Land Grab compromises Food Sovereignty in Southern Africa

The ongoing rush to African land by national and transnational investors was a dominant theme at the People’s Dialogue and Summit being held at Mumemo in Maputo.

From Mozambique to Swaziland, passing through Angola, South Africa, Malawi, Namibia and Lesotho, the voices and experiences of the people have expressed mounting concerns about the increasing enclosure of land to promote large-scale investments that seriously affect the fundamental rights of the local population and compromise efforts to achieve food sovereignty.

‘Everyone knows the problem of the land. It is a complete invasion’, says Renaldo Chingore, a leader of the National farmers Union in Mozambique, UNAC.

Farmers Organizations and other Civil Societies: Strengthening Social Movements and Building resistance in SADC

The People’s Dialogue brought together rural activists, mining activists, women’s movements and small-scale farmers from around the region on the 13 and 14 August to analyse the multi-dimensional global crisis and the response by our governments. It is evident that the governments’ of the region are continuously favouring corporate and investors’ interest over the people and the environment.

Key areas discussed at the meeting were on food sovereignty, the extractive industry, energy and mega projects, land and water grabs, ecological justice and alternative religionalism. But more importantly participants deliberated on alternatives to the dominant capitalist model that keeps this region locked into natural resource exploitation dependency for export led economic growth. The analysis, problems, demands and actions were fed into the Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), which took place on the 15 and 16 August in Momemo Centre, Maracuence District, Maputo under theme “Reclaiming SADC for People’s Development – A People’s SADC Myth or Reality? Social Movements activists, civil society organisations came from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Swaziland, Lesotho, DRC and Mozambique.

South Africa: forestry communities in the Western Cape adress demands to the government

MEMORANDUM OF DEMANDS OF EIGHT FORESTRY COMMUNITIES IN THE WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

To: the President and government of South Africa

From: Seven forestry communities in the Western Cape

Date: 12 July 2012

We are members and representatives of the following forestry communities: Nuweberg, Meerlust, La Motte, Wemmershoek, Waterval, Hawequa, Lebanon and Jonkershoek. Seventeen similar communities have declared their solidarity but cannot be here today. We are desperate; we have travelled a long way to be here and at great cost. We did not come here to claim special favours. We are here for what we believe is rightfully ours. 

The purpose of this memorandum is to give a brief overview of our problems and demands. We do not think this is news to government, as we have been communicating these things to government departments and officials for sixteen years. 

Join the Forestry Communities in the Western Cape and Food Sovereignty Campaign for a month of Action

A CALL TO ACTION
3 July 2012


Starting with a March to Parliament and Occupation.

We forestry communities can no longer tolerate silence and continued discrimination. Now we are taking action.

We the households and residents of isolated forestry towns in the mountain areas of the Western Cape (such as Hawequa, Nuweberg, Meerlust, Wemmershoek, Lamotte, Limietberg Lebanon amongst others) continue to be rejected and oppressed by our own government. We live under the yoke of oppression despite our well intentioned constitution, policies and laws that are supposed to improve the living conditions of all South Africans, including ours – the poor, landless, destitute and homeless.

We simply cannot afford to give up our precious time by leaving our places of work and families to go to Cape Town to remind the government of its constitutional responsibilities. We have no other choice but to mobilise and march, because we are experiencing continous  discrimination. We are tired of phoning, writing, faxing, emailing, reminding and begging the government to listen to us. We are tired of lies and empty promises. We are angry and inflamed.

Mozambique : Carbon Trading and REDD+: farmers ‘grow’ carbon for the benefit of polluters

(To read the full article with pictures here)

Maputo, 18 June 2012 (Via Campesina Africa News) – Food production and people's sovereignty in Africa could be seriously compromised by carbon capture projects and the so-called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+) mechanism. They can exacerbate food insecurity on the continent and could result in the loss of control over land and forest resources for African farmers.

This scenario could become a reality in the near future in Mozambique, as the country has offered its land to serve as a “model” for carbon capture projects and REDD+.