During a televised interview, Osorio said that Venezuela consumes twice as much animal and vegetal protein, cereals, rice, corn and precooked corn meal than some other countries.

Osorio, together with Agriculture Minister Juan Carlos Loyo said that Venezuela has the third highest rate of consumption of many wheat products such as pasta, bread and wheat flour.

Additionally, the minister of food said that 80 percent of Venezuelans eat three times a day, according to research conducted by the National Institute of Statistics in populous sectors of the country.

Meanwhile, 16.2 percent eats three or more times per day, and 3.4 percent of the population eats only twice.

“This wasn’t the case under previous governments, when a great amount of the population would go hungry,” Osorio said.

Delegation to Bolivia: Food Sovereignty, Indigenous Resistance, and Climate Justice
 
(May 29-June 9, 2012)

We will be celebrating indigenous resistance and exploring food sovereignty issues in Bolivia, the first country in the hemisphere to be governed by an indigenous president. Learn about indigenous struggles for food sovereignty and the rights of Mother Earth in the face of climate change. Meet with farmers, community leaders, government leaders, and others. Experience the rich culture of the Andes and soak in the sights, sounds, people, and politics in this historic moment in Bolivia.

When: May 29-June 9, 2012

Tentative Itinerary: Start and end in La Paz; visits to Coroico (Yungas de La Paz), Cochabamba and Chapare.

Days 1: La Paz – Arrival; orientation/welcome; visits to social programs and discussions with community leaders and authorities who run them
Day 2: Trip to Lake Titicaca Titicaca: Learn about binational programs between Bolivia and Peru to clean and conserve the lake and visit to trout farms; on the way, stop in the Alto region to hear from communities about the impacts of climate change.
Days 3, 4, and 5: Coroico and Coripata (Yungas de La Paz) – Visits to food security pilot projects and to coca plantations; visits to Afro-Bolivian communities.
Days 6, 7, and 8: Oruro, Cochabamba and el Chapare – visits to quinoa farms; visit to a coca processing plants that make products such as biscuits, creams, and soap; discussion with community leaders who led the successful struggle against privatization of their water sources. Visit to the “Casa del ALBA,” where a host of social programs are carried out supported by the ALBA countries.
Day 9: La Paz – conversations with government leaders (pending confirmation) and visits to local markets
Day 10: departure

Cost for Activities: $1100. This will cover all lodging, all ground transportation, 2 meals per day, qualified trip leaders, and Spanish-English interpretation. Additional expenses during the trip will be minimal.
 Airfare not included.

Delegation to Venezuela: Food Sovereignty, Human Rights, and Community Power (July 16 to 26, 2012)

We will examine issues of land reform, urban agriculture, rural development, fishing rights, and food sovereignty within a dynamic political context. Venezuela is an outstanding example of a country that strives to ensure its citizens’ right to food while bolstering its domestic agriculture sector, with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture. We will also explore other areas of social transformation, including education, healthcare, and direct citizen participation in the political process. Plus trips to beaches, parks, and other sites of interest.

When: July 16 to 26, 2012

Tentative Itinerary. Start and end in Caracas; visits to the states of Portuguesa, Barinas, Yaracuy, and the Amazon.

Day 1: Caracas – Arrival; orientation/welcome; visits to social programs and discussions with community leaders and local authorities
Day 2: Visits to urban agriculture sites and other community initiatives in different communities in Caracas, including 23 de Enero, El Valle, and Petare.
Days 3 and 4: Visits to rural areas in the states of Yaracuy and Barinas: learn about agrarian reform and agroecology through visits to agricultural cooperatives, biological control laboratories, food processing coops, and agricultural education programs
Days 5 and 6: Visits to indigenous communities and agroecology projects in the Amazon (pending confirmation)
Days 7 and 8: Visit to the Afro-Venezuelan coastal community of Chuao, known for producing some of the world’s best cocoa; learn about artisanal cacao production as well as artisanal fishing and Venezuela’s progressive fishing laws; enjoy beautiful beaches.
Day 9: Caracas: free day for sight seeing, getting souvenirs, etc.
Day 10: departure

Cost for Activities: $1100. This will cover all lodging, all ground transportation, 2 meals per day, qualified trip leaders, and Spanish-English interpretation. Additional expenses during the trip will be minimal.
 Airfare not included.

To Learn more and hold a spot for either trip, email cbalbertolovera@gmail.com. Please be in touch as soon as possible, as space for both trips is very limited. Please allow several days for responses.


Sponsored by the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of NY.

