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"Nothing about us without us", say peasants as the Farmers' Rights Consultation begins in Bali
At Farmers' Rights Global Consultation in Bali, global peasants' movement La Via Campesina to defend peasant-seed systems and insist peasant participation in decision making.
Bali, 27 September 2016:
A delegation comprising peasants, women and men, indigenous people and youth from various regions of the world will represent La Via Campesina at the Farmers' Rights Global Consultation, to be held between 27-30 of September in Bali, organized by the Government of Indonesia with support from The Government of Norway and The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). Read more... |
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"Our rights, our needs, our identities have been defined on behalf of us, but not by us", Tanmay Joshi, a young farmer from India
At the recently concluded Global Consultation on Farmers' Rights in Bali, organsied by the Ministry of Indonesia with the support of the Ministry of Norway and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), Tanmay Joshi, a young farmer from the state of Maharshtra in India spoke passionately. Here is the full text of this speech. Read more... |
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Social movements call for 'unity beyond borders' at the Southern Africa Tribunal on Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
The Southern African People's Solidarity Network hosted a Permanent Peoples' Tribunal on Transnational Corporations in Manzini, Swaziland between the 16th and 19th of August. The tribunal was held on 16th and 17thfollowed by discussions until the 19th about building a 'Peoples-Driven Southern African Development Community (SADC) committed to the total liberation of all'. Read more... |
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Bayer-Monsanto deal latest in agribusiness merger and acquisition trend
Media Release
(Saskatoon - Sept. 19, 2016) Bayer's September 14 announcement that it will buy Monsanto for $66 billion comes just days after fertilizer companies PotashCorp and Agrium confirmed their $30 billion dollar merger deal. Meanwhile, the Chinese agro-chemical giant, ChemChina is in the process of buying Sygenta for $43 billion. Dupont and Dow expect to complete their $68 billion merger by the end of this year.
"Mergers and acquisitions are not investments in new productive capacity," said Terry Boehm, Chair of the NFU's Seed and Trade Committee. "These transactions are a way for large corporations to restructure their existing assets to obtain higher profits and greater control by eliminating competition within the market." Read more...
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Demonstration anti-TTIP/CETA the 20.09: peasant movement calls to mobilize
Le MAP, Fugea and ECVC Press Release
Brussels, 15th of September 2016
The European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC), the Fédération Unie de Groupements d'Eleveurs et d'Agriculteurs (FUGEA) and the Mouvement d'Action Paysanne (MAP) are calling on all citizens to demonstrate against the free-trade agreements TTIP and CETA. The rally starts at 17h00 on Tuesday, September 20th, in the European quarter. The agriculture and food block, lead by the d19-20 alliance, will be the last of the parade. Participants will meet in advance at 16h30 at the corner of Rue de la Loi/Rue du Commerce. Read more... |
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RIPESS supports International Day Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements
RIPESS Press Release, 10th September, Montreal
The Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) supports the International Day Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements as called for by the international peasants movement Via Campesina. RIPESS reaffirms our commitment to opposing on-going global free trade agreements such as, but not limited to, CETA, TTIP, TPP, TISA and RCEP. Read more... |
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Gender Diversity in the Peasant Movement
Self-determined and in the countryside*
The global peasant movement La Via Campesina is slowly beginning to open up to the subject of gender diversity. By Paula Gioia, member of the coordinating committee of ECVC
Food Sovereignty is also connected to gender relations – and to respecting different ways of life and the rights of LGBTTQI*. The movement of landless peasants in Brazil is showing this and providing important inspirations for debates in Europe. Read more... |
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Peasants' rights are unique and require urgent protection, says Elizabeth Mpofu
Human Rights Council, 33rd Session, Item 5 – Human Rights bodies and mechanisms – General Debate on the Report of IGWG on rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas (A/HRC/33/59)
President of the Council, Chair-Rapporteur of the Open ended Working Group, Delegates and Colleagues,
I am Elizabeth Mpofu, the International Coordinator of La Via Campesina. Together with International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), we would like to strengthen further our commitment to the establishment of the draft declaration on peasant's rights, as I want to remind us on following: The term Peasant that we want is inclusive is as defined in Article 1 and its meaning signifies a special relationship of peasants with land which defines their social and economic rights political identity, including also their cultural and religious life in rural areas. Read more... |
