The 8th International Conference of La Via Campesina, held in Bogotá, Colombia, in December, provided a space for its members – small-holder farmers from more than 80 countries – to highlight the ongoing crises in their territories. These testimonies of peasants worldwide revealed a shared struggle against the escalating climate crisis. Across South America, Asia, and Africa, a collective plea for global action resonated, urging sustainable alternatives like agroecology.
Two South African activists recently attended a conference in Bogotá where they pledged to broaden the participation of individuals, especially women, in the fight for food sovereignty. They denounced the land inequality and the outsized influence of South Africa’s commercial sector on food product pricing, thrusting these critical issues onto the global stage.
While women took part in the establishment and building of La Via Campesina in different territories and international spaces, a collective struggle was necessary to get space and exposure, as well as to push feminism as a struggle that cannot be separated from the peasant struggle and the struggles of the peoples of the world.
Over 180 peasants’ organizations will meet in Bogota, Colombia’s capital city, to discuss and propose development and food production models that can be an alternative to agribusiness. Over 500 representatives of peasant movements from all over the world will come together to discuss and build food sovereignty to face the current global crisis.
In the run-up to the LVC 8th International Conference, to be held in December, Bogotá, the Forum on Communication for the Integration of Our America spoke with two members of the International Coordination of the Articulation, Nury Martínez Silva and Micherline Islanda Aduel.
Let’s go, people, let’s go back to the countryside,” is one of the slogans of the international peasant movement for its 8th Conference, a space that brings together delegates from all over the world to think and coordinate global actions for access to land and water, agroecology and seeds.
The Amrita Bhoomi Learning Centre in Karnataka is one of dozens of education hubs around the world providing a space for farmer-to-farmer training in agroecology. The centre was born out of organising efforts of the local farmers’ movement KRRS (Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha) founded by Professor Mahantha Devaru Nanjundaswamy.
La Via Campesina has over 200 million members in more than 80 countries. There are three levels within La Via Campesina. The member organizations, which include unions, cooperatives, or associations, form the first level. Then, all these organizations are grouped by region, with nine regions in La Via Campesina. These nine regions together constitute La Via Campesina. Every four years, a conference is organized to decide the working priorities for the next four years. The next conference will be held in Colombia in December. We expect 500 delegates from all over the world.
The General Coordinator of La Via Campesina dive deep into the significance of being a peasant in today’s world and the pivotal role LVC plays in addressing global crises, shaping our society, and advocating for social justice. She delves into La Via Campesina’s unwavering commitment to empowering peasant women and the transformative impact of their contributions. Learn about the organization’s ongoing initiatives in Colombia, Nepal, and its connections with peasant movements in Australia.
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.
