[E-rundbrief] Info 1121 - Agrarian reform and sovereignty

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1121 - La Via Campesina: Agrarian Reform in the 
21st Century: Building a New Vision, Redefining Strategies, and 
Celebrating Victories - sovereignty of peoples over their territories. 
Results of an international seminar in West Sumatra, Indonesia, July 
15, 2012 .

Bad Ischl, 22.7.2012

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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Agrarian Reform in the 21st Century:

Building a New Vision, Redefining Strategies, and Celebrating Victories

LA VIA  CAMPESINA - PRESS RELEASE (Extract)

(JAKARTA, 19 JULY 2012) The international workshop and seminar, 
“Agrarian Reform and the Defense of Land and Territory in the 21st 
century: The Challenge and Future” culminated on Sunday, July 15, in a 
celebration in Sibaladuang, Sungai Kamuyang Village, Limapuluh Kota 
Regent, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

...

The final declaration of the international workshop was also read out, 
outlining some of the key elements of a new vision of agrarian reform 
and the sovereignty of peoples over their territories. Among them are:

     * Peasants and family farm production play the central role in 
the building of food sovereignty.

     * Harmonious coexistence based on mutual solidarity between rural 
peoples, including peasants, fisher folk and indigenous peoples.

     * The need to broaden our alliances to incorporate other peoples 
who are threatened by the same current phenomena, including urban 
dwellers threatened with impoverishment and with eviction to make way 
for real estate speculation; peoples who live under military 
occupation; consumers who face ever higher prices for food of ever 
worsening quality; communities facing eviction by extractive 
industries; and rural and urban workers.

     * The need to reinforce our self-determination while building our 
autonomy in self-government over communal resources.

     * The deepening and expanding of the leadership of women in the 
struggle for land and the defense of territory, and in our movements.

     * To avoid repeating the errors of the Green Revolution and to 
take care of the Mother Earth by using agroecological production 
practices.

     * To prioritize the struggle of youth for access to land in 
Europe and North America as well as in the nations of the South, while 
reconstructing rural economies so that young people are not forced to 
migrate.

     * The need to build new alliances and develop new tactics of 
solidarity and protection against the growing criminalization of those 
who defend their territories.

     * The recognition of the fundamental role of social movements in 
the recent state-led agrarian reforms carried out with greater or 
lesser degrees of success in various countries.

The declaration ends with the statement that “The new agrarian reform 
should be a fundamental pillar not only in the construction of food 
sovereignty, but also in the democratic transformation of society to 
develop new civilizations that will put an end to hunger and poverty, 
and to respect and protect Mother Earth.”

La Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small- and 
medium-sized producers, landless, women farmers, indigenous people, 
rural youth migrants and agricultural workers. It defends small-scale 
sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and 
dignity. La Via Campesina comprises about 150 local and national 
organizations in 70 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the 
Americas. Altogether, it represents about 200 million farmers. It is 
an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent from 
any political, economic or other type of affiliation.

The Global Campaign on Agrarian Reform is La Via Campesina’s campaign 
to support the local struggles of landless peasants around the world 
for access to land, and to support people’s who are trying to defend 
their territories from land grabbing TNCs and governments. Partners in 
this campaign are FIAN International and the Land Research Action Network.

Full text: 
http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1315:agrarian-reform-in-the-21st-century-building-a-new-vision-redefining-strategies-and-celebrating-victories&catid=23:agrarian-reform&Itemid=36

More information:

International Operational Secretariat:
Jln. Mampang Prapatan XIV no 5 Jakarta Selatan, Jakarta 12790 Indonesia
Tel/fax: +62-21-7991890/+62-21-7993426
Email: viacampesina at viacampesina.org
www.viacampesina.org


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Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
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Ausgezeichnet mit dem (österr.) "Journalismus-Preis von unten 2010"

Honoured by the (Austrian) "Journalism-Award from below 2010"