Millions of small scale farmers are working to feed us despite the COVID 19 Pandemic. Ironically many are without land and resources and are the poorest and hungry. Today on the #DayoftheLandless, let's support their demands:
1. Ensure that the lockdowns and quarantines are not carried out at the expense of the food security of the people, and that the right to produce and earn a living for small farmers, fishers and other direct food producers is duly respected;
2. Provide immediate and substantial economic relief (including food grains, cash, and other forms of aid that are essential and appropriate) and social protection that are readily accessible to the marginalized sectors, including the landless rural people, as well as other forms of government assistance such as production and marketing support for the small food producers;
3. Ensure that no further displacements of the rural people from their lands and livelihood are carried out in the pretext of COVID-19 lockdowns;
4. Allot sufficient public resources to the health sector and make reliable public healthcare services, including free testing for COVID-19 infection and treatment, available without delay or difficulty for everyone, including the rural communities; and
5. Call for accountability of public officials at all levels in addressing the urgent needs of the people and in respecting human rights at all times.
Amidst the spreading darkness and misery due to a pandemic caused by more than anything else an ecologically and socially destructive mode of production, rural people and their supporters, shall remain among the bearers of light and hope.
The statement is endorsed by the following organizations:
Global/regional organizations:
1. Asian Peasant Coalition (APC)
2. PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP)
3. People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS)
4. Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN)
5. Arab Network for Food Sovereignty
6. Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
7. Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN)
8. Asian Rural Women’s Coalition (ARWC)
9. Coalition of Agricultural Wokers International (CAWI)
10. Food Sovereignty Network
11. IBON International
12. International Indigenous Peopples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL)
13. MIJARC Asia
14. MISEREOR
15. PAN Africa
16. PAN Europe
17. PAN North America
18. South Asia Peasant Coalition (SAPC)
19. Southeast Asia Regional Initiatives for Community Empowerment (SEARICE)
20. Third World Network (TWN)
21. Youth for Food Sovereignty (YFS)
National/local organizations:
22. Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (AGRA), Indonesia
23. All Nepal Peasants’ Federation (ANPFa), Nepal
24. Andhra Pradesh Matya Karula Union, India
25. Artists’ Alliance for Genuine Agrarian Reform (SAKA), Philippines
26. Association of Women’s Communities of Ysykkul, Kyrgyzstan
27. Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF), Bangladesh
28. Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), Bangladesh
29. Bansiwag Cultural Network, Philippines
30. Bantay Bigas, Philippines
31. BERAS India Network, India
32. Cambodia Youth Network (CYN), Cambodia
33. Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC), Cambodia
34. Caritas Dalat, Vietnam
35. Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera, Philippines
36. Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC), Philippines
37. Center for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD), Vietnam
38. Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia
39. Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community (CCFC), Cambodia
40. Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC), Nepal
41. Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), Philippines
42. Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG), Philippines
43. East Coast Fish Workers Union, India
44. Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF), Tanzania
45. EMPOWER, Malaysia
46. Ene Nazary, Kyrgyzstan
47. Ethnic Concern, Myanmar
48. Farmer Affairs Network, Myanmar
49. Farmers Development Center-Bohol Island, Philippines
50. Food Sovereignty Alliance, India
51. Front Mahasiswa Nasional (FMN), Indonesia
52. Future Esart Asia Network, India
53. Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (GSBI), Indonesia
54. Gita Pertiwi, Indonesia
55. Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS), India
56. Guatemala sin Hambre, Guatemala
57. Human Developemnt Organization (HDO), Sri Lanka
58. Indian Federation for Toiling Peasants (IFTOP), India
59. Institute for Motivating for Self-Employment (IMSE), India
60. Institute for National and Democracy Studies (INDIES), Indonesia
61. Instituto Politecnico Tomas Katari (IPTK), Bolivia
62. Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan sa Pilipinas (KATRIBU), Philippines
63. Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Philippines
64. KINABUHI, Central Visayas People’s Network for Life and Environment, Philippines
65. Kudumbam, India
66. L’Association des Femmes Africaines pour la Recherche et le Developpement (AAWORD/AFARD), Senegal
67. Labour Resource Center (LRC), Bangladesh
68. Land Core Group, Myanmar
69. LEISA Network, India
70. MASIPAG, Philippines
71. Metta Development Foundation, Inc., Myanmar
72. Movimiento Tzuk Kim-pop, Guatemala
73. National Agriculture Workers Forum (NAWF), India
74. National Campaign for Sustainable Development, Nepal
75. National Federation of Dalit Land Rights Movements (NFDLRM), India
76. National Federation of Peasant Women (AMIHAN), Philippines
77. National Fisheries Solidarity Organization (NAFSO), Sri Lanka
78. National Women Farmers & Workers Association (NFWA), Bangladesh
79. Nijera Kori, Bangladesh
80. NISARGA, India
81. NNARA Youth, Philippines
82. North South Initiative (NSI), Malaysia
83. Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, Pakistan
84. PAMALAKAYA, Philippines
85. PAN Aetearoa New Zealand
86. PAN India
87. Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes Inc. (PNFSP), Philippines
88. Ponlok Khmer, Cambodia
89. Praja Abilasha Land Rights Network, Sri Lanka
90. Public Eye, Switzerland
91. RAP-AL, Chile
92. RAPAL, Uruguay
93. RAPAM (PAN Mexico)
94. Research Center for Rural Development (RCRD), Vietnam
95. Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED), Vietnam
96. RITES Forum, India
97. Roots for Equity, Pakistan
98. Roshni Taraqiyati Tanzeem, Pakistan
99. SAHANIVASA, India
100. Seikat Perempuan Indonesia (SERUNI), Indonesia
101. SHISUK, Bangladesh
102. Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT)
103. SINAGBAYAN, Philippines
104. Society for Rights of Indigenous People of Sarawak (SCRIPS), Malaysia
105. Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED), India
106. Sojhla for Social Change, Pakistan
107. Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT), Thailand
108. Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE), Cameroon
109. Tanggol Magsasaka, Philippines
110. Teatro Bungkal, Philippines
111. Teatro Obrero, Philippines
112. Thanal, India
113. TVVU, India
114. Union of Agricultural Workers (UMA), Philippines
115. Vikalpani National Federation, Sri Lanka
116. Women’s Development Center, Inc., Philippines
117. Workers Solidarity Union, Sri Lanka
118. Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC), Nigeria
119. Zambia Social Forum (ZAMSOF), Zambia
