Via-info-en August 2024

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10 Sept | Call to Action - For a New Trade Framework based on Food Sovereignty
by La Via Campesina 23 Aug '24

23 Aug '24

CALL FOR ACTION! READ ON THE WEBSITE [1] The 10th of September is recognized by La Via Campesina and its allies worldwide as the International Day of Action Against the World Trade Organization and Free Trade Agreements. It was on this day in 2003, outside the WTO Ministerial Meeting venue in Cancun, Mexico, that Lee Kyung Hae, a Korean peasant, sacrificed his life to protest against the devastating impact of opening national borders to free trade. At the time of his martyrdom, Lee wore a sign around his neck that read "WTO Kills Farmers." Twenty-one years later, as we commemorate his sacrifice, the world is confronted by a polycrisis of hunger, climate catastrophes, genocidal wars, extreme inequality, rising national debt, inflation, and migration. Yet, all we see is a desperate attempt to maintain the status quo, to continue with business as usual, and systematic efforts to deflect attention from the root causes of these crises by stoking racism, parochialism, patriarchy, and xenophobia. [2] CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTIONS! [1] ------------------------- Since its founding days, La Via Campesina has warned that free-market globalization--promoting disinvestment, privatization, and the dismantling of national regulatory networks--would lead to heightened concentration of power among political and corporate elites, in particular through transnational corporations, with devastating consequences for the world's rural communities and urban workers. Today, almost every country in the world is witnessing growing anger among its rural and urban working class, who have been systematically marginalized and invisibilized by an economic system that expanded with the blessings of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization. It is high time for the world to follow a different economic trajectory, vastly different from the dominant model guided by neoliberal principles. We are living in a geopolitical moment that is witnessing the emergence of a multipolar order, where the hegemony of the old colonial powers is being challenged. But even within this reordering, there is little effort to rethink the exploitative economic model that has led us to the situation we face today and the power of transnational companies keep increasing. La Via Campesina is calling upon [1] all our social movement allies everywhere to organize and agitate for a new economic framework for the world. We need an alternative to the Agreement on Agriculture promoted by the World Trade Organization. The free-market logic that has guided international trade and driven capital expansion across borders must be stopped and replaced with a new framework that respects solidarity, internationalism, feminism, equity, social justice, and the protection of local economies and food sovereignty [3]. Since 2022, La Via Campesina [4] has been engaged in consultations to build an Alternative International Framework for Global Trade in Agriculture that promotes food sovereignty, aligns with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), and fosters cross-border cooperation rather than competition. This year, we will broaden this consultative process to include our allies, friends in academia, governments, and diplomats. We urge all our members and allies to use the month of September to highlight the ongoing crisis in their communities and demand public policies that bring greater transparency to national and international trade, guarantee the food sovereignty of our peoples, and ensure fair prices for our produce. We, the peasants and small-scale food producers, still feed 70% of the world's population even as we struggle to meet our own production costs and feed our own families. We are the cornerstone of ensuring food sovereignty, and any government serious about ending hunger, and malnutrition, and building robust rural economies must guarantee that we have access to and control over all means of production, that our commons are protected, and that we receive fair compensation and wages for our work, alongside social security and healthcare for our communities. Free Trade Fuels Hunger! WTO Kills! A New Trade Framework, NOW! Send us details about your mobilizations plans in September to communications(a)viacampesina.org and we will be plotting them onto a global map. You can also tag us on our social networks and use the hashtag #WTOKills #NewTradeFrameworkNOW DOWNLOAD THE COMMUNICATIONS KIT [5] [6] [7] Facebook [7] [8] Twitter [8] [9] Instagram [9] [10] Spotify [10] [11] Vimeo [11] To unsubscribe from the distribution list, click here [12] Website: www.viacampesina.org TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [13] Links: ------ [1] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [2] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [3] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [4] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [5] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/comms.viacampesina.org?p=e… [6] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/vimeo.com?p=eyJzIjoiTlEwQV… [7] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.facebook.com?p=eyJzIjo… [8] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/twitter.com?p=eyJzIjoiV3lH… [9] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.instagram.com?p=eyJzIj… [10] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/open.spotify.com?p=eyJzIjo… [11] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/vimeo.com?p=eyJzIjoiZzhmbV… [12] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/mail.viacampesina.org?p=ey… [13] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/ee.forms.viacampesina.org?…

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Peasant Struggles | July 24
by La Via Campesina 20 Aug '24

