Contact:
Samantha Cave
NFFC Communication Team
samantha@nffc.net
603-333-6281
US Family Farmers & Fishers Head to Sri Lanka to Join Global Food Sovereignty Forum
WASHINGTON, DC, September 4, 2025 – Six delegates representing the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) are participating in the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum, which is set to run September 6-13 in Sri Lanka. Nyéléni is the leading international event for the food sovereignty movement to gather and strategize, with more than 700 individuals from around the globe participating to determine actionable solutions advancing a more just and ecological food system. The National Family Farm Coalition is proud to send a delegation representing our membership and staff to this critical global gathering. NFFC’s involvement builds upon our work to advance just policy reform in Congress that centers family-farmers, not agribusinesses.
This year’s Nyéléni Forum is a culmination of a four year political organizing process focused on building the future of the global food sovereignty movement. The process was informed through input from thousands of grassroots organizers, food producers, and rural communities to identify their most pressing challenges and opportunities. NFFC’s delegates include representatives from Family Farm Defenders, Rural Vermont, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, the North American Marine Alliance, and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives.
“NFFC’s participation in the Nyéléni Forum provides a crucial opportunity for US farmers, ranchers, and fishers to share their experiences and build solidarity with international allies,” said Jim Goodman, NFFC board president and retired Wisconsin dairy farmer. “The engagement of US-based producers in global spaces provides important context and viable alternative models to far-reaching policies driven by corporate interests, neoliberalism, and imperialism that harm small-scale producers and communities domestically and abroad. These international threats demand a united grassroots response that builds the collective power needed to transform food systems.”
The NFFC delegation joins another 40 delegates from the US and Canada representing not just agriculture, but also the climate justice movement, food workers, the feminist movement, indigenous communities, the health justice movement. The region’s agenda at Nyéléni was determined through a consultation process facilitated by NFFC together with the Food Chain Workers Alliance and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, on behalf of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance.
Feini Yin, Communications Director of the North American Marine Alliance and 2025 Nyeleni delegate, shared: “The Nyéléni Forum offers the opportunity for fisher peoples to be architects in the global movement for food sovereignty. It’s important for threats like the privatization of the ocean commons, the expansion of industrial fishing and fish farming, and the violent displacement of fisher peoples from their territories and livelihoods to be on the agenda. We are looking forward to deepening our connection with other small-scale food producers, food chain workers, and movements for environmental justice, feminism, and Indigenous sovereignty — and to celebrating our collective wisdom, resilience, and power.”
The work completed at the Nyéléni Forum will continue long after delegates have returned home. During the forum, delegates will develop bold, unified plans for a global alliance to advance a fairer global agricultural system centering food sovereignty and the right to food. These tenets are at the very core of NFFC’s vision for a fair farm and food system, and we look forward to utilizing forum outcomes to inform NFFC’s continued involvement in international movements and to help shape the legislative reforms we advocate for at the national level.
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Since 1986, National Family Farm Coalition has been mobilizing family farmers and ranchers to achieve fair prices, vibrant communities, and healthy foods free of corporate domination. Today, NFFC’s 31 member groups span 44 states and represent family farmers, ranchers, and fishing people across the United States. To learn more, visit www.nffc.net