CAFOD campaigners have today delivered ‘Salina’s letter’ to the World Bank’s UK offices. The letter was written by Salina, a small-holder farmer from Bangladesh who is fighting to keep control of her own seeds.
As part of CAFOD’s Fix the Food System campaign, over 70,000 Catholics from across England and Wales had signed the letter in solidarity with Salina to urge the World Bank to stop supporting policies that limit small farmers' choice over which seeds they can use.
CAFOD campaigners took Salina's message right to the World Bank in London
Campaigners took these signed letters to the World Bank offices, where they were received by senior World Bank staff who agreed to meet and discuss the issue.
“It was a very cordial meeting and we explained how much support our campaign has received across the country from ordinary parishioners,” said Father Rob Esdaile, whose own parish, St Dunstan's in Woking, was one of the 750 parishes who supported the campaign.
Signed 'Salina letters' representing 70,000 Catholics were carried across Blackfriars Bridge on the way to the World Bank offices
Meanwhile, CAFOD campaigners are also in Marrakech, Morocco where the World Bank’s Annual Meetings are taking place, to speak directly to World Bank officials there about what more they can do to support small-scale farmers who are responsible for growing the food that feeds us all.
CAFOD campaigners, including Farida Akhter from Bangladesh, at the World Bank meetings in Marrakech
March in solidarity with people on the frontlines of the climate crisis and bring Pope Francis’ COP28 message to the streets of London.
