University of California professor Miguel Altieri is emphatic: “What we know for sure is that industrial agriculture failed to feed the World.” According to Prof. Altieri, the “Green Revolution” model has failed on many levels, from not producing enough...
Bajo Aguan is vast piece of fertile farmland. Good soil, abundant water resources and cheap labor make this region in Honduras the main target for international investors seeking profits from agro-fuels plantations. In many areas of Honduras, large plantations...
Entering Brazil for the first time, each farmer had their own stories to share – of their journey and of their struggle. Robert, from Namibia, had the most excruciating trip. He had to take different flights to reach his final...
According to a local proverb, bad news arrive arrives fast. So it was with the announcement that Brazilian president Dilma Rouseff will end the popular and effective One Million Cisterns Program in the country’s semi-arid regions.
Despite being denied, again, title to the land on which they have labored, there is no quit in this group of women from El Estribo.
A critical aspect of fostering progressive social movements is a funder’s ability to monitor and evaluate (M&E) the social change process, while learning from partners on the ground as well as from each other. Over 28 years of accompanying progressive social movements, Grassroots International, an international development and human rights funder dedicated to supporting social movements in the Global South, continues to hone its ability to monitor and evaluate social change. From Grassroots’ perspective, a strong monitoring and evaluation process is critical to strengthening the grantmaking process and equally as important in building relationships with partners and grantees. M&E strengthens grantmaking in a number of ways, including:
Coinciding with World Food Day, the Community Food Security Coalition and the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance announced on October 16 that the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) will receive the 2011 Food Sovereignty Prize in Oakland, California. The Food Sovereignty Prize...
With the political extravaganza of the debt ceiling debate now in their rear view mirror, the U.S. Congress will soon vote on “free” trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea. Despite major concerns raised by legislators and advocacy groups in the US (and in those countries), the majority in the US Congress are expected to approve the three agreements as a means to strengthen a debilitated US economy.
In order to fix the broken food system, we need to de-colonize our minds. What do I mean about "de-colonize"? To understand that, do this short exercise. What comes to your mind, when you hear the word “Agriculture?” Is it a tree, a head of lettuce or vast endless fields somewhere in the US Midwest?
If the first thing came to your mind was a vast field of a single crop (such as endless rows of corn), you are certainly not alone. For decades, both consumers and farmers have been educated to think of agriculture as an industry of monocrops. The end of small, integrated farm plots (i.e. real food) coincided with the advent of industrial agriculture and the launch of the “Green Revolution.”
Amnesty International released a report on indigenous rights this week called “Sacrificing Rights in the Name of Development: Indigenous Peoples Under Threat in the Americas,” which exposes the impact of development projects throughout the continent. In its own words:
The La Parota mega-dam being constructed in Guerrero, Mexico will displace over 5,000 families and have an indirect impact on an additional 15,000 lives. That is unless the Assembly of Environmentally Impacted Communities (ANAA) has a say in the matter.
Along with the Council of Communal Land Owners and Communities Against Construction of La Parota Dam (CECOP) and, another Grassroots grantee, the Mexican Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAPDER), ANAA has advocated that the state and federal government withdraw its plans to build the dam.
In this third blog of the Field Notes series, Grassroots’ Program Coordinator for Latin America Saulo Araújo analyzes the situation in which Guatemala’s indigenous Mayans are facing fear and despair in their own land. Saulo is currently visiting partners and ally organizations in Central America. When they heard about the work opportunity in another town, the peasants didn’t hesitate. Within just a few days, they left home to work for Otto Salguero, a wealthy cattle rancher who reportedly had jobs for all of them. After endless hours on a bus, the men showed up to work – hard work – but together they slowly and steadily adjusted to it.
This is second blog in the Field Notes series. Read the first one here. Grassroots’ Program Coordinator for Latin America Saulo Araújo is reporting as he visits partners and allies in Central America.
This blog is part of a series of blogs that Grassroots’ Latin America Program Coordinator, Saulo Araújo will be posting during his site visit to Central America. Through the “Field Notes” blogs, Saulo will share contextual analysis and information from partners and allies.
The Via Campesina declared April 17 as "International Day of Peasants' Struggles." This day commemorates the 1996 slaughter by the Brazilian police of 19 peasants of the Landless Worker Movement (MST) while they mobilized to gain access to some land. The struggle for recognition of peasant rights remains a priority of the Via Campesina, one of Grassroots International's partners, and they are coordinating hundreds of actions worldwide.
April 17 commemorates the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle for land, water, food and justice.
From to Tunisia to Egypt to Senegal, African social movements are reclaiming their political space. As people demonstrated – and celebrated – in the streets of Cairo, thousands of participants gathered for the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal. The final declaration recently published in Via Campesina’s website offers a snapshot of the political agenda for years ahead, including:
