Food Sovereignty is the right of people everywhere to produce food locally and sustainably through agroecological methods that respect the climatic, cultural and geographical context of each region. It places us at the heart of food systems, by building on the principles of solidarity, collectivism and social justice
The May edition of the news wrap carries updates about global solidarity actions, 30th year anniversary celebrations, land rights advocacy, webinars, and fairs held by members worldwide.Additionally, an abridged version of this News Wrap will soon be available as a Podcast on Spotify.
In Colombia indigenous organizations and the black communities and Community Councils connected to the El Kongal Regional Platform declare a state of humanitarian emergency due to the escalation and worsening of the armed conflict in their ancestral territories, which is leading to the physical, cultural, and spiritual extinction, destroying their identity, sovereignty, and dignity.
Recently, La Via Campesina received a request to participate in a civil society “council” to the WTO executive. After careful consideration, we decided to decline this invitation. Through this open letter, we wish to explain why we believe it is impossible to reform the WTO in a way that is favourable to peasants and, more generally, to the interests of the people.
Haenyeo, meaning “sea women” in Korean, are the women divers of Jeju who have spent decades free diving in the ocean multiple times a day. The ocean is not merely an ocean for them; it is their livelihood and lifelong home. Cutting into the ocean is akin to cutting into their own bodies.
On this important occasion, member organizations and allies expressed their resistance against the harmful consequences of agribusiness and the extractive industry, which pollute the soil, water, and commons.
This document compiles the reasoning and most important arguments the Global Campaign for Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and Human Rights as mandated by Resolution 26/9 of the UN Human Rights Council.
Elsewhere, in line with capitalist injunctions to “decarbonise” economies, water-intensive mining and the construction of large dams are accelerating, destroying territories still populated by peasant and Indigenous communities. In 2020, water was even listed on the stock exchange in the US.
As a movement present worldwide, we call on our member organizations, allies and multilateral institutions to remain alert to the events in Ecuador. We call to pay special attention to the peasant sector, those who feed the country, the montubio people, Afro-descendants and indigenous people, as well as the artisanal fisher-folk.
The 5th Training Module on “The collective rights of peasants in the global governance of seeds” is now available! This module is a pedagogical tool that aims to contribute to the understanding of the global struggle for peasant seeds. it is dedicated to the study of the main spaces of governance and international legal tools related to the right to seeds.
On May 15, La Via Campesina will celebrate its 30th anniversary of the formal founding of global peasant movement. This celebration is a reflection of three decades of commitment to the realization of social justice, human dignity and food sovereignty through peasant agroecology, popular feminism and peasant rights.
The cessation of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip is an immediate necessity. Israel’s actions against the vulnerable Palestinian population should not go unaddressed. It is incumbent upon the global community to enforce restraining measures and hold Israel accountable for its transgressions against humanity.
An international delegation of La Via Campesina (LVC), the international peasant movement accompanying the implementation process of the Peace Agreement in Colombia expresses its satisfaction and hope, and praises the political will of the current Colombian government to implement the agreement.
We call on everyone who is part of La Via Campesina to build our 8th Conference, to be held from November 21-28, 2023 in Bogota, Colombia.
As an international peasant movement, we recognize the importance of agrarian justice measures that guarantee the transition and express our full support for the creation of an Agrarian Final Court.
In 2022, LVC voiced strong demands and proposals to address the global crises in the short and long term. The easing of travel restrictions allowed peasant and indigenous leaders to travel to spaces of policy-framing and decision making, to make themselves heard and be counted.
The April edition of the news wrap brings you updates and alerts from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. This includes a feminist encounter in Central America, a forum on land struggles in Mali, a forestry and agroforestry workshop in Scotland, and much more.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) calls on the federal government to immediately adopt the 2018 UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), which defines the rights that must be upheld to ensure that a diversity of food producers are respected and have their voices heard, and which Canada has yet to support.
“We are experiencing a reorganization of the UDR”, defines Lucineia Durães, from the MST’s national leadership. She refers to the Ruralist Democratic Union (UDR), an entity of rural employers created to react organized and violently to the advances of movements in defense of agrarian reform in the 1980s and 1990s in Brazil.
President Joko Widodo highlighted the importance of fertilizer availability, particularly for strategic food, in preserving food sovereignty in the face of present global difficulties. According to him, the use of organic fertilizers not only addresses the issue of chemical fertilizer shortage and expensive cost, but also increases agricultural production in the country and maintains soil fertility levels.