Check out these articles from past delegations:

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2008/magdoff040208.html

http://monthlyreview.org/090824shiavoni-camacaro.php

For additional information, see:

http://revolucionalimentaria.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/moving-toward-land-reform-food-sovereignty-and-agroecology-in-venezuela/

And check out this trailer to a great new film based on footage from a past delegation!

What people are saying about our delegations:

“The Food Sovereignty delegation to Venezuela was interesting, informative and a lot of fun. We saw collective farms, factories, feeding centers and spent time with groups of people struggling for land reform and human dignity. We had lots of opportunities to see how people work together and how agriculture is changing in Venezuela. I loved the people we traveled with and created strong bonds with many of them. It’s the kind of trip that makes you want to return in a few years to see how much progress is being made. It further inspired me to work in the food democracy movement in the US and figure out ways to stay in solidarity with our Venezuelan sisters and brothers.”

Nancy Romer
General Coordinator
Brooklyn Food Coalition
www.BrooklynFoodCoalition.org

“Traveling with William and Christina gave me an insider perspective that I couldn’t have gotten otherwise. I highly recommend taking a trip on one of these delegations whether you are highly interested in food politics and socialism, or are new to the subject.”

Paula Crossfield
Founder and the Managing Editor of Civil Eats http://civileats.com/about/

“The food sovereignty tours to Venezuela are an incredible eye opener. You can read about aspects of the country’s shift to a fairer food system but to see it first hand – and meet the people that are making the change happen – is totally inspiring.”

Simon Cunich

Australian Filmmaker

Creator of the documentary Growing Change http://www.simoncunich.com.au/

Monje said that they have already secured 70 million of the 100 million USD announced by President Evo Morales, which are intended to implement the second version of this plan in 2012, for which there were 1,040 projects by municipalities.

The minister added that the program is primarily intended to reduce poverty, ensure food sovereignty and improve the living conditions of rural towns.

The president Evo Morales launched by Supreme Decree a rural assistance program for about 100 million USD aimed at promoting water harvesting projects in rural areas of the country for human consumption, crops irrigation and animals .

A Journey Inside Venezuela’s Food Revolution
US Debut of the Documentary ‘Growing Change’ by Australian filmmaker Simon Cunich Inspired by a delegation of the Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle of NY!

When: Friday, November 18, 2011 at 7 PM
Where: 1199SEIU Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center, 310 West 43rd St. (between 8th and 9th Avenues), 7th floor, Manhattan, NYC

Come learn how Venezuela is building a new food system from the ground up through powerful and inspiring footage and commentary straight from the heart of Venezuela’s food revolution. Featuring Venezuelan farmers, fishers, and community leaders plus leading figures in the global food movement.

The film will be followed by first-hand reports from participants in a recent food sovereignty delegation to Venezuela, possibly joined by an Afro-Venezuelan community leader (pending confirmation).

$5 suggested donation, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Light refreshments will be provided.

About the film: Growing Change is an inspiring new documentary that looks at one of the most exciting experiments in the world to grow a fair and sustainable food system.
In Venezuela, from fishing villages to cacao plantations to urban gardens, a growing social movement is showing what’s possible when communities, not corporations, start to take control of food.

Venezuela’s Land Law was enacted to reduce dependence on food imports, however, wealthy landowners believe they will lose profits if it is implemented – so they are threatening and killing those who attempt to implement the law [EPA]
For close to a decade, Venezuela has been the focus and the target of mainstream news coverage, as the scene of a heated political struggle over control of the country’s destiny.

But the parade of pundits eager to criticise the country’s elected president and simplify the country’s political conflict as a rule ignore the deep socio-economic inequality that propelled President Chavez to power.

The Bolivarian revolution has made significant strides in improving the conditions for the country’s popular classes and promoting an alternative regional bloc, while at the same time pioneering a unique form of participatory democracy.

Still, the Bolivarian revolution is struggling both from its own contradictions and against a long history of deeply entrenched social inequality, intensified by capitalist globalisation.

This is nowhere more clear than in the rural countryside of Venezuela, where vast tracts of land remain in the hands of a tiny grouping of extremely wealthy families.

Tierras Libres, a documentary released this year, tells a story that has been virtually blacked out by the international press – the murders of hundreds of Venezuelan peasants by hired gunmen and right wing paramilitaries. The peasants have been murdered for attempting to implement the Chavez government’s land reform policy. The crimes strongly implicate wealthy landowners who vehemently oppose land reform.

Doneila, whose husband was murdered in 2003
In one scene from the documentary, we see a middle-aged woman, Doneila, whose husband, Hermes Escalona, was murdered in 2003 by gunmen as he was beginning to work some fallow land on a huge plantation.

