16 October | International Day of Action For People’s Food Sovereignty, and Against Transnational Corporations

From the global peasantry and the global movement for Food Sovereignty, we firmly believe in the need for a systemic transformation that protects our symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth, guarantees social justice, peace, and a comprehensive agrarian reform that ensures we can live with dignity, free from poverty and hunger.

To start, we DEMAND an agroecological transition that safeguards local food systems and promotes a new trade framework based on the principles of Food Sovereignty.

We URGENTLY NEED public policies that support and implement such a transition that prioritizes models of peasant production, social, and solidarity economies.

We also DEMAND the protection of peasants and human rights defenders of our territories against the violence that undermines human rights, stigmatization, and criminalization, through actions that defend and reclaim our rights as stipulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas.

Corporate-driven agricultural policies only worsen the climate crisis, and the emphasis on imported agricultural products is causing growing despair among the peasantry. We DEMAND measures to curb the growing power of corporations in the political spaces of our countries and in multilateral forums.

We CALL FOR a Binding UN treaty to regulate transnational corporations (TNCs), end human rights violations, end corporate impunity, and guarantee access to justice for affected communities, in line with the UNDROP and other legal instruments.

It is urgent to establish a climate change response system that RECOGNIZES the peasantry as a key actor, particularly peasant women. However, in many countries and cultures, peasant women and diversities still lack legal recognition. It is essential to amend laws and public policies to guarantee property rights, recognizing their historic role in agriculture.

For all these reasons, on this October 16, 2024, the International Day of Action for People’s Food Sovereignty and Against Transnational Corporations, we call on our regional and local organizations, allies, social movements, and collectives to mobilize together in defense of life, healthy and sovereign food for the people, and the rights of millions of peasants.

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