The "Second Commercial Farm Asia", a fair that brings together corporate investors and governments from Myanmar and other countries in the Southeast Asia, has taken place in Yangon, Myanmar on 11-12 October. The event was to discuss how industrial agricultural and extractive investments can be expanded and facilitated.
In response, farmers' groups, and environmental, social justice and peace organisations from all over the country gathered the day before the agribusiness fair to draw attention to the further destruction that such investments will cause. Large scale industrial agriculture and resource extraction have already resulted in the dispossession of local communities and food producers, and violations of the rights of workers farmers, fishers and indigenous communities. The agribusiness fair will deepen these problems by providing investors with even more legal ways of land and natural resource grabbing.
Farmers, workers and activists came in from all over the country from areas that have been especially targeted in the past few years for large-scale agricultural and infrastructure investment that have resulted in outright land dispossession. They shared their information, experiences and knowledge, and discussed how to support local communities to defend their lands and resources.
An international letter of solidarity which gathered wide support was read out and shared with networks and activists in other parts of the country, who are struggling to defend their lands, natural resources and rights.
The letter can be read at http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/21128