La Via Campesina | e-Newsletter | New Year Edition 2017
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This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide. To subscribe click here [2]
REMEMBERING KATHY OZER, A FIGHTER FOR FAMILY FARMERS
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Kathy didn't just talk and study and explain. She worked! She organized! She advocated for those in need, and while we will feel her loss for some time, we are blessed she came our way. Her work will not be in vain. It will be on-going. She taught us well. Read the full statement issued by NFFC [3]
VIA CAMPESINA CONDEMNS RECENT CRIMINALISATION OF TRADITIONAL SEED EXCHANGE IN TANZANIA
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[4]The recent reports that Tanzanian farmers would face heavy penalties or a long prison sentence if they continue their traditional seed exchange beyond government prescribed areas does not come as a surprise to La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa (LVC SEAf) and its allies. This confirm our fears and what we have been lobbying against:- Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),[1] the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN)[2] and the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)[3] and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)[4] seed harmonisation regulatory systems. The consultations with the smallholder farmers and their various associations was very limited and done on the last minute following an outcry by the Civil Society Organisations. We highlighted that seed policy harmonisation path to promote commercial seed industry will lead to criminalisation of traditional farmer saved seed systems whose foundation is among things underpin by ability to exchange their seeds without restrictions. Read the full statement [4]
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
INDONESIAN PEASANTS' UNION (SPI) DENOUNCE WTO PANEL RULING THAT FAVOR US AND NZ.
------------------------- Denouncing the ruling, Henry Saragih, General Chairperson of Indonesian Peasant's Union and member of ICC (International Coordination Committee) of La Via Campesina, has warned that this would hamper the efforts of the Indonesian government to strengthen and develop self-sufficiency in food and meat production. Read More [5]
MILK CRISIS: DEREGULATION NOT IN THE INTEREST OF PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS
------------------------- European milk producers (ECVC and the European Milk Board - EMB) met again in Brussels for a symbolic action on the occasion of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting. Read More [6]
COMMISSION AND COUNCIL ONLY ADD TO THE DAIRY OVERFLOW WITH THEIR MILK POWDER
------------------------- On January 23rd, the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), along with the European Milk Board (EMB), demonstrated in front of the Justus Lipsius building - Rue de la Loi 175, 1000 Brussels, against the placement of milk powder resulting from public intervention, and in defence of the restoration of regulatory instruments on milk production in the EU. Read More [7]
DEMONETISATION IN INDIA: FARMERS' GROUPS WRITE AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER
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Several farmers' groups in India have written a joint letter to the Prime Minister of India, highlighting the severe distress that exists in the countryside after the Indian Government withdrew nearly 86% of the currency in circulation overnight, in a supposed crackdown on corruption and 'black economy. Bharatiya Kisan Union, a member of La Via Campesina is also a signatory to the letter. Read More [8]
"AGROECOLOGY IS A WAY OF LIFE"
An in-depth interview with students of agroecologic school EDUCAR - Five young landless people on how they experience this educational process. Read More [9]
PROMOTE PEASANT AGROECOLOGY AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO MIGRATION: LVC IN DHAKA
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La Via Campesina insisted throughout the PGA event in Dhaka that peasant agroecology is a solution to climate change and the need to call upon the nation states who are participating in Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) to rethink the development model they are pursuing. Read More [10]
COP22: MARRAKECH DECLARATION
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For real alternatives to preserve environmental balances and recognise climate justice, For a fair and sustainable future for all peoples. Read More [11]
JUSTICE FOR NICINHA AND THE RIVERSIDE COMMUNITIES OF THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON
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Mother, fisherwoman, activist of Brazil's Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB - Movement of People Affected by Dams) and a courageous woman who was not afraid to denounce the human rights violations committed by the Sustainable Energy of Brazil Consortium (ESBR) against the communities on the banks of the Madeira River, Nicinha was criminally silenced. Read More [12]
WOMEN PASTORALISTS: NEGLECTED IN THE 21ST CENTURY
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In her last regular column for Farming Matters, Elizabeth Mpofu makes a plea for governments to listen to pastoralists, particularly the women among them. Read More [13]
"3% OF THE FARMS CONTROL 50% OF THE ARABLE LANDS IN THE EU": KAYA THOMAS
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At the FAO Workshop on the Implementation of Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT), held in Budapest Hungary, Kaya Thomas from Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL) /ECVC spoke at length about land fragmentation, collapsing rural infrastructure and contradictory land laws. Here is the full text of her speech that she delivered on behalf of CSOs and social movements. Read More [14]
TOWARDS A POPULAR VOTE ON FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN SWITZERLAND
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Uniterre's quest to write food security into the Swiss constitutionOn the back of La Via Campesina's 4th international meeting in Maputo, the idea to incorporate food sovereignty into the Swiss Constitution took form under the Uniterre committee, a member of European Coordination Via Campesina. Read More [15]
FREE TRADE, RURAL CANADA AND HOW TO KEEP CANADA FROM BEING TRUMPED
------------------------- The once mighty farmer cooperative handlers and processors have been dismantled and absorbed into a handful of transnational corporations. 80% of Vancouver's terminal capacity used to be owned and operated by prairie Pools. Now the private trade owns it all. With the Canadian Wheat Board gone there is no real economic participation by farmers beyond the farm gate, nor any referee to discipline the railroads | writes _Jan Slomp_ (President of the National Farmers Union. He farms near Courtenay, BC. Read More [16]
DEMONSTRATION IN BERLIN: _WE ARE FED UP WITH AGRO INDUSTRY!_
------------------------- Free trade agreements such as CETA, TTIP and EPAs with African countries will further liberalize the markets and lead to even greater export dependency. The agricultural policies in Berlin and Brussels need to be held responsible for that. We are farmers, food producers, beekeepers, bakers, gardeners, animal, environmental and nature activists, development workers, critical consumers and committed young people, calling on you to join us as we fight for a more rural and ecological agriculture on the 7th international "We are fed up!" demonstration. Read More [17]
TRAINING CAMP ON ECOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE IN KARNATAKA, INDIA
------------------------- Thousands of farmers came together to attend a class on ecological farming at the Muruga Matha, a religious institution in southern Karnataka, where a five-day intensive study camp on a chemical-free farming method called Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) took place. Read More [18]
WHAT DO LOVE LETTERS HAVE TO DO WITH FARMING?
