Get to know EHNE, the Basque Farmers’ Union

The EHNE-UGAV (Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna – Unión de Agricultores y Ganaderos Vascos) a Basque Union of farmers and ranchers was formed in 1976 and is a coalition of agricultural organizations hailing from the Basque provinces of Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Nafarroa, and Alava. Aside from union representation, the EHNE offers its members a wide array of educational, technical, economic and training support and they publish a newsletter called Ardatza with four different regional editions.

It is the right of citizens to determine food and agriculture policies, to decide what and how to produce and who produces. -Paul Nicholson

The EHNE has a membership base of 6,150 that benefit from its local infrastructure and programs, but it also has representatives sitting on state, European and international level assemblies. In 1992 the EHNE was formally incorporated into the state level, Coordinadora de Organizaciones de Agricultores y Ganaderos (COAG, Coordinator of Agricultural and Ranching Organizations) as well as the Coordination Paysanne Europenne (CPE, the European Farmers Coordination), an organization that works to defend farmers’ rights throughout Europe. In 1993 the EHNE participated in the foundational Congress of La Vía Campesina, an international peasant organization which coordinates 150 different medium and small-scale farmers’, ranchers’ and fisherfolk organizations around the world, working to build the global movement for food sovereignty.

In response to growing concern over the mainstream models of agrarian development, pushed by institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the EHNE formed what a watchdog group called “El Observatorio Vasco sobre Modelos de Desarrollo Rural” (The Basque Institute on Rural Development). Through a food sovereignty framework, a coalition of Basque for-profit and not-for-profit organizations promote activities and gather resources to build the movement against the current neoliberal model of development. They have generated a library of informational documents on key subjects to understanding the democratic control of local food systems. The themes range from Food Sovereignty, to Agrobiodiversity, to Water Rights, to Agrarian Reform. Out of this research the EHNE has put forth that “the challenge of Food Sovereignty is to establish modes of consumption and commercialization different from those prevalent in the global food system today, and to create networks that prioritize local markets and fair prices, based in alliances between producers and consumers.”

Paul Nicholson, the EHNE’s Via Campesina representative, is a featured author in Food First’s upcoming book, Food Movements Unite! In a recent interview he shares his views on food sovereignty:

“Food sovereignty is a perspective for changing society and an alternative to the neoliberal policies, from a social and community perspective. This means that food sovereignty is much greater than food security. It’s the political right to control polices and the public goods and define what we eat from a social perspective, not just an individual one. And within the framework of neoliberal politics this is clearly not going to happen. The theory and practice of comparative advantage has resulted in the massive destruction of the rural world because it reduces everything to the criteria of competition without any basis for social or labor rights. At the same time, it generates environmental costs that are then socialized. We have to reveal that neoliberal policies are the causes of the poverty, exclusion, and misery that exist in the world. And although we know that neoliberal policies have failed in this day in age, they continue to drive models of production that are absolutely destructive. The response we can give to such policies is Food Sovereignty that brings together all movements: rural, urban, from the North and from the South. Food sovereignty as a right of the people is an integral demand for social movements from around the world.

We think that the new pathways and the new food and agriculture policies should be based on the kind of Food Sovereignty that is not just for farmers, but a collective right of the people. It is the right of citizens to determine food and agriculture policies, to decide what and how to produce and who produces. It is the right to public goods like water, land, and seeds. We need policies based on solidarity among citizens and between consumers and producers. We need to regulate markets because it is impossible to maintain agrarian policies based on market liberalization. We need socially sustainable, ecologically produced food that provides work for people everywhere.”

Travel to the Basque Country with Food First

On Food First’s upcoming Food Sovereignty Tour, travelers will have the unique privilege of being hosted by the Basque Farmers’ Union, EHNE (Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna). Against the backdrop of the beautiful Pyrenees Mountains, our hosts will share their unique food traditions from the sea to the farm and explain the ways in which food sovereignty is part of a broader struggle for regional sovereignty. This tour will explore a variety of food cooperatives in the region, as well as the well known Mondragón Cooperative: Humanity at Work. Participants will be introduced to local Vía Campesina members and the local people who are developing alternative models of food production and community self-sufficiency in the Basque Region.