Speaking directly to President Chavez on his weekly Alo Presidente television programme, she looks hopeful as Chavez promises to “heat up” efforts to bring her husband’s killers to justice.

No justice for the poor

In fact, as the documentary shows, Chavez ordered his personal lawyer to come to her aid. However, the film next provides an update on Doneila’s story years after her appearance with Chavez on national TV. While she continues to support the Venezuelan president, she says, tearfully, that she has come to conclude that, for poor people in Venezuela, there simply is no justice.

Her son explains that, after years of effort, even with the support they received, the time and resources required to pursue justice in the case of his father is too great an emotional and financial burden for them to bear.

In other words, the justice system remains rigged in favour of the Venezuelan one per cent (to use the Occupy Wall Street terminology) who constructed it. As the filmmaker, Edward Ellis, described the situation:

“The legal system in Venezuela, despite the international media’s misinterpretations, is still, in many cases, very much in the hands of the middle and upper classes. Most of these people have their roots in the power structures of Punto Fijismo – that’s to say, the ancien regime.

“The majority of lawyers and judges share the same cultural background and class origins as the landowners and latifundistas. They went to the same schools and universities, visit the same clubs and drink the same whisky, regardless of whether or not they don a red hat at a rally. So what you have is a system run and controlled by money.”

The peasant killings have been so completely disregarded by the international press that in August a petition was sent to the UK Guardian newspaper – widely hailed as one of the world’s finest “left leaning” newspapers. The petition, signed by Noam Chomsky, John Pilger and others, asked the Guardian why, despite having a correspondent based in Caracas for years, the issue has been completely ignored.

For example, the Guardian, which has relentlessly reported criticism of the Chavez government, neither reported on the killings nor on demonstrations highlighting the issue, such as the June 8, 2011, march on the National Assembly of 10,000 people, which was organised by peasant collectives to demand justice.

Several weeks after the petition was sent, after receiving even more complaints, the Guardian allowed Edward Ellis to write a comment piece about the issue. Ellis wrote that the impunity enjoyed by wealthy landowners in Venezuela “challenges the contemporary human rights discourse, which portrays the country’s judiciary as captive to the whims of a power-hungry ‘strongman’ bent on stamping out political dissent”.

A good example of the “contemporary human rights discourse” that Ellis mentioned was a report issued in August by the International Crisis Group (ICG) about the problem of violent crime in Venezuela (“Violence and politics in Venezuela”). In its conclusion, the ICG stated: “Violence, or its threat, has become inherent to President Chavez’s political project”.

Assassinations by wealthy landowners

Never mind that, according to the figures provided in ICG’s own report, the vast majority of people killed in political violence since 1999 have been Chavez supporters. Hundreds of peasants such as Hermes Escalona were murdered for attempting to implement a policy that is high priority for a government eager to end Venezuela’s dependence on food imports. The fact that wealthy landowners have, with impunity, been able to assassinate hundreds of Chavistas speaks volumes about the power of the rich and their capacity for violence.

Even with Chavez’s support, many farmers are still at risk from wealthy landowners [EPA]
Chavez opponents are well positioned – as state governors, mayors, legislators, judges and police chiefs – to exacerbate violent crime in general. The former Caracas Metropolitan police, for example, openly collaborated with the short-lived coup that briefly deposed Chavez in 2002.

Despite these dramatically revealing facts, it is inconceivable that a prominent, well-funded NGO such as the ICG would ever write: “Violence, or its threat, has become inherent to the elite opposition’s political project in Venezuela” even though it would be far closer to the truth.

Ignoring key facts and the unequal social relations that underpin the political conflict in Venezuela, media and NGO professionals invariably reduce a diverse and broad movement from below to the alleged machinations of the country’s president.

In US embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks, US officials have stated how important it is to them that NGOs take up their propaganda war against the Chavez government. It would appear that various NGOs and institutions – Human Rights Watch, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the ICG – require no prodding from the US government to write voluminously about Venezuela in a way that whitewashes the US-funded political opposition or the role of other local and transnational elites.

Many among the international press and prominent NGOs appear to share the assumptions of some in the often-corrupted Venezuelan legal system about whose lives matter and whose don’t.

While it has become normal to read media reports critical of Venezuela’s elected authorities, little is said of the murky world of elite networks and the violence they propel.

Less is said of inequality or of the brave efforts made to slowly eradicate it. For these stories we must go to the Venezuelan poor and hear their testimonials – as Edward Ellis did to make his vivid documentary.

Joe Emersberger is a writer based in Canada and operates the Canuckmediamonitor website. Jeb Sprague is the author of the forthcoming book Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti (published by Monthly Review Press).

