It has been decades since Africa’s independence, and the peasants (rural land cultivators) are still suffering. How did Africa ignore the agricultural sector, after the peasants ushered the continent’s independence? Agriculture has become Africa’s “sunset” sector making the continent the most impoverished region, with over 70% rural poverty, heavy dependence on donor food aid valued at over US$ 51 million annually and high rates of unemployment.  At least Africa is now embarking on agrarian reforms after years of neo-colonialism.    

Por Jéssica Sousa

Este relatório documenta como, nas últimas duas décadas após a guerra civil, a invasão de criadores comerciais de gado nas pastagens tradicionais da Tunda dos Gambos e Vale do Chimbolela tem erodido a resiliência económica, social e cultural, nomeadamente a segurança alimentar, entre os povos Vanyaneke e Ovaherero em Gambos, Angola.

Por Manuela Carneiro da Cunha

Em maio deste ano, um grupo de cientistas independentes foi reunido pelo Ministério Público Federal (MPF), em Brasília, para avaliar a situação da vazão do Rio Xingu, especialmente no trecho chamado de Volta Grande. "É um suicídio ecológico", declarou Jansen Zuanon, um eminente especialista de peixes e líder do grupo. "É também um etnocídio, que tudo indica decorrer da corrupção envolvida em Belo Monte", disse a procuradora Thais Santi, de Altamira.

Na Indonésia e Sudeste Asiático, produção de arroz sofre com a mudança no padrão de chuvas e entidades internacionais temem que uma das bases da alimentação mundial possa passar por problemas, com um impacto social e na violência. IPCC apela para que governos escutem povos tradicionais e indígenas na gestão de terras.

This week in Geneva, the Human Rights Council is expected to take a position on the follow-up to a draft Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Persons Working in Rural Areas. Five years after the start of the negotiations, we are at a turning point.

The failure to secure the property rights of rural communities shows a clear policy gap between citizens and rights to land as per the Constitution and the attitude and practices of the state, traditional leaders, white farmers and mining companies in relation to such rights. 

Absent from the discourse spurred by the motion passed in the National Assembly on 27 February is what could be achieved in the interim for land reform programme using existing legislation while the country awaits a verdict on the constitutional amendment to determine whether is possible to expropriate land w

The Second Regional Land Forum kicked off in Bangkok, Thailand in the early morning of May 28th and the opening session was certainly one to remember! Live drones, talk of big data and using NASA related technology to propel land rights forward, were but a few of the impressive topics on the table. Participants gathered to hear a variety of ‘flash talks’, quick yet effective pitches about notable initiatives relating to data, technology and land rights.