The women and men farmers and peasants belonging to the Via Campesina, are calling for this April 17th to be a global day of action and mobilisation in defence of the struggles of farmers and peasants, and, in particular, in defence of peasants' and farmers' seeds which are a heritage of the world's peoples in the affirmation of Food Sovereignty.
Via Campesina denounces that farmer’s seeds have been attacked by capitalist interests that have sought to privatize and standardize them to the benefit of industrial agriculture. However, in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, year by year there is growing strength in the organized peoples' capacity for mobilisation and struggle against an agro-industrial system that gives rise to exploitation and death, grabbing land, poisoning food, and expelling peasants and indigenous peoples from their territories.
On the International Day, La Via Campesina will also denounce the transnationals, agri-business, and the use of agro-toxics and genetic modification as well as will reject all attempts at repression, criminalisation of protest, punishment, or assassination. It announces that it will “continue to struggle to change all that is oppressing us, controlling us, subordinating us.
