SEED SOVEREIGNTY DOCUMENTS | Declaration of Ek Balam
Indigenous Corn Farmers Issue Declaration at 13 th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancún, Mexico NATIVE GROWERS EXPOUND PRINCIPLES TO PROTECT THE SACRED IN CORN Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | January 3, 2017 The world’s indigenous corn growers gathered together in the Mayan village of Ek Balam this past December 1-3 (2016) for a spiritual and political retreat to address the threats posed to native maize. The group of native corn farmers addressed a wide set of threats ranging from dispossession of farmers from their ancestral lands, the decline of corn culture among younger generations, and the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) crops that can damage the genetic integrity of land races and damage ecosystems and wildlife including vital pollinators. Corn spiral. The gathering centered around this spiral consisting of all the varieties of native corn brought to the meeting by all 54 participants. Photo by Devon G. Peña. The participants included native c...