LAND RIGHTS
The last twenty years have seen the rapid acquisition of large plots of land in the global south by national and international elites, often referred to as land grabbing. Land grabbing can be defined as the control of land – whether through ownership, lease, concession, contracts, quotas, or general power – for purposes of speculation, extraction, resource control or commodification. (Ecoruralis 2016)
Land grabbing is a violation of human rights by threatening access to food and livelihoods. The new land proprietors often favor profitable export of their crops or minerals over feeding the hungry. Peasant farmers lose access to their land and thus their income and nutrition. The environmental health of the land is compromised as industrial forms of agriculture are implemented.
CIDSE is supporting the resistance of land grabbing in Africa, by connecting church actors with social movements and organising spaces for exchange. In 2015, CIDSE contributed to the organisation of a Pan-African Conference on Land Grabbing and Just Governance in Kenya, which brought together church and non-church actors to exchange knowledge and strategies on land grabbing, resulting in the establishment of a permanent platform called “Our land is our life” for these purposes. A similar conference was organised again in 2017 in Abidjan. The reflection and discussion on land grabbing from the perspective of Laudato Si’ and Catholic Church social teachings that began at the conference in Abidjan was then concretized in a paper on the theology of land grabbing to facilitate the opening of a concrete dialogue on land issues with church actors.
Stories
Publications
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We’ve seen it on the ground, we must act from
October 4, 2019“The incumbent Brazilian government has been trying to undermine human rights and environmental achievements… In light of this, Pope Francis’ […]
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Amazon Synod is a providential opportunity to denounce oppressive global
October 1, 2019CIDSE member organisations have worked in the Amazon for decades and see in this part of the world a clear […]
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Spreading stories from the Amazon #Amazonsourceoflife
September 19, 2019The Pan Amazon region has been historically conceived as a space that must be occupied, controlled and integrated according to […]
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Regulating corporations to ensure the right to food
May 14, 2019Towards the end of business as usual? An Analysis by Louise Pigeolet, Volunteer at Entraide et Fraternité December 2018 (available […]
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Report “Vigilance on the Menu: 5 riskS to human rights
April 17, 2019Two years after the adoption of the French law on the duty of vigilance, French companies are publishing their first […]