The Struggle for Land, Life and Food Sovereignty:

A statement on the International Day of Peasants' Struggle
April 17, 2007

On April 17, 1996, 21 landless agricultural workers were brutally massacred by the military state in Brazil. These agricultural workers were fighting for their land rights.

After a decade, on March 14, 2007, more than 14 peasants died and hundreds were wounded in Nandigram, West Bengal, India. This massacre was reportedly committed by the police force to suppress the growing protest against the land acquisition for the proposed establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Also in March, around 27 peasant leaders were detained by the local police in Banyuwangi in the East Java Province of Indonesia. These peasants were struggling for their land against a state-owned coffee plantation.

On April 12, 2007, just 5 days before the International Day of Peasants' Struggle, a Filipino peasant leader and activist, Nilo Arado, was abducted together with two (2) other human rights activists in Panay Island in the Philippines. Arado is a national council member of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines) and is also a member of the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC). Philippine peasant groups believe that the Philippine Army is behind this abduction.

More than 10 years have passed since the massacre in Brazil, yet still, the peasants are giving up their life in the struggle for their land and food sovereignty. Their struggles are still met with aggressive push from different actors promoting the corporatization of agriculture - from transnational corporations (TNCs), International Financial Institutions (IFIs) like the ABD and WB, and governments which promote neo-liberal policies and strategies.

In West Bengal, India, the state government has been aggressively promoting the State as the prime area for foreign investment. The West Bengal Left government, which ironically was put into power based on its "pro-people" platform, has been hell-bent to hand over fertile agricultural land to different foreign companies. These proposed SEZs will displace thousands of farming and rural poor communities.

This indifference of some governments is exacerbated by the push from the WTO to liberalize agricultural trade. The WTO Doha Round is intended to open the markets in poor countries for the surplus products of industrialized economies by breaking down trade barriers. This will result to increased poverty for millions of poor peasants and food consumers, especially in agricultural countries in Asia. The Doha Round will only impede on developing countries' effort to improve the local agricultural production and their ability feed their own people.

Moreover, the intrusion of TNCs and other private entities in farming communities have caused massive displacement and human rights violation. The peasant communities in different countries are still experiencing encroachment and intensified repression from these entities coming into their land - from extractive industries, infrastructure projects, and other industrial development. Their land and lives are pushed aside in favor of corporate greed and profit.

It cannot be overstated that the corporatization of agriculture destroys communities, lives and livelihood. When land is taken away from people, it is tantamount to taking away their life.

Peasants need genuine people's food sovereignty which is the freedom and power of the people to assert and realize their right to food and to produce food, and fight the power of the corporations and other forces that destroy people's food production systems. What are needed are genuine reforms in the framework of agricultural production.

For so many years, peasants have been struggling for their rights to their land and life. But their voices have not been heard - not by the WTO, not by the FAO, not by TNCs nor the governments. The repression and human rights violations that happened previously are still happening today. We therefore demand that peasants' rights be recognized, respected and upheld.

Let us join the struggle of peasants for their land, life and food sovereignty!

Stop the killings and human rights violation of peasants! Junk WTO! Resist corporate agriculture! Assert the peasants' rights to land and food!

17 April 2007