20 Aug '24

Edition: July 2024 SUBSCRIBE [1] La Via Campesina's 'PEASANT STRUGGLES' brings to you a monthly synthesis of articles and videos from our website and multimedia library. Read, share and help us globalize the struggle! [2] La Via Campesina Denounces Land Annexation by the Occupying and Apartheid State of Israel ------------------------- La Via Campesina vehemently denounces and condemns the illegal seizure of over 23.7 square kilometers (9.15 square miles) of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of this year by the Israeli government amidst the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. More than half of this land, amounting to 12.7 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley, was announced on July 2nd, marking the largest land annexation in the last 30 years since the 1993 Oslo Accords. The Jordan Valley, considered the breadbasket of the future Palestinian state, is endowed with fertile lands and rich water resources. READ THE FULL STATEMENT [3] LVC Ground Report : Kenya's Peasant Protests against the IMF ------------------------- Kenya's debt crisis is severe and well-known. As of April 2024, the country was facing loan maturities totaling KES 50 billion (USD368.32 million) per week. In January 2024, Kenya spent KES 123.53 billion (USD 910 million) on debt servicing, and another KES 66.7 billion (USD 491.34 million) in February 2024. The IMF is notorious for imposing unpopular tax measures on debt-ridden countries to prevent defaults. These measures often include debt restructuring that increases overall debt and promoting Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that support privatization and liberalization of key state-owned enterprises. The Gen Z-led protests have directly accused the IMF, World Bank, and WTO of imposing harsh taxes and prioritizing creditor interests over the needs of the Kenyan people. Kenyan peasants have had enough of the overreach by these institutions. READ THE REPORT [4] Nepal Needs Comprehensive Land Reform, Not Land Banks [5] ------------------------- Peasant and indigenous communities in Nepal view land not as a commercial commodity but as a means of production tied to identity, culture, heritage, and sovereignty. The World Bank's concept of a Land Bank treats land as a commodity, contradicting the interests of peasants, indigenous peoples, and small-scale food producers. La Via Campesina supports and stands in solidarity with the Kanak Peoples, New Caledonia [6] ------------------------- Given the stakes of mineral and tourist resources, agricultural development is not a priority for the authorities, and most agricultural goods are imported from Australia. However, subsistence farming, practiced and exchanged among indigenous peoples, accounts for a quarter of the indigenous families' resources. Zimbabwe: Peasant Agroecology transforms Shashe community [7] Haiti : Armed Groups Target All the Spaces Where Women Are Thriving [8] India: Peasant Movements Protest Forceful Acquisition of Farmland [9] ------------------------- For the past 850+ days, small-scale farmers and allied agricultural workers' unions in Channarayapatna, Devanahalli, near the Bengaluru International Airport, have been leading a protest against the acquisition of their land for an industrial project. 'Land grabbing is rolling along as we speak and in fact intensifying' [10] ------------------------- When we say that 70% of farmland is controlled by 1% of the world's largest farms, that's a dangerous trend because they don't love the land. Land is like family: if you don't love it, you will exploit it and destroy it. That's what we're seeing around us. Indonesia: SPI Launches Oil Palm Cooperative in North Sumatra, Advancing Agrarian Reform Campaign [11] ------------------------- This June, members of the Indonesian Peasants Union (SPI) in Sei Kopas Village, Asahan Regency, North Sumatra, inaugurated a new Oil Palm Plantation Cooperative. Korean peasants protest as climate crises, crop loss, rising costs, and cheap imports pose existential threat [12] ------------------------- Angered by Yoon Suk-yeol's government policies favoring agricultural destruction and farm-related suicides, peasants nationwide gathered outside the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea on July 4th. Brazil: Environmental crisis - How long do you have to wait to start making changes ? [13] ------------------------- We don't need to cut down any more trees to plant crops or raise cattle. Zero deforestation needs to be extended from the Amazon to other biomes like the Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest, and the Pantanal. Rethinking the regulation of agricultural markets in Europe | Call for Contributions [14] ------------------------- What lessons can be learned from the successes and failures of past policies to regulate agricultural markets, in Europe and elsewhere in the world, in order to rebuild the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the basis of food sovereignty and enable the agroecological transition? READ ALL ARTICLES FROM JULY 2024 [15] FEATURED PODCASTS [16] For more news and updates from peasant movements worldwide, subscribe to our Monthly Newswrap Podcast. Tune in Now! [17] FEATURED VIDEO [18] Farmers have been taking to the streets all over the world in recent months. In this webinar hosted by the National Family Farm Coalition in the US , you can hear first-hand from farmers about the roots of discontent in Europe and the protests they're leading in their countries. You are an important part of the autonomy of our movement ------------------------- As a supporter who has contributed financial resources to La Via Campesina, and as an activist who joins us on the streets and in the fields, your support is always welcome and put to good use. You can renew your contribution to La Via Campesina by clicking on the Donate button on our home page [19] and following the link to our PayPal account. [20] [21] Facebook [21] [22] Twitter [22] [23] Instagram [23] [24] Spotify [24] [25] Vimeo [25] To unsubscribe from the distribution list, click here [26] Website: www.viacampesina.org TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [1] Links: ------ [1] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/ee.forms.viacampesina.org?… [2] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [3] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [4] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [5] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [6] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [7] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [8] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [9] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [10] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [11] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [12] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [13] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [14] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [15] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/viacampesina.org?p=eyJzIjo… [16] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/open.spotify.com?p=eyJzIjo… [17] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/open.spotify.com?p=eyJzIjo… [18] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.youtube.com?p=eyJzIjoi… [19] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.viacampesina.org?p=eyJ… [20] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.paypal.com?p=eyJzIjoiV… [21] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.facebook.com?p=eyJzIjo… [22] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/twitter.com?p=eyJzIjoiazl3… [23] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/www.instagram.com?p=eyJzIj… [24] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/open.spotify.com?p=eyJzIjo… [25] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/vimeo.com?p=eyJzIjoiZUZmMC… [26] https://click.mailchimp.com/track/click/30010842/mail.viacampesina.org?p=ey…

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