Issue 171 – October 2011

For thousands of years, different peoples in the most disparate parts of the world – especially women, but also men – have guaranteed food sovereignty based on the biodiversity of the regions where they live. Through their wisdom and knowledge, they were able to distinguish and use an abundance of seeds, roots, fruits, leaves, trees, shrubs, medicinal plants, animals, fish and much more. But our so-called modern world has managed to drastically reduce the world's wealth of biodiversity, by introducing large-scale monoculture plantations for the production of food and products such as timber. While those who defend the monoculture model argue that it has led to the production of more grains, and more food, there has also been a clear loss of food sovereignty.

Food sovereignty, which is centred on local autonomy, local markets and community action, and encompasses issues like agrarian reform, territorial control, biodiversity, cooperation, health and many others connected to food production, has become a process of grassroots resistance. And, as we noted in WRM Bulletin 115, its conceptualization is not only deeply rooted in the social movements fuelling these struggles, but is also an opportunity to bind them together in a common agreement over objectives and actions.

Over the years, the establishment of large-scale monoculture plantations for food production has been accompanied by the so-called Green Revolution “technology package”, leading to the poisoning and impoverishment of biodiversity. This has had particularly serious impacts on women, because in many communities around the world, they are primarily responsible for providing their families with health care, water and food – activities that are closely linked to the conservation of biodiversity.

In Africa there is a story that has been passed down through the years about a woman from Mali named Nyéléni, who challenged patriarchal power by excelling at something that was considered “men's work”: agriculture. As well as defeating her male opponents in farming competitions, she also managed to overcome the arid climate and domesticate crops like fonio and samio, which made it possible to feed the whole population of Mali .

I come from a family that considers seeds as something sacred. Back in my father's day, our neighbours could sleep peacefully, because they knew that my father had a safe supply of seeds to plant. (Family farmer, Paraíba) Seeds are a farmer's greatest heritage. They are the basis of agricultural production, and therefore, of the food supply of any nation. For ten thousand years, communities of small farmers, indigenous peoples and traditional peoples have freely improved and multiplied their seeds, making the exchange of seeds a moment of joining together and sharing between peoples and nations.

The Uruguayan economy is largely dependent on agriculture and livestock raising, in which the dairy industry plays an important role. The production of milk and other dairy products is mainly concentrated in three departments, two of which – San José and Colonia – present a diverse collection of family farms and an organized local society that have achieved favourable levels of income and quality of life, making this one of the most productive and successful regions in rural Uruguay. But this situation is now threatened by the expansion of the pulp industry, which drives out other economic activities due to the occupation of vast areas of land that it entails.

Oxfam International recently released an eye-opening report on the activities of UK-based New Forests Company (NFC) in Uganda. The company currently plants and harvests timber on 27,000 hectares of tree plantations in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Mozambique, and has deals in these countries totalling around 90,000 hectares. It claims that the timber produced can satisfy all the population's needs, thereby preventing logging in natural forests. In Uganda it has planted around 9,300 hectares of pine and eucalyptus trees since 2006, on land licensed to the company by the government.

The Dayak have inhabited the forest in Kalimantan for a long time before the current State of Indonesia was established. Their adat (custom) has ensured the integrity of the environment and the forest until imposed commercial exploitation started to devastate, damage and encroach on their customary land. Since then, they denounced that decades of destructive projects imposed either directly or indirectly by the Government have progressively disempowered and impoverished the Dayak through the uncontrolled and often illegally issuing of permits and/or concessions through corruption.

For more than 20 years, Colombia has seen the ongoing expansion of monoculture tree plantations, to the benefit of transnational companies who have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the support of government policies. To analyze this continued expansion, whose consequences include land grabbing, rights violations and the displacement of communities, CENSAT-Friends of the Earth Colombia organized a forum entitled “Tree Plantations in Colombia: A Critical Look”, held in Bogotá on September 21, the International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations.

At WRM we have been publishing our monthly electronic bulletin since 1997. It is currently sent in four different languages to more than 15,000 subscribers. This month we have launched an online survey to evaluate the bulletin, with the goal of improving it so that it can better serve its purpose as a bridge for the exchange of information and a tool for local community struggles. We invite you to take part in this very brief survey to help us make the bulletin as effective as possible. To complete the survey, please click here:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WRMBulletin_Survey

This past September 21, on the occasion of the International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations, representatives of social environmental organizations from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe gathered in Montevideo , Uruguay to exchange knowledge and experiences of resistance to the impacts of tree plantations. One of the outcomes of the meeting was the issuing of the Montevideo Declaration, available at: http://www.wrm.org.uy/plantations/21_set/2011/Declaration.html

You can keep up with what's happening at WRM on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/WorldRainforestMovement Among other things, check out the photos of the last WRM international meeting in Montevideo , including our field trip, as well as regular news updates from WRM and our partners

On October 27, hundreds of indigenous men and women, fisherfolk and riverine community members occupied the construction site of one of the biggest hydroelectric dam projects in the world, the Belo Monte dam in the state of Pará, Brazil, which will have devastating impacts on the lives of the local population.