Agrarian Reform

Confrontation in Bolivia over Agrarian Reform
Roger Burbach, CENSA
December 18, 2006 - The government of Evo Morales and the indigenous social movements of Bolivia have won an historic victory with the passage of an agrarian reform law that calls for the 'expropriation of lands' that 'do not serve a just social-economic function.' According to Miguel Urisote, the director of the Land Foundation, an independent research center in La Paz, 'this is a blow to the latifundios, the large estates where many Indians often work in slave-like conditions.'

Peasants march for agrarian reform in Jakarta: "Don't promise it, do it!"
Achmad Ya'kub, Policy Studies and Campaigns - The Indonesian Federation of Peasant Unions (FSPI)
June 29, 2006 - On May 17, the streets of Jakarta filled with thousands of peasants. More than tend thousand men, women and children from the remote villages of Java flocked to the city centre with their banners, songs and the sound of the drums to one of the largest protests for agrarian reform since the end of the “New Regime” in 1998. They were joined by workers, students, youth groups, urban poor, and other civil society representatives.

AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE CONTEXT OF FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, THE RIGHT TO FOOD AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY: LAND, TERRITORY AND DIGNITY
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AGRARIAN REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
April 19, 2006 - In this paper, which provides a civil society perspective on agrarian reform and rural development, we develop the concept of food sovereignty as an overarching framework or paradigm. Food sovereignty essentially defines the policy package that would be needed so that policies of agrarian reform and rural development might truly reduce poverty, protect the environment, and enhance broad-based, inclusive economic development. The most fundamental pillars of food sovereignty include the recognition and enforcement of the right to food and the right to land; the right of each nation or people to define their own agricultural and food policies, respecting the right of indigenous peoples to their territories, the rights of traditional fisherfolk to fishing areas, etc.; a retreat from free trade policies, with a concurrent greater prioritization of production of food for local and national markets, and an end to dumping; genuine agrarian reform; and peasant-based sustainable, or agroecological, agricultural practices.

Agrarian Reform in the Context of Food Sovereignty, the Right to Food and Cultural Diversity: “Land, Territory and Dignity”
Peter Rosset, Sofia Monsalve, Saúl Vicente Vázquez, Jill K. Carino,, LRAN, La Via Campesina, , FIAN International, International Indian Treaty Council, Cordillera Women’s Education and Resource Center (CWERC), West African Network of Peasant and Agricultural Producers' Organizations (ROP
February 13, 2006 - In this paper, which provides a civil society perspective on agrarian reform and rural development, we develop the concept of food sovereignty as an overarching framework or paradigm. Food sovereignty essentially defines the policy package that would be needed so that policies of agrarian reform and rural development might truly reduce poverty, protect the environment, and enhance broad-based, inclusive economic development. The most fundamental pillars of food sovereignty include the recognition and enforcement of the right to food and the right to land; the right of each nation or people to define their own agricultural and food policies, respecting the right of indigenous peoples to their territories, the rights of traditional fisherfolk to fishing areas, etc.; a retreat from free trade policies, with a concurrent greater prioritization of production of food for local and national markets, and an end to dumping; genuine agrarian reform; and peasant-based sustainable, or agroecological, agricultural practices.

Call to participate in the "Land, Territory and Dignity" Forum
ICCARD
February 13, 2006 - The Council of the FAO in its 128th session in June 2005 approved the proposal which called for an International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) to be held in 2006. This constitutes a critical element of the FAO program to fulfil commitments of the 1996 World Food Summit, the 2001 World Food Summit: five years later, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Millenniums Development Goals (MDG). The FAO Council welcomed the proposal of the Government of Brazil to host the Conference that will take place in Porto Alegre from 7 - 10 March, 2006. The "International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development - new challenges and options for revitalizing rural communities" (ICARRD), will be the 2nd international conference on this subject, following the World Conference held in 1979 (http://www.icarrd.org/).