Terra Madre des Grands Lacs About to Kick Off
01 Aug 2017 | English
Terra Madre des Grands Lacs, an international event organized by the local Slow Food networks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will take place from August 4 to 6 in Goma, welcoming delegates from the neighboring countries of Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda as well as the DRC.
The theme of the event will be “Peace and Safeguarding of Food Biodiversity in the Great Lakes Countries and Regional Forests.” Each day of the event will feature conferences and a local exhibition of natural organic products.
The traditional knowledge of local communities and indigenous peoples in the area will be analyzed and taken as a case study for the development of shared strategies for the conservation and preservation of local ecosystems. The region is rich in natural resources but its biodiversity has been threatened by conflicts that are still affecting some parts of the region. Hence the importance of an event to debate how peace and security can help maintain food biodiversity in the region. Regional mechanisms for the rational management of lake and forest resources must be established to consolidate peace and ensure peaceful inter-community co-existence.
A panel will focus on the cultural practices of the Pygmy peoples of the DRC as a model for sustainable forest management in the region. There will also be a panel dedicated to indigenous and local community management of fishery resources. Delegates will discuss the management of fish resources in the region’s lakes, with a particular focus on the lakes’ potential and the regulation of lake fisheries, with case studies from Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC.
Other panels will tackle different issues, such as the impact of modern and traditional techniques on food, human health and the environment, while organic and biological fertilizers will be explored as a way of fertilizing home gardens in the Great Lakes countries.
The event is organized by the DRC Slow Food networks of Goma and Kalemie, in which indigenous peoples play an active role. The Goma network works with indigenous peoples on the management of forest resources, while the Kalemie network focuses on Lake Tanganyika’s resources.
For further information, please contact:
Slow Food International Press Office
[email protected], +39 0172 419 645 – Twitter: @SlowFoodPress
Terra Madre des Grands Lacs
Jean-Pierre Kapalay [email protected]
Nicolas Mushumbi [email protected] – [email protected]
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.
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