3rd Annual, Pan African Global Trade Confernce ~ October 18-19, 2012

California Black Agriculture Working Group is poised to share our key learnings and experience of our team. We prepare for a new way forward utilizing the Pan African Health, Justice & Food Sovereignty for People of African Descent aspect of the Pan African Global Conference as an essential piece of our journey.

Health, Justice & Food Sovereignty ~ this section of the conference is a strategy session for people of African descent, to highlight and explore organizing to achieve concrete goals of Pan African food health, justice and sovereignty.

Health, food and agriculture related inequities for Africans and Americans of African descent are sadly well documented. It is time for solutions.

In the U.S. in 1920, over 14% of U.S, farmers were African American. As of 2007, less than 2% of U.S. farmers were African ancestry.

Nationally, the typical low-income neighborhood has 30 percent fewer supermarkets than higher-income neighborhoods.

Nearly 50% of African American children will develop diabetes at some point in their lives.

Deaths from heart disease and stroke are almost twice the rate for African Americans as compared to Whites.

These inequities are even worse for Afro-descendants around the world and in Africa, many Africans live in poverty and hunger while standing upon the richest continent on earth.

Given the deep inequities that exist in Pan African societies around the world, it is important to build strategic alliances for food and health justice and sovereignty.

This strategizing session is designed to explore and create methods for organizing for Pan African food health, justice and sovereignty to address the disparities that exist here in California and the African diaspora.

Together we will facilitate and build an expanding dialog with conference participants to improve our lives and the lives of the poorest and most disenfranchised of our people in material and concrete ways focused on

1) Identifying systems of problems related to food and agriculture at various levels affecting our communities;

2) Brainstorming and sharing successful policy initiatives while identifying essential areas for impact.

3) Concluding with clear next steps on how we can build our collective organizing power.

For more information on the California Black Agriculture Working Group, visit us online at http://www.blackagriculture.com