Food Sovereignty as an Emerging Concept

Food sovereignty is a concept introduced in 1996 by a peasant network called Via Campesina during the World Food Summit hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. In the past ten years, food sovereignty has grown in popularity and the concept is now used by many nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and grassroots organizations from industrialized, developing, and underdeveloped countries. This article draws on interviews with seventeen activists and professionals who work regularly with the concept of food sovereignty to examine their interpretation of said concept and the way they think it should be put into practice.