Fighting for land, diverse groups of farmers, fisher folk, ethnic minorities, and women were brought together in a forum called Land, Territory and Dignity.  The forum penned a Final Declaration on the contours of a new agrarian reform, and was held simultaneously with the 2nd International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD), organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). About International Conference on Agrarian
Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD)

The 1st ICARRD was held in Rome 27 years ago.

The 2nd ICARRD focused on five key themes: policies and experiences that have improved access to resources for the poorest sectors; local capacity building; new development opportunities for rural communities; combining agrarian reform, social justice and sustainable development; and food sovereignty.

The Conference affirmed that land and access to natural resources are the foundation of sustainable rural development and cultural and environmental viability. Civil society organisations and social movements, calling for renewed engagement with governments, played a crucial role in its success.

The conference targeted two concrete results: 1) a lasting platform of understanding, learning and dialogue on agrarian reform and rural development supported by an International Observatory Pane; and 2) best policies and practices learned on rural development to promote priority actions, partnerships, and international cooperation.

The Conference was organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations which leads international efforts to address hunger.

Sources:

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2006). FAO at work. Retrieved March 12, 2006 from  <http://www.fao.org/UNFAO/about/index_en.html>.

International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD). (2006).  A vision for the future: ICRARRD.  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://www.icarrd.org/index.html>

The common thread that united these social activists in Porto Alegre, March 7-10 was the importance of food sovereignty in achieving genuine reform. They said, food sovereignty is not just a vision but is also a common platform of struggle that allows us to keep building unity in our diversity. We believe that access and control over natural resources, food production, and the increase of decision-making powerbring us together.

Going beyond land distribution

The forum also believed that mere distribution of land must not be the only indicator of success.  The Declaration stated that  new agrarian reform must include a cosmic vision of the territories of communities of peasants, the landless, indigenous peoples, rural workers, fisherfolk, nomadic pastoralists, tribes, afrodescendents, ethnic minorities, and displaced peoples, who base their work on the production of food and who maintain a relationship of respect and harmony with Mother Earth and with the oceans.

Not only are peasants being given a sense of ownership over a piece of the earth but also the fish harvesters and fish workers.  Exclusion of fisherfolks in agrarian reform issues would mean a failure in food security as seafood accounts for 16% of the protein consumed worldwide, according to Pedro Avendao, a Chilean representative of the World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers (WFF). Under the proposed new agrarian reform, not only should land and bodies of water be accessible to tilling and harvesting but also such natural resources as water, forests and biodiversity.

The Declaration also highlighted the oft-overlooked role of women, particularly in managing resources. There can be no genuine agrarian reform without gender equity, states the Declaration.

Real agrarian reform must extend to the provision of food-producing resources and must go hand-in-hand with packaged assistance and social benefits.  Cases were cited by government representatives from Mexico, the European Union, Madagascar, Morocco, India, China and Nigeria.  In India for instance, a law implemented in 800 poor districts guarantees rural folks the right to work.  Under the Rural Employment Guarantee Act, an adult member from each household does unskilled manual labor and receives a 100 days wage a year.  In other parts of the world, agrarian reform has already been in place but social activists have not been satisfied with their progress.

Barriers to reform movement

In Venezuela, 160,000 landless families have benefited from the governments land reform project but it has been a subject of criticisms. Farmers complained about unfamiliar machinery and undelivered credit to start with, animals to raise and seeds to sow. For their part, experts have criticised the lack of government planning.

According to Franklin Chacin, coordinator of the deans of the Department of Agronomy, the agrarian reform process has moved forward without basic information: a land register, soil studies, socioeconomic projects and development plans bringing together the public, private and academic sectors[so] I do not see genuine productive change in the countryside.

In Brazil, the government claimed it has been the countrys best year ever in land reform. Responding to cries for genuine land reform, President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, a former trade unionist, made available credits and technical assistance. More than 600,000 landless rural families now have small farms of their own.

However, farmers complained about the slow pace of reform for the four million landless rural families in Brazil.  Activists such as Joao Pedro Stdile, one of the leaders of Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST), said that the government failed because it favoured giant landowners, and succumbed to the demands of big business and monoculture farming.

The presence of policies that undermine genuine agrarian reform is a problem not unique to Brazil.  These policies allow the dumping of products at artificially low prices by large corporations. Via Campesina, a global civil society network working in Brazil, believes that these neo-liberal policies prevents real agrarian reform.  In a statement, Via Campesina said that these policies have increased peoples dependence on agricultural imports and intensified the industrialisation of agriculture, thus endangering the earths genetic, cultural and environmental heritage.

It was Via Campesina that first came up with the concept of food sovereignty during the World First Summit in 1996 to combat the prevailing neo-liberal policies.  The concept has gained popularity and has since been the subject of debates on the international agricultural agenda, even within the United Nations.

Land, Territory and Dignity' Forum was attended by 550 participants, 150 of which were delegates of organisations of women peasant farmers, fisherfolk, young people, herders, and ethnic groups from 67 countries.

Sources:

Amrica Latina en Movimiento. (2006, March 9). Final declaration: "Land, territory and dignity" forum.  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://www.alainet.org/active/10811>.

Marquez, H.  (2006, March 6). Land reform tripped up by red tape, lack of planning.  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32393>.

Osava, M.  (2006, March 10).  Social movements call for "new agrarian reform."  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32452>.

_____.  (2006, March 8). Agrarian reform takes a low profile.  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32427>.

_____. (2006, March 6). FAO and Brazil resuscitate agrarian reform. Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32389>.

_____.  (2005, December 6).  Brazil government, activists still at loggerheads over land reform.  Retrieved March 12, 2006 from <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31523>.