Elifuraha Isaya Laltaika, indigenous Maasai of the Slow Food and Terra Madre network gave a lecture at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo yesterday, February 8.
The conference was entitled: “Land conflicts between pastoralists and small producers in East Africa and its effects on food production.”
Laltakia is professor of law at Tumaini University Makumira (Arusha, Tanzania) and director of the Association for Law and Advocacy for Pastoralists (Alapa), an NGO that provides legal assistance and protects the human rights of indigenous peoples, including the land rights of pastoralists. Since January 2017 he has been a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Laltakia participated in Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2016, coming into contact for the first time with Slow Food activities. In recent months he has visited some of Slow Food Gardens in Arusha (part of the project 10,000 Gardens in Africa) and is now working to educate his students on themes of sustainable agriculture.
During the conference, Laltakia said: “The last two decades have witnessed a surge in bloody conflicts involving pastoral communities on one hand, and small-scale farmers on the other hand, in many parts of East Africa. The long running conflicts have claimed dozens of lives and caused destruction of properties worth millions of shillings. Worse still, the on going conflicts stand as a perennial barrier to communities’ self-determined development, including food production.”
The visit of Elifuraha Laltakia is set in the context of the collaboration between Slow Food and IFAD in support of indigenous peoples.
Slow Food and IFAD share a vision of supporting small-scale, diversified production and consumption mechanisms that focus on improving the marketing of local products. This common vision reflects principles of quality, biodiversity and environmental conservation. They also guarantee the fair pricing of agricultural products that adequately compensates the work of small-holder families.
Laltakia will attend the third global meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum at IFAD, which takes place in Rome from February 10 to 13.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences (UNISG) was founded in 2004 by Slow Food to offer a multidisciplinary study program on the science and culture of food. Since 2004 about 2100 students from over 85 countries have attended the University.
Click here to see the video interview with Elifuraha Laltaika!
For further information, please contact:
Slow Food International Press Office
[email protected] – Twitter: @SlowFoodPress
Slow Food is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet. Slow Food involves over a million activists, chefs, experts, youth, farmers, fishers and academics in over 160 countries. Among them, a network of around 100,000 Slow Food members are linked to 1,500 local chapters worldwide, contributing through their membership fee, as well as the events and campaigns they organize. As part of the network, more than 2,400 Terra Madre food communities practice small-scale and sustainable production of quality food around the world.