News on Land

On top of the socio-economic reform demands being pushed by the National Democratic Front, collectively dubbed as the comprehensive agreement on socio-economic reforms (CASER), is the free distribution of land for the country’s landless rural poor. During the ill-fated peace talks in Amsterdam in July, the question was raised: where will the government get the land to distribute for free to would-be agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs)? One of the answers: public lands.

THE Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) has admitted agricultural production in the country has been on a downward trend and on Tuesday announced it would introduce a new section aimed at encouraging farmers to improve their yields.

ZAS CEO, Anxious Masuka, told reporters at a press conference in Harare they would launch the Eleven Tonne Plus Club which will celebrate the cream of Zimbabwean farmers who have excelled in maize production.

The Kichwa people of the San Martin region have traditionally occupied the upland forests which since 2005 were classified as the Regional Protected Area - Cerro Escalera by the regional government of San Martin. Today, many of these communities lack any secure rights to these forests and are regularly stopped and restricted from accessing its forest resources vital for their subsistence.

Civil Society Organisations in Edo State, under the umbrella of Coalition for Protection of the Environment, recently staged a protest against land grabbing and deforestation. Adibe Emenyonu who was there, reports

Bose Eruanga is a peasant farmer from Uzalla, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State. Eruanga, as a widow with six children depends on the produce from the farmlands in her community to train her children.

On this International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, we celebrate the successes of indigenous peoples in Latin America in protecting their lands and communities. In particular, we recognize the strong leadership of indigenous women who have stood at the front lines of many of these achievements and celebrate the indigenous communities that have defended their lands from mega-projects. 

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted on September 13, 2007 at the 61st session of the General Assembly in the UN headquarters, New York City, United States. The UNDRIP is a landmark accomplishment for the member-states of the UN recognising the rights of the world's indigenous population. The declaration addresses both individual and collective rights, cultural rights and identity, rights to education, health, employment, language and others.

Indigenous peoples across Latin America have demonstrated their determination to protect their communities and their territories over the centuries and, in the process, have proven their role as stewards of the environment. Threatening to encroach upon ancestral lands, contaminate water sources, and divide communities with the construction of mega projects, national and multinational companies have long wreaked havoc on the environment and taken advantage of indigenous communities. Yet, the communities have not sat idly by.