Vision
Agriculture is vital for all populations, insofar as it is the source of food and that it constitutes the main activity and therefore provides the means of existence for a considerable part of the populations of poor countries. However, agriculture is in permanent crisis, suffering from the characteristics specific to this sector and from a lack of sufficient political attention to accompany them.
The deregulated circulation of agricultural products, under the effects of liberalisation, is intensifying to the point of absurdity. The agricultural price crisis of 2008 and the increasing volatility of these prices made wider circles aware of the negative effects of the lack of regulation of agricultural markets for food security. This competition leads everywhere to the concentration of farms and the intensification of the use of resources (land, water). It reduces agricultural jobs, increases the rural exodus and seriously damages rural development and the environment.
Other serious weaknesses undermine the sector, particularly in the countries of the South: the weakness of agricultural organizations, the unfavorable relationship of farmers on the markets compared to other operators, the virtual absence of services such as agricultural credit, shortage of quality seeds, lack of agricultural advice…
The implementation of more appropriate policies that would ensure food security for all populations while preserving the planet's resources must first and foremost be aimed at family farming. It is family farming that must be supported by these policies because it is the best guarantor of food production, the most concerned with the maintenance of natural resources and it is it that provides employment, remuneration and the diet of a large part of the world's populations.
The CSA aims to reorient agricultural and trade policies in this direction and to strengthen agricultural and peasant organizations, identified as drivers of sustainable agriculture through the search for the viability of family farming. A better distribution of burdens, responsibilities and benefits between men and women is a key point for the sustainability of family farms and their organizations.
Mission
The CSA wants to promote sustainable agriculture and food security by strengthening farmers' organizations and promoting food sovereignty in different regions of the world.
The actions of the CSA aim to reorient, in this direction, the agricultural and commercial policies and to reinforce the peasant organizations, identified as engines of a sustainable agriculture through the viability of the family agriculture.
The strengthening of farmers' organizations is of paramount importance for the development of poor countries. Farmers' organizations play a role of political and professional representation, intervene in the production system and are active in the social field (mutual funds, solidarity, etc.). But their structure, their capacity to provide services to farms and to ensure a partnership with the public authorities remain insufficient.
The CSA also counts on the establishment of solidarity between actors concerned with agriculture and food, in particular between family agricultural producers in the North and in the South. This solidarity requires recognition of the diversity of situations, an understanding of common issues and cooperation both at the political and operational levels (exchanges of experience and knowledge, training, etc.).
The actions of the CSA focus in particular on:
