Global uprising against land grabbing
Social movements denounce World Bank strategy on land grabbing
GRAIN | 22 April 2010
On 26 April 2010, the World Bank is opening a major two-day conference on land at its headquarters in Washington DC. Seated at the table will be governments, donor agencies, researchers, CEOs and non-government organisations. The main topic of discussion? How to harness the fresh wads of cash being put on the table to build agribusiness operations on huge areas of farmland in developing countries, especially in Africa. The Bank calls these farm acquisitions “agricultural investment”. Social movements call them “land grabbing”.
At the meeting, the Bank will release a long-awaited study on this new land grabbing trend. Apart from assessing how many hectares are being bought and sold where, why and through whom, the Bank will present its solution to the risks and concerns raised by foreign investors — from George Soros to Libya’s sovereign wealth fund to China’s telecoms giant ZTE — taking control of overseas farmland to produce food for export: a set of “principles” for all players to follow. The FAO, UNCTAD and IFAD have agreed to support the Bank in advocating these “principles”.
La Vía Campesina, FIAN, Land Research Action Network and GRAIN have produced a joint statement outlining how the Bank’s initiative will only serve to facilitate land grabbing and why it must be stopped. Over 100 other social organisations and movements have formally associated themselves with the statement as co-sponsors. Today and in the coming days, many groups will be speaking out against the current land grabbing trend and explaining how the real solution to feeding our world lies in supporting community-based family farming for local and regional markets — not industrial farming for global agribusiness.
We invite all interested groups and individuals to join forces with us and speak out from your own experience.
The LVC-FIAN-LRAN-GRAIN statement, together with the list of co-sponsors, is available in Arabic, English, French and Spanish at:
http://www.grain.org/o/?id=102.
If you wish to register your own support for the statement you can post a comment at:
http://farmlandgrab.org/12200
or send an email to info@farmlandgrab.org and we will post it for you.
Simultaneous media events and actions are taking place in Washington DC and many other towns and cities across the world. For information on the Washington DC events or how to talk to activists from the affected countries, please contact Kathy Ozer of the National Family Farm Coalition for La Via Campesina (mobile: +1-202-421-4544, email: kozer@nffc.net) or Devlin Kuyek at GRAIN (mobile: +1-514-571-7702, email: devlin@grain.org).
Media reports and further inputs and actions from different groups joining this movement will be collated online at:
http://farmlandgrab.org.
Further references
– The World Bank’s land conference webpage is:
http://go.worldbank.org/67YHA6L0K0.
The conference papers are being posted online at:
http://go.worldbank.org/IN4QDO1U10
– La Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers with 148 members in 69 countries:
http://www.viacampesina.org.
– FIAN (FoodFirst Information and Action Network) is an international human rights organisation with members and sections in 50 countries to advocate for the realisation of the right to food:
http://www.fian.org.
– LRAN (Land Research Action Network) is a network of researchers and social movements committed to the promotion of individuals’ and communities’ right to land:
http://www.landaction.org.
– GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems: http:// http://www.grain.org and
http://farmlandgrab.org.
No comments yet.
Featured Video
Russia Preparing Retaliation – Oreshnik Deployed & Seizing Odessa
or go to
Aletho News Archives – Video-Images
From the Archives
Latvia urging UK to ‘prepare for war’ with Russia
By Lucas Leiroz | March 18, 2024
The Baltic countries continue their “preparation for war with Russia.” Now, as if it were not enough to engage in a suicidal militarization campaign, Latvia is also demanding that the main NATO countries, such as the UK, also begin adopting radical measures to prepare for the “inevitable” confrontation with Moscow. The main Latvian criticism of the British concerns the military service, with the Baltic country asking the UK to immediately resume conscription policies to increase the size of its forces.
Latvia’s foreign minister, Krisjanis Karins, stated that all NATO countries should follow the Latvian example when it comes to military preparation. According to him, it is necessary to implement special militarization measures and improve defense capacity in the face of the supposed “Russian threat”, which is why Western countries should unite in a common military policy. Karins believes that not all NATO states are efficiently engaged in this military preparation process. In this regard, he criticizes even the stance of key countries in the bloc, such as the UK.