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

Estos recursos serán utilizados para apoyar a la Misión Alimentación y consolidar procesos de producción, distribución y abastecimiento de alimentos de primera necesidad.

De acuerdo a las cifras contempladas en el proyecto de Ingresos, Gastos y Operaciones de Financiamiento de la República, del total que prevé recibir el Minal, 936.910.375 bolívares se destinarán para acciones centralizadas, orientadas a la consolidación de la Misión Alimentación y el fortalecimiento de la capacidad para el trabajo social con las comunidades en el tema alimentario, así como la programación y ejecución de acciones de carácter social.

Además, se otorgarán 201.964.943 bolívares para la Fundación Programa de Alimentos Estratégicos (Fundaproal), organismo que administra las seis mil Casas de alimentación del país, que proporcionan, de manera gratuita, desayunos, almuerzos y meriendas a 900 mil personas al mes.

Las Casas de Alimentación surgen en 2004 con el propósito de garantizar de forma gratuita comidas preparadas a los venezolanos en condición de pobreza extrema y reducir los problemas relacionados con el acceso a los alimentos. Asimismo, está previsto entregar 614.945.432 bolívares al Instituto Nacional de Nutrición (INN) el cual está encargado de ejecutar las políticas nutricionales del Estado venezolano, según el Proyecto de Ley de Presupuesto 2012.

De la misma forma, la Superintendencia Nacional de Silos, Almacenes y Depósitos Agrícolas (Sada) recibirá 45 millones de bolívares para realizar, junto con los entes relacionados a la Misión Alimentación, un proyecto para fortalecer la capacidad de las reservas alimentarias del país, y así apoyar el incremento y la consolidación de la soberanía y la seguridad alimentaria.

Igualmente, el Sada se encargará de fortalecer el Sistema de Control Agroalimentario (Sica); realizar inspecciones para ejercer el control y la fiscalización de los inventarios de alimentos en almacenes, depósitos y silos a nivel nacional, tanto público como privado, además de vigilar que todos los entes que participan en el ciclo agro-productivo, mediante el registro de recepciones y despachos de los rubros y productos alimenticios terminados y su materia prima nacional.

Por otra parte, se destinará 3.069 millones 697.158 bolívares para financiar los proyectos de los entes descentralizados adscritos al Minal, con el objeto de lograr el acceso oportuno y permanente de alimentos de primera calidad y a bajos precios a la población venezolana, mediante la distribución de alimentos a través de la Red de Mercados de Alimentos (Mercal) y el mantenimiento de las Casas de Alimentación.

De esta cantidad de recursos, la Fundación Programa de Alimentos Estratégicos (Fundaproal) recibirá 712.035.057 para la adquisición de alimentos no procesados, de bolsas solidarias de comida, así como para atender los gastos de gas, electricidad, limpieza y beca-ayudas de las procesadoras de las casas de alimentación.

Igualmente, la Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícolas (Casa) recibirá 2,3 millardos, los cuales se emplearán en la compra de alimentos, tanto nacionales como importados, para ser distribuidas a través de la Red Mercal. Mientras que, el Instituto Nacional de Nutrición (INN) prevé percibir 57.662.101 de bolívares para garantizar el derecho a la alimentación y nutrición de los requerimientos y necesidades de la población, con énfasis en los grupos vulnerables y los sectores más excluidos en el ámbito nacional.

El proyecto de Ley de Presupuesto refiere que el resto de los entes que conforman la Misión Alimentación (Mercal, Pdval, Logicasa, Venalcasa, Enaca, Cealco, Red de Abastos, Bicentenarios, Industrias Diana y Lácteos Los Andes), apoyarán y potenciarán la Misión Alimentación en todos sus aspectos, tanto en la producción y distribución de alimentos.

Estas empresas se financiarán con los propios recursos generados de su operatividad.

Según detalla el Proyecto de Ley de Presupuesto 2012, presentado le pasado jueves jueves ante la plenaria de la Asamblea Nacional (AN) por el ministro de Planificación y Finanzas, Jorge Giordani, el presupuesto está dirigido a consolidar el proceso de recuperación del aparato productivo nacional y el debilitamiento de las presiones inflacionarias, que permitirán generar condiciones macroeconómicas favorables para el fortalecimiento de las fuentes de ahorro y de inversión socioproductiva, necesarias en el afianzamiento del modelo productivo socialista.

