[Anglican Alliance] Anglicans will be marking World Food Day with three global workshops to look at ways to support local farmers who produce 84 per cent of the food in the world’s poorest countries.

Bangladesh, Brazil and Solomon Islands are the location of three Anglican Alliance workshops which will focus especially on the role of women who are most of the smallholder farmers in the developing world.

Meanwhile the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, which brings together church partners across the world, has been marking ten days of action to promote food security.

In Honiara, Solomon Islands, Anglican Alliance facilitator Tagolyn Kabekabe has arranged for rural women farmers to attend training workshops in Honiara from16th-18th October.

In one workshop Mothers Union members from the six Anglican Parishes in Honiara City will each showcase their different recipes and ways of preparing and cooking their local foods. Part of their task is to improve the nutritional value of their dishes by using other local foods that are commonly available.  The aim of this will be to teach the local farmers how to improve the nutritional value of their food for their families and communities, by growing staple food items with higher nutritional content.  

There will also be demonstrations on food preservation for food that is in season, and planting materials will be made available. 

In Brazil, the Alliance facilitator Paulo Ueti has worked with the Diocese of Amazonia to prepare a workshop in partnership with the City Council of Bujaru, in Northern Brazil.  Small-holder farmers and church leaders will gather to discuss food security, health, investments, and land rights.

To support activities around the Communion, a new pack has been published by the Anglican Alliance focusing especially on access to seeds for the small scale farmers who produce 85 per cent of all food eaten in developing countries.

The pack looks at food security and climate change, and the steps that farmers in some countries are taking to make sure that the crops they grow are better suited to changing climatic conditions, and provide the best nutrition for peole in their communities.  It draws from some of the practical examples around the Communion, such as the crop adaptation in Solomon Islands, and the strengthening of traditional crops in Kenya.

And a week of prayer will take place from 14-20th October, with the Alliance's seven days of prayer leaflet, designed to guide individuals and prayer groups to petition God on behalf of those in need.  

We encourage you to use these resources in your churches and communities, and join Anglicans all over the world as they take action for food justice.