Caritas India presented her plans for intensifying efforts to help communities achieve self-reliance in food production and food sovereignty in the South and East Asia workshop held in Penang, Malaysia. Delegates from 13 South and East Asian countries had converged on the platform of the 3-day inception workshop that was organised to chalk out a food sovereignty strategy for South and East Asia.

Dr. Saju MK, Zone Manager-West, represented Caritas India as the regional resource person and accompanier of food sovereignty initiatives. The 3-day workshop was organised by Misereor for generating a consensus on food sovereignty strategy and for developing a plan for functionalising a regional networks of local resource persons. Dr. Timmi Tillmann and Dr. Maruja Salas, pioneers of visualisation in participatory programmes, facilitated the sessions. Ms. Anja Mertineit of Misereor co-facilitated the workshop which was hosted by Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN-AP).

During the workshop Caritas India also made a presentation on the ongoing food security and agriculture indigenisation initiatives. Dr. Saju informed the delegates about Caritas India efforts to help communities achieve self-reliance in food production in particular and agriculture in general. He also informed the delegates that Caritas India has integrated food sovereignty as one of the components of ongoing People-Led Development (PLD) programmes.

As per the food sovereignty strategy developed during the workshop, several workshops will be organised in the next two years in various South Asian countries for enhancing the facilitation skills of regional facilitators and partners who work on food sovereignty. The workshop also developed plans for activating knowledge and experience sharing platforms at South Asia level. Dr. Saju MK will accompany regional facilitators and partners as one of the resource persons of South Asia and will ensure the systems for knowledge consolidation and knowledge exchange are functionalised.