Written by Mirella Gavidia
Between June 23 – 27 AFSA participated in the 2025 La Via Campesina Women’s Articulation in the South East Asia Region in Tokyo, Japan. Women from 9 countries (Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, East Timor, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, South Korea) got together to evaluate the implementation of our previous year’s strategic plan, discuss pressing issues for peasant women in the region, and to continue our work of building and strengthening international solidarity.
We started with an incredible masterclass on food economy in Japan delivered by our hosts, Nouminren, the Japanese Family Farmers Movement, where they also explored issues of gender, politics, and culture . Rice markets (especially under FTAs), reliance on exports, as well as the impacts that an ageing and increasingly urbanised population have on national food systems were discussed. We learnt, for example, that while Japanese people eat a great amount of pork as part of their diet, only 6% of what they consume is produced nationally, and 94% needs to be imported from elsewhere. Another example is corn, which is currently 100% imported. We learnt also about research conducted by Nouminren, which revealed that women working in agriculture are increasingly struggling with low prices for fresh food, and having to either find a second job to complement their wages (putting a lot of stress on their health), or give up farming altogether.
We spent time listening to each other’s updates from our homelands, and it was invigorating to see that in all countries initiatives focusing on agroecology, political formation, rights training, and public demonstrations, are showing themselves as successful responses to challenges we face by living under a global capitalist, colonial and patriarchal system. These initiatives are not only empowering women but also leading the pathway for food sovereignty in our communities.
Together, we also organised a pro-Palestine demonstration and joined forces to call for a ceasefire and a free Palestine. Genocide is not tolerated, food is not a weapon of war, and our movements will continue to loudly condemn what is happening with our sisters and brothers in Gaza.
For the field trip, we visited Asako Farms, which is an incredible example of agroecology in practice as well as of resistance and dedication by the land carers. Summer is about to peak in Japan, and the veggie beds were full of fruit and veggies carefully interplanted to avoid pests, and growing in soil fed by in-house made compost for over 10 years. Local markets – and people – are fed by their production, and while there are many challenges related to sustaining the operation (aging and low prices as the main ones) the farm stands strong.
