At the heart of UNDROP’s implementation lies the struggles of peasants and other people working in rural areas. Realizing the rights enshrined in UNDROP demands relentless mobilization and advocacy at local, national, regional, and international levels. Peasants’ organizations, agricultural workers, rural communities, and their allies have developed various strategies, from lobbying institutions and decision-makers to publishing open letters and organizing marches, to claim their rights and push for the effective implementation of UNDROP.
In 2022, fifteen farmers from different regions of Kenya filled a lawsuit against the Seeds and Plant Varieties Act. This law prohibits and even criminalizes the sale and exchange of peasants seeds by the farmers that have developed them. The claim of the fifteen farmers is based on the Constitution of Kenya. As you will…
Serge Peereboom describes himself as a “city child who moved to the countryside to become a peasant market gardener. A peasant resisting in a world that moves too fast and forgets the true values of life”. He is a member of the Mouvement d’Action Paysanne (MAP) in Belgium, and played an active role in drafting…
The Mouvement Action Paysanne (MAP) is a Belgian association of peasants and citizens who have set up an “ Independent Peasant School ” (ASBL EPI) to pass on peasant knowledge and know-how. MAP and EPI are committed to public recognition of the existence, content and specific nature of peasant agriculture and the peasant profession. On…
We are presenting here the work of the peasants organization ESAFF (Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers Forum) Uganda on the UNDROP. ESAFF-Uganda is a member organization of La Via Campesina. Call to domesticate UNDROP ESAFF-Uganda has been commited to the promotion and implementation of UNDROP for many years. Right after the adoption of the…
On Thursday March 14, 2024, a conference “Anticolonial struggles in the Global South: A Peasant Perspective” organized by CETIM, La Via Campesina (LVC), Uniterre, Le Silure, FIAN International/FIAN Switzerland and the Movement for Peasant and Citizen Agriculture (MAPC), was held in Geneva. This conference was organised on the occasion of the visit of an LVC…
This article was originally published in CETIM’s website the 20th of March 2024. The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (a Palestinian peasant organisation and member of La Via Campesina), CETIM and FIAN International conducted a week of advocacy in support of the Palestinian people’s struggle against Israeli colonialist and genocidal oppression. This campaign took place…
In Thailand, the government has been rolling out a climate change mitigation policy since 2014. One of the components of this policy concerns the protection of the country’s forests. For this strand, the government has decided to sanctuary these lands in defiance of the lives and rights of the people who live and depend on…
Defending Peasants’ Rights relays here the petition launched by La Via Campesina on October 21st and joins its call for a immidiate stop to the war on Palestinian people by Israel. You can find the petition HERE. You can find this article with the list of signatories HERE on La Via Campesina’s website. More than…
This article was first published on Cetim’s website, on September 20th, 2023. You can find it here. On July 26, 2023, the Nigerien military overthrew the President of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum. In response, a number of international organizations took coercive economic measures, such as blocking the banking system and imposing trade embargoes. Unilateral coercive measures…
On 22-23 July 2023, the Indonesian Peasant Union (SPI) held UNDROP and legal formation for its member in Sumatra Island. This event was held in Medan, and was attended by 23 young peasants from different provinces such as Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Bengkulu and Jambi. This activity was held as one of SPI’s…
Jessie MacInnis is a small-scale farmer from Canada. She farms in Nova Scotia (also known as Mi’kma’ki, the unceded land of the Mi’kmaq) with her sister where they grow vegetables and flowers. She is Youth President of the National Farmers Union, which is a member organisation of La Via Campesina. Jessie is a member of…
Ecuador’s Legislative Assembly ratified the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants on April 18, 2023. This major step forward is the result of both a struggle and dialogue led by peasant organizations. While the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) was approved by the UN…
