An international alliance against land take-overs

Sélingué (Nyéléni Centre), Mali, November 19, 2011 Today more than 250 men and women farmers from 30 countries set up a new international alliance against foreign land acquisitions. It will be led by the farmers, in cooperation with a large number of social movements and organisations. This was announced at the closure of the international conference on Stop the Land Grab organised by the National Confederation of Farmers’ Organisations (CNOP) of Mali, Via Campesina and the international farmers’ movement.

The appropriation of land is a worldwide phenomenon of unparalleled speed and scope. In Mali in recent years more than 800 000 hectares of arable land have been handed over to investors by the government , through 30 year renewable leasing contracts. Likewise it is estimated that 30 million hectares have been sold or leased in Africa as a whole. At world level the figure is assumed to reach 60 – 80 million hectares, but in the light of the secrecy or illegality surrounding these contracts, that is only the tip of the iceberg. The land has already been transferred to national elites, multinational corporations and financial managers trying to make a profit or to speculate through industrial agricultural projects, mining operations and agrifuel production, carbon trading, tourism, large dams and so on. Some sources refer to these moves as ”investments”, whilst in reality the acquisitions are nothing but outright theft. It is also a real violation of the rights of men and women peasant farmers. These take-overs ruin small scale producers, pastoralistss, indigenous peoples, among others, as well as their assets and means of subsistence. When farmers take action to defend their vital inerests, they are beaten, imprisoned or even murdered.

In view of the seriousness of the situation the peasant farmers’ organisations, gathering here in Mali, have set up an alliance in order to strengthen and support the farming communities in their fight against the assault.

In particular we undertake to do the following:

• Organise rural and urban communities in order to fight against land appropriation in all its forms.
• Reinforce the capacities of our communities and movements to claim, regain and defend our rights, our land and our access to natural assets.
• Obtain and permanently secure the rights of women in our communities regarding access to land and natural resources.
• Create awareness among the public that land appropriation is at the root of crises that have hit society as a whole.
• Set up alliances between various sectors, population groups and regions to mobilise our societies in order to put a stop to the land grab phenomenon.
• Strengthen our movements to better promote and to attain food sovereignty and genuine agrarian reform.

An action plan has been adopted, including the setting up of an observatory for the collection and circulation of data concerning land takeover. Participants at this conference have pledged to work together, with extreme urgency, to put an end to land appropriation. In this way it will be possible to carry out true agrarian reform and land tenure policies for the benefit of family farming and to replace the industrial agricultural model by peasant farming as the sole guarantor of food sovereignty.

Nyéléni, November 19, 2011

For further information, see La Via Campesina