Paris/Heidelberg, June 20, 2011 – Hundreds of civil society organisations, including farmers’ movements, women’s groups and non-governmental organisations, will launch a global appeal against farmland grabbing during the G20 meeting on Agriculture in Paris on June 22 and 23.
Over 500 organizations from around the world (see signatures list in pdf below) have joined the “Dakar Appeal Against Land Grabbing” that was originally drawn up at the World Social Forum in Dakar last February and launched by, among others, la Via Campesina and FIAN International.
While agriculture ministers from the world’s 20 richest countries are discussing what to do about food price volatility and the growing hunger crisis, millions of hectares of fertile land, along with their water resources, are being grabbed from peasants, pastoralists, herders, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples and traditional healers to be converted into massive agribusiness operations by private investors who want to produce food supplies or agro-fuels for international markets. As a consequence, millions of peasant families and other rural and indigenous folk are being thrown off their lands and deprived of their livelihoods.
Related:
Harvard, Vanderbilt, Spelman Exposed for Taking Part in “African Land Grab”