Food and Climate Justice Research Validation Workshop Held

Natural Justice's Cath Traynor of joined Oxfam and partners at a Research Validation Workshop, on 8th July 2014, Pretoria Johannesburg. During the workshop a number of preliminary research pieces were presented, these included a review of the effects of climate change and adaptation mechanisms on women and small-holder farmers in Africa, a review of SADC level policies and protocols, and investments in agriculture, that affect women small-holder farmers. The preliminary findings were discussed and critiqued by participants. 

Country level research reports from several SADC countries were presented, and the specific climate change impacts, challenges and opportunities facing women small-holder farmers highlighted. A clear picture emerged, that women small-holder farmers, the majority of whom are reliant upon rainfed-agriculture, are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.  Although there are some supportive policies, the realization of these on the ground is challenging at the national level.  Participants discussed ways to improve and develop the research and brain stormed potential policy products which could be developed and used for advocacy.

Landmark Asian People's Land Rights Tribunal Held in the Philippines

Private sector investments in large-scale, industrial agriculture have been increasing in Asia since the 2008 food crisis, often resulting in the conversion of small-scale and subsistence agriculture and forests into monoculture plantations and widespread violations of human and peoples' rights. To further explore these issues, Holly Jonas (Natural Justice) attended the Asian People's Land Rights Tribunal from 16-17 January at the University of the Philippines in Manila. The Tribunal included consideration of four cases by a panel of eminent experts from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh and was hosted by the Asian NGO Coalition (ANGOC), Land Watch Asia Campaign, the University of the Philippines, the Pimental Institute for Leadership and Governance, and Oxfam's East Asia GROW Campaign.

The cases concerned issues with farmers, fisherfolk and Indigenous peoples being threatened and displaced by an industrial economic zone in Casiguran, Philippines; families having their subsistence farms destroyed to make way for large-scale sugar plantations in Koh Kong, Cambodia; Indigenous peoples being forcibly evicted from nearly 18,000 hectares of forested and small-scale agricultural land for oil palm plantations in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia; and Mamanwa Indigenous peoples opposing mining exploration in their ancestral domains in and around Lake Mainit, Agusan del Norte, Philippines. Together, these cases, presented by members of the affected communities and supporting non-governmental organisations, showcase an alarming situation of human rights and environmental violations in the three Southeast Asian countries, involving powerful local and foreign interests alike.

Oxfam Briefing Note on Land Purchases in 'Developing' Nations

Via www.oxfamblogs.org

As vast swathes of land in ‘developing’ nations are purchased by foreign investors, Oxfam has prepared a carefully researched briefing note on the impact of these purchases. The briefing note highlights the fact that almost two-thirds of the land purchased from 2000-2010 was purchased in nations with serious hunger challenges while two-thirds of foreign purchasers intend to export everything produced on the land. 

The note emphasises that Oxfam does not oppose investments in agriculture, especially when they target smallholder producers, but notes that “the unprecedented rush for land has not been adequately regulated or policed to prevent land grabs. This means that poor people continue to be evicted, often violently, without consultation or compensation.” The note concludes by urging the World Bank to temporarily freeze investments involving large-scale land deals until it can review “advice to developing countries, help set standards for investors, and introduce more robust policies to stop land grabs.” 

An Oxfam blog post on the briefing note can be found here, and the full note can be found here.