Peasant Rights


“Agroecology is the only way in which we can produce food sustainably”

The new edition of the Meat Atlas, published on 7 September 2021 by Friends of the Earth Europe, Heinrich-Böll Stiftung and BUND/Friends of the Earth Germany, reveals the role of the meat industry in the health, biodiversity and climate crises and the impacts of meat production on people, particularly communities in the Global South. “The Meat Atlas is a publication…

A complete shift away from dirty energy systems towards 100% renewable energy in Africa is possible

Three-quarters of those without access to electricity now live in Africa, a share that has risen over recent years. The economic effects of Covid-19 have only increased the number of people unable to access electricity and who were forced into energy poverty. In this context, Friends of the Earth Africa has launched a report that analyses this situation and outlines…

Colombia: Mobilization Continues To Grow

On April 28th, a National Strike started in Colombia. Since then, there have been massive demonstrations on the streets, spearheaded by women, youth, and Indigenous, peasant, and Black organizations. As president Iván Duque deployed the military to several important cities across the country, this increased the magnitude of the militarization, paramilitarism, and governance by Colombian police and military forces. On…

Death threats against CLOC-Via Campesina leader Nury Martínez

In early November, Elsa Nury Martínez, Chair of the National Agricultural Union Federation in Colombia (FENSUAGRO) and member of the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organisations (CLOC-Via Campesina), received death threats against her and her family. These threats came from the ‘Black Eagles’ narco-paramilitary group (Águilas Negras - Bloque Capital), who singled out the peasant leader as a military target…

Globalize Solidarity, Localize Agriculture!

On 10 September 2020, La Via Campesina will once again mark the International Day of Action against WTO and FTAs. On this day, in memory of Lee Kyung Hae’ sacrifice, LVC intend to hold a web-dialogue between peasant leaders and activists from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. They will elaborate and argue why agriculture must remain out of all…

Colombia: systematic murders of social leaders multiply during the pandemic

Since the beginning of 2020, at least 103 social leaders and defenders of territories, and 24 former FARC members undergoing a reinsertion process in line with the Peace Accords, have been murdered in Colombia, according to local NGO Indepaz. The Continental Day for Democracy and against Neoliberalism (La Jornada Continental), which represents different social movements and organisations, denounced the government…

RECORD NUMBER OF LAND CONFLICTS IN BRAZIL IN 2019

Throughout 2019, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) recorded 1833 conflicts in the countryside (averaging five per day), 23% more than in 2018. This is the highest number on CPT records in the past five years. There was also a 14% increase in the number of murders (from 28 to 32), 7% more attempted murders (from 28 to 30), and 22%…

The fight for Food Sovereignty: a battle against the fascist offensive

 “We will not achieve Food Sovereignty if we can't recover control over our communities and territories, if we can't take back control over food from the corporations”, warned peasant Carlos Marentes, a long-standing leader from La Vía Campesina. “This is a complicated struggle, it requires intense work. In the current political climate — of oligarchy and increasingly extreme conservatism, states…

La Via Campesina to hold Solidarity Mission in Venezuela

La Vía Campesina (LVC) will hold an International Solidarity Mission in Venezuela from 20-27 January, with the aim of showing the everyday life of Venezuelan people suffering from the impacts of the US blockade, and how they are facing this with creativity, solidarity and resistance. The Ezequiel Zamora National Peasant Front (FNCEZ) of the Bolivar and Zamora Revolutionary Current will…