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Defend the zad – a call for international solidarity
October 8th & 9th 2016
For over 50 years, farmers and locals have resisted the building of a new airport for the French city of Nantes (which by the way already has one). Now in these rich fields, forests and wetlands, which multinational Vinci want to cover in concrete, an experiment in reinventing everyday life in struggle is blossoming. Radicals from around the world, local farmers and villagers, citizen groups, trade unionists and naturalists, refugees and runaways, squatters and climate justice activists and many others, are organising to protect the 4000 acres of land against the airport and its world. Government officials have coined this place "a territory lost to the republic". Its occupants have named it: la zad (zone a défendre) zone to defend. Read more... |
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ITPGRFA: At Consultation on Farmers' Rights, La Via Campesina demands a working group in the Treaty comprising peasants' organisations, to help implement peasants' rights
At the global consultation on Farmers' Rights organized by Government of Indonesia and supported by the Ministry of Norway and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), held in Bali from September 27-30, a delegation representing the global peasant movement La Via Campesina joined the civil society in demanding participation of indigenous people and peasant organisations in all decision-making processes concerning them. It called upon the Treaty to set up a working group on Farmers' Rights, with adequate representation of peasant organisations and indigenous peoples organisations. Read more... |
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La Via Campesina and allies push for the Declaration on Peasants' Rights in Geneva
Representatives of La Via Campesina at the UN, pushing for the Declaration on peasant's rights
(Geneva, September 22, 2016) This week, representatives of La Via Campesina and supporting organizations (FIAN, CETIM, CELS and IADL) are at the United Nations Human Rights Council of Geneva, in order to lobby for the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.
At the top of the agenda: increasing support for the report of the President of the Working Group on Peasant's Rights and Other People Working in Rural Areas, Bolivian Ambassador Nardi Suxo. Read more... |
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Smallholders' markets
The new edition of the Nyéléni Newsletter is now online!
Bulk of the food consumed in the world is produced by smallholders and workers, and channeled through "territorial markets", which reflect the huge diversity of contexts that characterise small-scale food production and distribution.
Territorial markets are an important source of employment and critical in battling hunger and poverty.
These markets increasingly face threats from corporate led super/hyper-markets, procurement, storage, certification and food safety systems. Corporations use neoliberal trade and investment agreements, and sophisticated marketing systems to control how food is produced, priced, distributed and consumed.
Protecting and strengthening the markets of smallholders are crucial aspects of food sovereignty and restoring societal control over the economy.
Click here to download the English edition or read it directly in the website at www.nyeleni.org! |
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Opinion: Agroecology for gender equality
Farming Matters | 32.3 | September 2016
How to attribute important social change to agroecology? Elizabeth Mpofu argues that agroecology builds social cohesion, providing the foundation for gender equality.
There are no recipes in agroecology. Instead, its manual is in the heart and minds of those who practice it, which is evident in their interactions with the environment and other people. Harmony with nature and nutrition takes precedence over profits. This anchors our culture, shapes our identity and sets the parameters for our transformation as a society. Read more... |
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Hands on the Land for food sovereignty and climate justice
Frontline communities and social movements around the world explain why we need to keep our hands on the land for food sovereignty and climate justice! This includes the false solutions they are presented with against climate change, and the real solutions and ways forward that small-scale food producers promote.
Hands On The Land for Food Sovereignty and Climate Justice! www.handsontheland.net
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A Common Right: Mongolia
Meet Hajekber Serikbol, a pastoralist community leader in the Western Foothills of Mongolia. They call themselves the "friendship community" and are part of 200-500 million nomadic custodians that take care of our planet, managing rangelands that cover a quarter of the world's land surface. This film is part of the Global Call to Action Initiative, aimed at doubling the global area of land legally recognized as owned or controlled by Indigenous Peoples and local communities by 2020.
Film and Photo by: Jason Taylor/Land Rights Now/Global Call to Action
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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 and following the link to our PayPal account.
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