Credito: CiudadCCS

10/10/11.- El ministro del Poder Popular para la Alimentación, Carlos Osorio, realizó este lunes la inauguración de la Arepera Venezuela número 95 del país, en las cuales se ofrecen el referido producto alimenticio de alta calidad y a precios justos, para el bienestar del pueblo.

El nuevo local, se encuentra ubicado en la Plaza La Candelaria y forma parte de las 200 areperas que se prevé tener en funcionamiento al cierre de este 2011.

Durante un recorrido a las novedosas instalaciones, Osorio destacó actualmente se encuentran funcionando 160 de estos locales de expendio del referido producto alimenticio en todo el territorio nacional, y unos 40 más, que en este momento se encuentran en la fase de reestructuración.

Informó que hasta el cierre del mes de septiembre, un total de 859 mil arepas se ha distribuido en todo el país. Asimismo, realizó el lanzamiento de nos nuevos productos que pasan a formar parte de la red de distribución de alimentos que se elaboran del Estado, “con el objetivo de garantizar la soberanía alimenticia de nuestro pueblo”, refirió,

“Hoy estamos lanzando la nueva agua mineral “Montaña Alta”, con un 65 % por debajo de cualquier agua que se distribuye en Venezuela (…), la misma será distribuida por Lácteos Los Andes”, indicó.

También presentó la “Mayonesa Diana”, elaborada por la estatal de alimentos, Industrias Diana, la cual viene en sus presentaciones para el sector industrial y de uso doméstico, también a un precio accesible al pueblo venezolano, dijo.

Por otra parte, subrayó que todas las personas que laboran en estas cadenas de alimentación, realizan cursos de preparación para el trabajo, en los que se les brindan cursos de calidad de servicio, atención al cliente y relaciones humanas, todos certificados por el Instituto Nacional de Capacitación y Educación Socialista (Inces).

7 de octubre de 2011.- En el corazón del estado Lara, exactamente, en la población Sabana Alta del municipio Simón Planas, se encuentra la Comuna Socialista “El Maizal” que, desde hace dos años, trabaja de la mano con las comunidades para garantizar la producción y distribución de maíz blanco.

Esta Comuna Socialista nació el 5 de marzo del año 2009, luego de una visita que realizó el Mandatario Nacional a la comunidad de Sabana Alta, para recuperar más de mil hectáreas que estuvieron por más de 50 años en manos de capitalistas.

Con la toma de estas tierras, el Gobierno Bolivariano procedió, junto a las comunidades de la zona, a crear la Comuna Socialista “El Maizal”; a la que le otorgaron 600 hectáreas, de las cuales 320 son utilizadas para la producción de maíz blanco, y 280 para ganadería.

La Comuna Socialista “El Maizal” está integrada por 22 Consejos Comunales. De éstos 10 provienen del estado Portuguesa y 12 del estado Lara.

Ángel Prado, vocero de la Comuna, comentó que cuando las tierras fueron tomadas por el Estado estaban, totalmente, abandonadas. “Una vez que se tomaron las tierras, se impulsó la creación de la Comuna y la incorporación de los Consejos Comunales”.

La siembra de maíz es uno de los proyectos socios-productivos de la Comuna “El Maizal” que le garantiza a la población de Sabana Alta, y sus alrededores, el buen vivir.

Para este año, la Comuna “El Maizal” tiene previsto cosechar entre 5 mil y 6 mil kilos de maíz por hectárea.

Con esta producción de maíz, serán beneficiadas más de mil 490 familias, para un total de 6 mil 142 habitantes; quienes, también, prestan apoyo a las labores de siembra.

La Comuna “El Maizal” está integrada por brigadas de trabajo; entre ellas: Brigada de Gas Comunal, Ganadería, Transporte, Bloquera y Producción de Maíz.

“La comunidad ha asumido la organización y la contraloría del trabajo que realizamos dentro de la Comuna. Le estamos devolviendo a nuestro pueblo lo que, por muchos años, nos quitaron. Ahora, estamos retornando los beneficios y la atención social para nuestras comunidades”, contó Prado.

Para Ángel, es muy valioso observar la cara de felicidad de la gente cuando obtienen un logro que beneficia a la comunidad.

Manifestó que, ser parte de la Comuna, le ha permitido mejorar la calidad de vida de los habitantes del estado Lara y Portuguesa, entidades que se benefician, directamente, con esta Comuna.

“Nuestro propósito es otorgarle a la población la plena felicidad social. Ellos son nuestra prioridad”.

En beneficio del pueblo

Esta Comuna Socialista no sólo se encarga de la producción de maíz; sino que, también desarrolla la producción de ganadería. Actualmente, tienen más de 300 reses.

