In this short video, we can find simple answers to the most frequently asked questions about food sovereignty: what is it and how is it different from food security, why is it important, how did the term originate and what are the key points?
The issue of land tenure and land distribution in the Global South is a central and structural issue in understanding the economic and social inequality that pervades these countries, and is an urgent and necessary debate for any revolutionary movement seeking to reverse this inequality in both rural and urban areas. From the time of colonisation to neoliberal capitalism, land has been concentrated in the hands of agrarian and economic elites, at the cost of the detriment of the peasantry. However, there have also been several experiences of peasant struggles, revolutionary processes, and governments that have sought, with different strategies, to reverse this inequality and democratise access to the land. The concept of "agrarian reform" is part of the programme of peasant movements in the Global South; however, partly because the ruling classes have made it a taboo subject, there is little education on it. With this in mind, the book "Experiences of Agrarian Reform in the world", published by Batalla de Ideas (Battle of Ideas), seeks to systematise the experiences of agrarian reform in different parts of the world, with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview and serving as an input for the training of activists. The book was coordinated by Joao Pedro Stédile, Brazilian economist and founder of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) in Brazil.
The forms of rurality have changed in recent decades. The advance of large-scale production, the disappearance of small and medium-sized farms, and the lack of processes that add value to primary production do not encourage life in the countryside.
Chocolate is synonymous with cocoa, a product born and brewed from peasant cocoa farmers' labour, toil and sacrifice, predominantly from Ghana and the Ivory Coast. Cocoa beans are refined and manufactured into chocolate far away from the shores and greens that make up the habitat of these farmers. Chocolate is enjoyed by consumers all over the world, with a global industry worth US$ 127.9 billion. It also has a worldwide consumption in 2023 pegged at 7.5 million tons and, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a popular product. Despite the fact that chocolate trade yields great benefits to manufacturers and traders, small-scale and peasant cocoa producers face harsh material conditions. In this article, we explore the factors and challenges Ghanaian producers face.
In a second part of reviews of the book “Agrarian Reforms in Latin America in the 20th Century” (coordinated by J.P. Stédile), we present a review of the chapter written by Sergio Gómez E., which presents the Agrarian Reforms carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 20th century . Considering the circumstances and historical factors that affected the continent and each specific country, the author presents an analysis of the meaning of different processes and their effects on the transformation of the structure of land ownership.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the centrality of food and production linked to family, peasant and indigenous agriculture. Access to healthy food and the organisational framework around food supply are long-standing concerns, but in recent years they have taken on a new impulse in the public arena. In this article, Tamara Perelmuter addresses the debate on food sovereignty and links it to the dispute over the sovereignty of seeds in Argentina, a key link in the agri-food chain.
17 April, which has become known in Brazil as the National Day of Struggle for Agrarian Reform, marks the massacre that took place in Eldorado dos Carajás in 1996, when military police from the state of Pará carried out a brutal act against 1,500 families of landless rural workers who were marching to demand the expropriation of land in the region.
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP) was adopted in 2018.
The economic centrality of many developing countries is neoextractivism, which is characterised by the export of commodities, especially grains, meat, cellulose, ethanol, ores and oil.