Via Campesina

Via Campesina
Name	Via Campesina
Founded	May 1993
Location	Jakarta, Indonesia
Key people	Elizabeth Mpofu, Henry Saragih
Website	https://viacampesina.org

Via Campesina. It is an international coalition of peasant organizations, smallholder farmers, agricultural workers, indigenous communities, and landless peoples, representing a major global social movement. Founded in 1993, it advocates for food sovereignty and agrarian reform as alternatives to the dominant neoliberal model of industrial agriculture. The movement is decentralized, with its current International Operational Secretariat based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

History and origins

The formation of Via Campesina was catalyzed by growing resistance to the policies of institutions like the World Trade Organization and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which were seen as threatening small-scale agriculture worldwide. Key founding meetings took place in Managua, Nicaragua, and Mons, Belgium, bringing together groups from Latin America, North America, Europe, and Asia. The movement emerged from earlier regional networks, such as those active in Central America following the Sandanista Revolution, and was solidified during the global mobilizations against the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. Its establishment marked a strategic shift from nationally-focused agrarian struggles to a coordinated international platform.

Principles and ideology

The central ideological pillar of Via Campesina is the concept of food sovereignty, a term it popularized as a direct challenge to the narrower notion of food security. This framework prioritizes the rights of peoples to define their own agricultural and food policies, emphasizing agroecology, local markets, and the protection of biodiversity. The movement strongly opposes genetically modified organisms, the corporate control of seeds through mechanisms like the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and the Green Revolution model. It champions agrarian reform, gender equality through its feminist perspective, and the rights of indigenous peoples as stewards of land and knowledge.

Organizational structure and membership

Via Campesina operates as a decentralized, horizontal network, with decision-making power residing in its member organizations. The highest authority is the International Conference, held approximately every four years in locations such as Maputo, Mozambique, and Derio, Spain. Regional coordination exists for areas including Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Its membership comprises over 180 organizations in more than 80 countries, ranging from Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement and Indonesia's Serikat Petani Indonesia to the European Coordination Via Campesina. The International Operational Secretariat rotates among regions, having been previously hosted in Belgium and Honduras before moving to Indonesia.

Key campaigns and activities

A flagship global campaign is the annual protest on April 17, designated as the International Day of Peasant Struggles in memory of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre in Brazil. The movement actively engages with United Nations bodies, advocating for and successfully contributing to the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants. It organizes major protests at meetings of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the G8 summits. Other significant initiatives include the promotion of agroecology through farmer-to-farmer exchanges, the defense of native seeds against biopiracy, and campaigns against land grabbing by transnational corporations and states, particularly in regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.

Impact and influence

Via Campesina has profoundly shaped international discourse on agriculture, successfully inserting food sovereignty into debates within the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Human Rights Council. Its advocacy was instrumental in the creation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants, a landmark legal instrument. The movement has inspired national policies, such as aspects of agrarian reform in Bolivia under Evo Morales and constitutional recognition of food sovereignty in countries like Ecuador and Nepal. It has also strengthened global solidarity among rural movements, influencing broader alter-globalization networks like the World Social Forum.

Criticisms and controversies

Critics, often from proponents of conventional agricultural development, argue that the movement's opposition to modern technologies like genetically modified organisms and large-scale trade could hinder productivity and global food security efforts. Some governments and agribusiness entities view its calls for radical agrarian reform and its confrontational tactics at international summits as destabilizing. Internal challenges have included managing the diverse political perspectives among members from different regions, such as between more Marxist-oriented groups and those with stronger indigenous or environmentalist identities. Its stance has also occasionally placed it at odds with some international development agencies and philanthropic organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Category:Agricultural organizations Category:International organizations Category:Social movements Category:Food politics