17 April marks the International Day of Peasant Struggles. It commemorates the massacre of 19 landless workers in Eldorado Dos Carajás, Brazil, in 1996 [1]. Like every year, La Via Campesina calls to action [2], this time under the slogan “Land, water and territories for life”, and calls to mobilise for “a comprehensive land reform and ambitious public policies to stop land grabbing and ensure fair land distribution to peasants”.
April 17 is a day to celebrate their struggles. This year marks the 7th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) [3]. Complying with this declaration is one of the major demands of La Via Campesina.
2025 is a very special year for peasants in the world because the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum [4] will take place in September in Sri Lanka, South Asia. Thousands of representatives from more than 50 social and grassroots movements and organizations from many regions and territories, coming from around 80 countries, are expected to meet there, with the aim of building joint proposals and addressing the multiple crises we are currently experiencing.
These interrelated crises, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, genocides and neo-colonial occupation, racism, hunger, gender violence, authoritarianism and a rapid deterioration of human rights and democracy, are the result of a system that does not prioritise life and therefore undermines everything that sustains it. This is why the agenda of the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum will be built for “systemic transformation”. Because without the right to land, water and seeds, food sovereignty is not possible, but food sovereignty won’t be possible either without peoples sovereignty and self-determination, without environmental justice, respecting diversity and collective rights.
It is in the interconnection of struggles that the joint and common response for systemic transformation can be found. The 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum will be a space of solidarity and unity, where cultures, experiences and knowledge will converge. Here you can read the press release that launched the Forum. [5]
A short history of the Food Sovereignty movement
Small-scale food farmers, peasants, Indigenous Peoples, family farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists and rural workers produce 70% of the food consumed in the world. They are a real alternative to the hunger and food crises, truly resisting ultra-processed food sold by transnational corporations and the poison of agribusiness.
– The concept of Food Sovereignty was developed by La Via Campesina and it was first presented at the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996.
– The 1st Nyéléni Global Forum brought together more than 500 people in Sélingué, Mali, in February 2007. The forum was named in honour of Nyéléni [6], a peasant woman who stood up against a patriarchal society, fought against and overcame endless obstacles to become one of the best farmers in the world. She domesticated, reproduced and saved many of the seeds that feed us today. The initial declaration [7] that launched the international movement for Food Sovereignty was developed in this first forum.
– The 2nd Nyéléni Global Forum was also held in Sélingué in 2014 and reaffirmed Agroecology as a pillar of Food Sovereignty. Not only as a production system free from pesticides and GMOs, that respects natural cycles, the right to seeds and the seasons of fruits, but also as a social and political project. A project of interconnection and solidarity, in defence of healthy and quality food, which includes the rights of autonomy over food production, access, marketing and consumption, in sufficient quantity and respecting every culture.
Just a few months ahead of the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum, international social movements are getting together under the principles of justice, solidarity and cooperation, to move towards a possible and grassroots horizon, with rights and dignity for all.
Real World Radio, as part of Friends of the Earth International, an organisation that has participated since the 1st Nyéléni Global Forum, and has been part of the struggle for Food Sovereignty in alliance with La Via Campesina, will be covering the 3rd Nyéléni Global Forum. Soon you will find more news on our website and social media channels.