Karins was asked by a journalist from The Telegraph about whether London should adopt mandatory military service for its citizens. He resolutely responded that Latvia “strongly recommends” such an attitude. According to Karins, Latvia is developing a system called “total defense”, in which all the country’s efforts are directed towards expanding military capacity. Efforts include all sectors of civil society, thus requiring a system of total mobilization within which mandatory military service is vital. … continue
Blog Roll
Recent Comments
loongtip on US Weighs Port Restrictions on… Bill Francis on Chris Minns Defends NSW “Hate… Sheree Sheree on I was canceled by three newspa… Richard Ong on Czech–Slovak alignment signals… John Edward Kendrick on Colonel Jacques Baud & Nat… eddieb on Villains of Judea: Ronald Laud… rezjiekc on Substack Imposes Digital ID Ch… loongtip on US strikes three vessels in Ea… eddieb on An Avoidable Disaster Steve Jones on For Israel, The Terrorist Atta… cleversensationally3… on Over Half of Germans Feel Unab… loongtip on Investigation Into U.S. Milita…
Aletho News- UK doctor arrested under pressure from Israel lobby over ‘anti-genocide posts’
- Whistleblowers accuse CPJ of ‘shielding’ Israel to appease donors
- The Empire of Lies: How the BBC Strangles Free Speech Under the Mask of Objectivity and Why Trump is Right to Sue
- Reuters spreads lies and propaganda to prolong Ukraine conflict – Tulsi Gabbard
- EU loan to Ukraine pushing bloc ‘into war’ with Russia – Orban
- Daniel Davis: Russia Preparing Retaliation – Oreshnik Deployed & Seizing Odessa
- FDA Won’t ‘Rubber-Stamp’ Pfizer mRNA Flu Vaccine Without Better Safety Data
- Bill Gates’ CEPI revives Moderna mRNA bird flu vaccine development with $54M investment after HHS terminated funding
- Government Minister Steps in to Defend Met Office as Fake Temperature Scandal Escalates
- Russia, African Countries Agree to Strengthen Security Cooperation – Lavrov
- If Americans Knew
- Israel is directly responsible for babies freezing to death – Not a Ceasefire Day 72
- U.S. Pastors Become Willing Ambassadors for Israel’s War
- The 2028 Presidential Candidates – TrackAIPAC Scoresheet
- “Trump Riviera” is back on the table – Not a Ceasefire Day 71
- Commentary editor, a pioneer neoconservative, pushed Republicans, U.S. policy, and Christian evangelicals into a pro-Israel direction
- Despite ceasefire deal, Israel refuses to open the Rafah border crossing, cutting Gaza off from the world
- Palestinian ingenuity shines through adversity – Not a Ceasefire Day 70
- Amnesty: ‘Utterly preventable’ Gaza flood tragedy must mobilize global action to end Israel’s genocide
- Israel Propagandists Are Uniformly Spouting The Exact Same Line About The Bondi Beach Shooting
- Ha’aretz: Free the Palestinian Activist Who Dared to Document Israel’s Crimes in the West Bank
- No Tricks Zone
- Der Spiegel Caught Making Up Reports About Conservative America (Again)
- New Study: 8000 Years Ago Relative Sea Level Was 30 Meters Higher Than Today Across East Antarctica
- The Wind Energy Paradox: “Why More Wind Turbines Don’t Always Mean More Power”
- New Study Reopens Questions About Our Ability To Meaningfully Assess Global Mean Temperature
- Dialing Back The Panic: German Physics Prof Sees No Evidence Of Climate Tipping Points!
- Astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon Challenges The Climate Consensus … It’s The Sun, Not CO2
- Regional Cooling Since The 1980s Has Driven Glacier Advance In The Karakoram Mountains
- Greenland Petermann Glacier Has Grown 30 Kilometers Since 2012!
- New Study: Temperature-Driven CO2 Outgassing Explains 83 Percent Of CO2 Rise Since 1959
- Climate Extremists Ordered By Hamburg Court To Pay €400,000 In Damages
Aletho News 
Leave a comment