Impression of the Dutch delegation at the Nyéléni Europe Forum 2016 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Over 500 people from all over Europe gathered there at the end of October for five days to lay the groundwork to take back, relocalise our food systems and multiply food sovereignty platforms across the continent.
Marco Aurelio, prominent leader of the MST (Brazilian Landless Workers Movement), speaks with Benny Kuruvilla on current developments in Brazil. Rightwing politicians have been busy cutting allocations in social sectors, revising labour laws and undermining the progressive Constitution. Social movements such as MST have been in the forefront in creating broad based progressive platforms to oppose the Temer Government.
What is governance? There are different definitions, but it can be conceived as the way that authority is exercised. Governance is networked, globalised, territorialised and differentiated. Governance has different objectives for different actors and actor networks. While it is a contested concept, globally governance is becoming increasingly financialised, and in some cases this includes land governance.
A packed 2 days combining plenary sessions with parallel sessions in between, with a good balance between cutting-edge academic inputs and practitioner/activist interventions around the issues of resources, land, food sovereignty, environment, energy climate change and much more.
Mads Barbesgaars, chairperson of Afrika Kontakt, gives a report on Ocean Grabbing and it's context within neo-liberalisim and growing inequality, to the delegates of the 6th WFFP General Assembly.
In the last year, Burma has changed from being seen as a 'rogue terrorist state' to being a Western darling. Kevin Woods talks about what this change means for people on the ground in Burma.
Sergio Sauer talks of history of land struggles in his native country and the dualistic roles his government plays to both restrict and expand land grab patterns in and out of Brazil.
Alberto Alonso-Fredejas on the narrative contexts in which land grabs are presented and legitimized, and how such activities lead to questions around capital, labor and community relations.
The global food crisis seems the result of moving to increasingly unsustainable, simplified and industrialised agriculture, neoliberal foodspeculation and landgrabbing.
Worsening climate change and the emergence of new economic powers is leading to a renewed scramble for resources, with negative consequences for many impoverished communities.
With hedge funds making bids for melting glaciers, there is a danger at a time of multiple crises of a renewed push for commodification of water that will affect those who can't pay.
