The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants: using the law to fight for just and sustainable food systems
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The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants: using the law to fight for just and sustainable food systems

This article was published in the CETIM magazine “Lendemains Solidaires”, in its first issue dedicated to agriculture (January 2022). You can find the article here. There’s nothing more paradoxical than the fact that those who contribute most to food security – namely rural communities – are the ones most affected by poverty and malnutrition. Erected…

Fisheries and the right to food in the context of climate change
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Fisheries and the right to food in the context of climate change

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri At the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2024, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, presented his annual report. This year, he highlights the challenges facing small-scale fishermen in the context of the climate crisis. He…

Common Struggles, Different Roots: Indigenous and Landless People’s Food Sovereignties in Southern Brazil
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Common Struggles, Different Roots: Indigenous and Landless People’s Food Sovereignties in Southern Brazil

Thesis to obtain the Master in International and Development Studies of the Graduate Institute in International and Development Studies in Geneva AbstractFocusing on the Guarani Mbyá and the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Santa Catarina, this thesis explores the similarities and differences between indigenous and landless food sovereignty. It shows how their narratives are intertwined…

FAO’s work on the themes of the United Nations Declarationon the Rights of Peasantsand Other People Workingin Rural Areas (UNDROP)
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FAO’s work on the themes of the United Nations Declarationon the Rights of Peasantsand Other People Workingin Rural Areas (UNDROP)

This publication catalogues FAO’s extensive work under six key themes central to UNDROP: family farming; youth and gender equality; the right to a decent income and livelihood; the right to land and other natural resources; the right to seeds and biodiversity; and the right to adequate food. It can be useful for policymakers, practitioners, and…

UNDROP in the Work of United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms
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UNDROP in the Work of United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms

Since its adoption in 2018, UNDROP has been included in the work of some United Nations human rights mechanisms. We present how this has been done in this contribution, in which we also present the new Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas created by the Human Rights…

Defending Peasants’ Rights – Newsletter n°5 
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Defending Peasants’ Rights – Newsletter n°5 

The webinar video is now available! We are delighted to announce that the video of our webinar on the UN Working Group on UNDROP is now online. We were thrilled to have three of the Working Group’s experts with us: Shalmali Guttal, Carlos Duarte and Geneviève Savigny. The experts had the opportunity to explain their…

Kenyan Farmers Challenge the Constitutionality of Seed Law
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Kenyan Farmers Challenge the Constitutionality of Seed Law

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…

“UNDROP from local to global!” – Interview with Serge Peereboom from MAP Belgium
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“UNDROP from local to global!” – Interview with Serge Peereboom from MAP Belgium

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…

Video of our webinar “The next chapter in the struggle for UNDROP: learning about the new UN Working Group”
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Video of our webinar “The next chapter in the struggle for UNDROP: learning about the new UN Working Group”

For the International Day of Peasant’s Struggles on April 17, Defending Peasants’ Rights and La Via Campesina held a webinar on the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on UNDROP, with three of its experts: Shalmali Guttal, Carlos Duarte and Geneviève Savigny. The UNDROP Working Group was created by a resolution of the Human Rights…

Agroecology for food sovereignty
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Agroecology for food sovereignty

Which agroecology for peasants’ and rural workers’ rights – Introduction by Defending Peasants’ Rights We are reproducing a publication by Friends of the Earth International which aims to define an agroecology for food sovereignty. Agroecology, food sovereignty and peasants’ rights are closely linked. Together, they form a political and practical basis for both fighting the…

Empowering Rural Communities Through UNDROP – the actions of ESAFF-Uganda
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Empowering Rural Communities Through UNDROP – the actions of ESAFF-Uganda

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…

Fact sheet on the UN Working Group on UNDROP
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Fact sheet on the UN Working Group on UNDROP

At the occasion of the election of the experts for the UN Working Group on UNDROP, Fian International, Cetim and La Via Campesina published a new fact sheet on the Working Group. The document explains why it was so impertive to have a Working Group installed. It also details what are the prerogatives of the…