Pero esto no es todo. Además del trabajo de producción de maíz blanco y de ganadería, la Comuna “El Maizal”, también, otorga ayudas económicas y de salud a quienes más lo necesitan.

“Si alguno de los habitantes requiere una operación o algún medicamento, nosotros, con mucho gusto, lo ayudamos a resolver su problema y lo atendemos”.

Ángel mencionó que, con la puesta en marcha del proyecto socialista “El Maizal”, se ha impulsado la creación del Liceo Rural “El Cerrito” y el Liceo “Sabana Alta”, para beneficio de más de 420 jóvenes de la comunidad.

Asímismo, lograron adquirir una ambulancia para prestar servicio a la comunidad. Además, con el apoyo de la Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela iniciarán, dentro de poco, la construcción de 100 viviendas dignas para la comunidad de Sabana Alta.

“El trabajo que estamos haciendo por nuestras comunidades va a perdurar en el tiempo, porque eso nos lo está garantizando la Revolución. La Revolución la hacemos quienes la necesitamos, y es un trabajo de todos los días”, afirmó Prado.

De productor a Comunero

Antes de ser comunero, Ángel era productor de café en la zona alta del municipio Araure, en el estado Portuguesa.

Confesó que, desde pequeño, le ha gustado todo lo que tiene que ver con la siembra y la cosecha.

En el año 2006, viajó a Cuba para realizar un Curso de Trabajo Social Comunitario. Al regresar, decidió trabajar de la mano con las comunidades y con la Revolución.

Desde el 2009, hasta la actualidad, Ángel está asumiendo, junto a su equipo de trabajo, un compromiso y un reto importante dentro de la Comuna Socialista “El Maizal”: garantizar la independencia alimentaria de la población de los estados Lara y Portuguesa.

“Al principio fue un poco difícil el trabajo; pero, gracias al apoyo que nos ha dado el Presidente, nuestra labor ha sido exitosa y tenemos los objetivos claros hacia dónde vamos”, dijo Ángel, vocero de la Comuna Socialista.

Reveló que, el Gobierno Bolivariano ha atendido, directamente, a los productores de todo el país, otorgándoles créditos para la siembra y la compra de las maquinarias que hacen posible el trabajo.

“Anteriormente, no éramos tomados en cuenta y estábamos siendo explotados por los monopolios. Desde la llegada de la Misión AgroVenezuela, hemos visto cómo la gente se ha entusiasmado para conseguir el bien común, sembrando y produciendo alimentos”, concluyó Ángel.

Paula Crossfield is the managing editor of civileats.com.

On a hillside overlooking Caracas, Venezuela, Pedro Echavez feeds sweet potato greens to his rabbits. These animals are raised for their meat, but their droppings also fertilize Echavez’s black bean and vegetable plots. This four-acre farm produces enough food to provide 80 percent of the diet for the sixteen people living in his community.

Echavez is one of the 680,000 farmers in Venezuela—30,000 of whom are urban or peri-urban farmers—who have registered to receive low-interest credit, tools and technical assistance, since January, through a government program called Mission AgroVenezuela. This new program is at the center of a radical way of thinking about agriculture as a tool for development, including the use of appropriate, affordable technology and the implementation of nonchemical farming.

 Though there have been smaller agricultural investments in the country in the past, Mission AgroVenezuela is consolidating the effort and channeling more funds into new roads, irrigation, equipment and distribution—all focused on building a re-regionalized food system.

The Venezuelan equivalent of the US Department of Agriculture is overseeing the project. Yet, unlike the USDA, which gives around $20 billion in subsidies to the largest producers in the United States annually, Venezuela is giving
4.3 billion bolívares fuertes ($1 billion) in low-interest credit solely to small and medium-sized grain producers. Another
13 billion bolívares fuertes ($3 billion) is set aside for fruit and vegetable operations, as well as growers of crops like coffee, cacao and sugar cane. A portion of what farmers grow will be used to pay off the loans, and much of this produce will be locally packaged, processed and sold at state-owned supermarkets.

President Hugo Chávez’s leftist Bolivarian Revolution has embraced the idea of food sovereignty, or the right of a people to define their own food and agriculture policy. The food sovereignty movement is a global one, and the organization at the forefront, La Via Campesina, counts 300 million members. Venezuela is one of many countries, including Ecuador, Bolivia, Mali and Nepal, that have, in response to this grassroots movement, developed a legal framework for food sovereignty.

The Venezuelan Constitution, rewritten as Chávez’s first priority as president in 1999 and approved by 71 percent of voters, guarantees a secure food supply to the public and promotes sustainable agriculture as the strategic framework for rural development. It also states that the government should invest in financing, infrastructure and training to help increase food production within the country.

