When the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative was launched in Chicago in October 2002, we were fortunate to have invited to the AAI Forum several representatives from European organizations that are concerned about corporate consolidation and concentration. They were so excited by the prospect of a global network for information-sharing and joint advocacy for food system reform that they returned to plan a similar Forum of their own, under the auspices of AAI.
On April 30 2003, Corporate Watch UK and Grassroots Action on Food and Farming convened a one-day event in Reading, England, entitled "Food in a Failed Market?" The Forum brought together over 60 farmers, food system experts and activists looking for new ways to work together to challenge oligopoly power in the food system. After a day of presentations and working group discussions, a smaller group was formed to explore how the AAI approach could be expanded to include representatives from across Europe.
That workshop led to the formation of a Working Group made up of representatives from Banana Link, Confederation Paysanne, Grassroots Action on Food and Farming, International Institute for Environment and Development, Pesticide Action Network–UK, Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, www.transnationale.org and AAI in Washington. The Working Group met monthly by teleconference from May 2003—January 2004 to plan and implement the first AAI European forum, held at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Held in January 2004, the Forum brought together nearly 60 participants representing environmentalists, labour unions, consumer groups, farmers, academics, churches and policy advocacy organizations who share a common concern that monopoly power among the global companies that control markets for seeds, fertilizers, processing, manufacturing and retailing of food is detrimental to producers and consumers alike. Participants came from 10 countries in Europe, and from the Philippines, India, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, Chile, Brazil and the United States.
The forum in Brussels launched a cross-constituency working group to generate regulatory proposals to address supermarket buyer power in Europe. Read more about the “AAI Regulating Supermarkets”.
Read the European Forum Summary Report here in PDF format.
Following the forum a one-day workshop was held with participants from Latin America, Africa and Asia to discuss launching AAI in those regions. This workshop was pivotal in the establishment of AAI in these regions.