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Shifting to agroecology and sustainable agriculture isn't just about a change in production models, its as much about changing the relationships we have - including between genders. Read More [19]
AGROECOLOGY CAMP IN PUERTO RICO
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The goal of the encampment was to bring people together to work and learn with one another and study agroecology as a tool of struggle within the current political context. The methodology of the encampment consisted of farm work in the mornings, followed by facilitated discussions on topics including the agrarian history of Puerto Rico, agroecology as a tool for social struggle and gender dynamics within social movements. Read More [20]
CALL FOR MORATORIUM ON NEW GENETIC EXTINCTION TECHNOLOGY AT UN CONVENTION
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At the 2016 UN Convention on Biodiversity held in Cancun Mexico in December 2016, international conservation and environmental leaders called upon governments to establish a moratorium on the controversial genetic extinction technology called gene drives.. Read More [21]
REMOVAL OF IMPORT DUTY ON WHEAT WILL DESTROY FARMERS: WARNS BKU, INDIA
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Bharatiya Kisan Union opposes the removal of import duty on wheat and is instead demanding the government to hike it to 40%. Read More [22]
INDONESIA PEASANTS' UNION PROTEST AGAINST CHEAP IMPORT OF POTATOES
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A large number of small farmers and peasants in Indonesia took out a massive protest against the cheap imports of potatoes, which has thrown the local varieties out of the market and has caused distress to local farmers. Read More [23]
"THERE CAN BE NO DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEASANTS WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO LAND"
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Henry Saragih (Serikat Petani - Indonesia, La Via Campesina) and Ramona Duminicioiu (Eco Ruralis - Romania, European Coordination Via Campesina) spoke at the Palais des Nations in Geneva about the reasons why the Right to Land and other Natural Resources is crucial for the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants. Read More [24]
DAIRY AND POULTRY IN INDIA—GROWING CORPORATE CONCENTRATION, LOSING GAME FOR SMALL PRODUCERS
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This case study prepared by Ashelsha Khadse was part of a report What's at Steak, published by Global Forest Coalition at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Cancun, Mexico in December 2016. Read More [25]
GRAPHIC NARRATIVE: TOGETHER WE CAN COOL THE PLANET!
Year: 2016
Summary:
Based on the video Together we can cool the planet! [26] co-produced by La Vía Campesina and GRAIN in 2015, we have created a comic book [27] to support training activities of social movements and civil society organisations around climate change. This comic book looks at how the industrial food system impacts our climate and also explains what we can do to change course and start cooling the planet.
Download the Publication (English) [27]
THE NEW EDITION OF THE NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER IS NOW ONLINE!
Social movements, use agroecology to challenge existing power structures, to resist the multiple attacks on our Mother Earth, and as a tool for the social, economic, cultural, political and ecological transformation of communities and territories. Click here to download the English edition [28] or read it directly in the website at www.nyeleni.org [29]
[30]
Inspiring visuals from the mass mobilisation against Free Trade Agreements in Europe Watch Now [31]
[32]
HONEY AT THE TOP is a film about the Sengwer forest people of the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, being evicted from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. Facing international pressure from organisations like the World Bank, a corrupt Kenya Forest Service who are burning their houses, and attempts to turn the forest into a commodity through carbon offsetting schemes, the Sengwer fight to hold onto their culture and resist the evictions. Watch Now [33]
[34]
_DO NOTHING_, a film by Deadend Left and Amrita Bhoomi follows the story of a couple - KM Raje Gowda and Kalpana who move from chemical farming into Zero Budget Natural Farming (a method developed by Subhash Palekar in India). This is a portrait not just of their farm but also peeks into the Green Revolution, Pesticide Companies, Prof MD Nanjundaswamy's fight against TNCs via Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS). Watch Now [35]
[36]
After the earthquake April 7, 2016, a mute and silent plot of eviction, displacement and dispossession of the island of Muisne, has been weaving the government of the self-proclaimed "Citizen Revolution" in Ecuador.
The declaration, 'high risk zone for its inhabitants' and 'area for the promotion of tourism', is a cruel irony that shows the government opacity and their shady interests.
_"WE'RE NOT LEAVING, WE'RE STAYING HERE"_ has been the response of the people, women and men, of the island that multiplies resistance and calls organization for defense of homes and land, that cradle of mangrove that was born. Watch Now [37]
YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE AUTONOMY OF OUR MOVEMENT
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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.
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