This focus on agriculture is a departure for Venezuela—and the commitment to food sovereignty remains largely aspirational in an economy still overwhelmingly dominated by oil. Since the discovery of oil in the early twentieth century, new wealth has allowed the country to import most of its food. In 2009 the agricultural sector represented just 4 percent of Venezuela’s GDP. The decline in agricultural production that coincided with the increasing dependence on oil wealth also facilitated one of the largest rural outmigrations in Latin America. As recently as 1960, 35 percent of Venezuela’s population could be found in its countryside. Today 94 percent of its population calls cities home, with many people ending up in the crowded barrios that dot the hillsides of Caracas.

 In July, OPEC announced that Venezuela had surpassed Saudi Arabia in proven oil reserves. The Chávez administration is drawing on this wealth to fund its agriculture and food access programs, which have touched many Venezuelans even as they account for a relatively small sector of the economy. According to a 2008 World Bank report, GDP growth originating from the agricultural sector is about four times more effective at reducing poverty than GDP growth originating elsewhere. Embraced by the poor, these efforts are one reason Chávez has had popular support in the face of a CIA-backed coup attempt in 2002, an often hostile national press and a sixty-four-day strike led by the opposition in 2002–03.

* * *

At a community center in 23 de Enero, a northern barrio of Caracas, where one-third of the population lives on less than two dollars a day, Idelis Blanco, 53, a resident who works at the center, spoke about how food access in her community had changed.

 “Before the revolution, we had no fresh food or supermarkets in the neighborhood,” she said. Now she rates her access to food as “excellent,” easily listing three state-owned grocery stores near her home.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2 million people (8 percent of the population) in Venezuela are undernourished. Like its close partner government in Cuba, which has had some success feeding the poor with urban farming, the Chávez administration has also made urban and peri-urban agriculture a key priority of Mission AgroVenezuela.

 “Before, the government used to ignore the communities in the hills,” said Elvis Zerpa, national coordinator for Urban Agriculture Projects, referring to the barrios. “Now we have 3,000 people there working on urban agriculture projects, and are seeking to have 10,000 by the end of the year.”

With 6.5 million acres of arable land, a year-round growing season and 1,700 miles of coastline for fishing, Venezuela is well positioned to feed itself. Yet as of 2010, the country imports up to 70 percent of its food, up 10 percent since 2003. Officials say the increase reflects an effort to assure that everyone has access to food, which is subsidized and sold through state-owned stores, while the government ramps up local production. According to Ivan Gil, deputy minister of agriculture, Mission AgroVenezuela will reduce the need for imported foods this year by as much as 30 percent.

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Monte Sacro, a 6,000-acre farm in a fertile, hilly region near the town of Bejuma, has seen real benefits from Mission AgroVenezuela.

 “Beyond producing food, we are producing new men and women with a new quality of life,” said 27-year-old farmer Renee Aponte, one of thirty-two farmers in the co-op, eight of whom are women. “We’re trying to liberate the peasants, who are used to working in a system where they work and work for poor wages to enrich a few people.”

 Previously owned by the Rockefeller family, the land was used in the past to produce buffalo, cattle and thoroughbred horses. Now, in addition to plantains, sunflowers (for oil), black beans and other vegetables, corn will be grown by the new landholders to be turned into flour—used to make arepa, a corn flatbread that is a daily Venezuelan staple.

The Monte Sacro farmers seized this property in 2009 under the Land Law, a policy Chávez put in place in 2001 that specifies that idle plots of state land as well as large private estates are eligible for redistribution to peasant farmers. So far, this policy has enabled ownership of 2.5 million hectares of land—mostly latifundios, large tracts concentrated in ownership and either producing for export or idle—to shift to around 200,000 peasant farmers.

Land reform also sparked new problems. Since 2001, 255 peasants, including two children, have been killed in retaliation for land seizures. Three people have been jailed, but many say the government is not doing enough to protect peasants, who often resort to forming twenty-four-hour security details.

Chávez’s recent announcement that he is battling cancer has raised worries about the future of peasant-controlled land, but cooperative farmer Carmen Roja didn’t hesitate when asked if this had an impact on her work.

“We are willing to give our own lives to defend what we have built here,” she said.

Another early issue was getting the newly landed peasants’ produce to market. In a number of areas, the government has worked with trading partners to build local processing facilities, and markets have expanded beyond Venezuela through partnerships like Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), which aims to avoid free trade agreements and produce needed goods locally.

“The statistics we care about are not the volumes of trade with other countries but the social effects of the work we are doing,” said Amenothep Zambrano, executive secretary of ALBA.

