At 14:30 on October 16, 2003, a group of Indian farmers will be presenting a slide show on international food issues in the foyer of Ottawa's City Hall.

The following material is from an event with these farmers to be held on the morning of October 16, 2003 from 9:00 to 13:00 at the International Development Research Centre.

http://www.interpares.ca/en/photo_essay/index.php
http://www.interpares.ca/fr/reportage_photo/index.php

South Asia Network on Food, Ecology and Culture (SANFEC)

Inter Pares, USC-Canada and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) invite you to the World Premiere of the film
"South Asia - Canada Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture"

Thursday, October 16th (World Food Day) at IDRC, 250 Albert Street, Ottawa

Is ecological agriculture viable for farmers in South Asia and Canada?

To answer this question, and to identify common ground between these two communities of farmers, SANFEC, IDRC and Inter Pares organized the South Asia - Canada Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture. This involved a tour of organic farms in British Colombia by 11 farmers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal as well as a number of Canadian farmers and a presentation at the World Congress of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements in Victoria, B.C. in August, 2002. The counterpart exchange took place in February, 2003 when 9 Canadian farmers toured farms and cities in four states of India and remote communities of Nepal.

The Canadian Dialogue resulted in "Common Ground", a collective statement on the domestic and international food and agricultural policies needed to support locally-based, economically viable and ecologically sound farming. It also debunked the myth that the future prospects of South Asian farmers differ fundamentally from those of farmers living in Canada. The South Asia Dialogue reached senior-level government officials in various Indian states and national agencies in India and Nepal skeptical about the potential of ecological agriculture in South Asia, and unaware of the growing interest of Canadian farmers in alternatives to chemical-based agriculture. According to leading representatives of the NGO community in South Asia, the Canadian farmers were more successful at opening the minds of government officials to the significant human and economic costs of chemical-based agriculture than the NGOs had been after years of lobbying. This was due largely to the attention given by officials to a "first-world" perspective and the authenticity of the Canadian farmer experience, making it possible to bust the myths of a single future for agriculture.

To celebrate this vision and honour World Food Day, we invite you to a film on the Dialogue produced by women farmer/film-makers and discuss with some of the Canadian farmers involved the significance of the exchange for them personally and for the wider farming community. The discussion will also serve as a contribution to work by Inter Pares, individual farmers and IDRC to help reflect on and amplify Canadian and South Asian experiences with ecological agriculture.

You are cordially invited to join us, starting at 9:00 AM on the 14th floor of IDRC (250 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON), and ending with a light lunch at 12:30 PM.

[Note: South Asian farmers will be presenting a slide show at 14:30 at Ottawa Harvests in the foyer of Ottawa's City Hall at 110 Laurier on Thrusday October 16th, 2003.]