18 female farmers, producing handicrafts and food free of industrial materials.Through the agricultural union, we became a member of the La Via Campesina Peasant Way movement, which has a membership of 200 million peasants around the world.
There was extensive talk about Food Sovereignty, and the conference’s message was clear: not to use starvation in Gaza as a weapon of war.”
Nyéléni wrote on their Facebook page:
When peoples are besieged by land, sea, and air, and even words are silenced, it becomes essential to open a path toward the free peoples of the world. We unite in solidarity with Palestine and with all struggles for dignity and freedom. This is a cry for human dignity, a call for justice, and an invitation to converge in solidarity.”
The first Global Forum for Food Sovereignty was held in Mali in 2007. It’s named after a legendary Malian peasant woman Nyéléni, who has become one of the symbols of Food Sovereignty.
For this third gathering, 80 social movements from all corners of the planet came together. They included representatives of peasant organisations, small-scale fisher people, Indigenous Peoples, nomadic and pastoral communities, landless workers, migrants, feminist and anti-racist movements, trade unions, climate justice organisations, youth collectives, public health advocates, and social and solidarity economy actors. They were supported by civil society organisations and committed academics based on the foundation that “critical science and people’s knowledge go hand in hand”.
This article first appeared in the GM Freeze newsletter, Thin Ice, issue 69.