 To address the need for breeding, processing and seed bank services, the government launched the Florentino Genetic Center in 2005. In addition to producing more than 8,000 tons of food per year, the facility has been cross-breeding cattle for strong traits in milk production. Seventeen mid-sized farms nearby now have access to affordable vegetable seeds and semen for artificial insemination of their cows, as well as two cheese processing facilities and a slaughterhouse. This focus on biodiversity contrasts starkly with the United States, where industry consolidation has left mid-sized farmers struggling to compete with large corporate farms, and where there is a lack of scale-appropriate processing facilities. At least four processing facilities similar to Florentino are being planned for other parts of Venezuela.

 The goal at the Monte Sacro farm is to practice agroecology—diversifying crops, composting and using nonchemical pest control. Although the farmers have received specialized training from Cuban agronomists, the farm is still just beginning to make the transition.

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In the state of Yaracuy, another farm run collectively by eighty-five farmers is two-thirds of the way through a transition to agroecology. In addition, farmers are producing pesticide alternatives on-site—part of a long-term strategy under Mission AgroVenezuela to fund and research “biopesticides,” or nonchemical pesticide alternatives.

Maria Hidalgo, 64, gave a tour through the co-op’s laboratory—named after Manuel Antonio Heredia, a farmer from the community who died of pesticide poisoning. There they are producing beneficial insects and rice seeds inoculated with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), soil bacteria commonly used as a biological pesticide. Unlike genetically modified seeds that are engineered to include Bt—Venezuela banned genetically modified seeds in 2004—this lab uses traditional techniques that are effective and cost significantly less.

Yet, paradoxically, while money is being invested in education and alternatives, agrochemical use has increased as the number of farmers has gone up. Advocates blame the nationalization in 2010 of Agroisleña, the primary agrochemical distribution company in Venezuela, which has made the chemicals cheaper and easier to obtain. They hope the government will expand on projects like the Paulo Freire Latin American Institute for Agroecology, in Barinas, which is educating the children of peasants about ecological farming. But officials have argued that the shift in practices will have to take place slowly.

“There has been more consciousness about agroecological practices in the Bolivarian Revolution. People are seeking an agriculture that is more humane,” said Ricardo Javier Sánchez, president of FONDAS—Venezuela’s USDA. But “we don’t yet have enough biological inputs in sufficient quantities to replace agrochemicals.”

In cities, there has been an opportunity to start growing from scratch—and as a result, all urban agriculture projects are pesticide-free.

“Agroecology is the only option for the Bolivarian Revolution,” said Sara Medina, 52, a field technician working with urban producers in Caracas. “It is more than ecological agriculture; it is social, economic, political—and provides a level of independence to the poor.”

In the United States much of the investment in agriculture has gone toward technology. In Venezuela, whether through urban agriculture, building processing facilities, paving roads or breeding cattle, the philosophy is one of encouraging participatory democracy. Many have argued that this grassroots empowerment is crucial for food security.

Examples can be seen in Barlovento, an Afro-Venezuelan region in the state of Miranda, where workers’ councils decide on working conditions, pay and planning at a jointly Chinese/Venezuelan–financed chocolate factory. Controlling nearly 
2.5 percent of the Venezuelan cacao market, their collective decision to pay cacao growers a fair wage has forced multinationals to compete by raising what they pay per kilo.

Fishermen’s councils have also had success making decisions about local needs. Previously, fishermen had to sell their catch to a middleman, who could keep it on ice before it was sold at a higher price to the consumer. “Before the revolution, it was every fisherman for himself,” said Oscar Ramirez, a fisherman in Carabobo, a coastal state west of Caracas. Now councils have facilitated the building of government-financed ice houses that are controlled by the fishermen, who have also been extended credit for new boats and motors. In addition, fishermen worked together to push for a ban on trawling, a commercial fishing practice that can result in overfishing and ecosystem destruction. Catches are already up 16 percent since the ban went into effect in 2009.

Overall, however, the effort to build a local food system in Venezuela has yet to yield significant, quantifiable results. But if there is one theme I have heard repeated by farmers, citizens and officials alike, it is the need for patience. Eva Golinger, a Venezuelan-American lawyer living in Caracas and the author of The Chávez Code, said the revolution was slow because it is “inclusive and gradual, so people can get used to it.” Now, after years of small gains, Chávez is making agriculture a top priority. If successful, Venezuela’s experiment may yet prove that it is possible to think differently about how to feed a country.

Paula Crossfield September 14, 2011 | This article appeared in the October 3, 2011 edition of The Nation.