DECLARATIONS AND STATEMENTS RELATED TO AGROECOLOGY In ascending chronological order
Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Area: Adopted at the United Nations 73rd Session - 17 Dec 2018 ”This declaration is an important tool which should guarantee and realize the rights of the peasants and other working people in rural areas. We urge all states to implement the declaration in a conscientiousness and transparent manner, guaranteeing peasants and rural communities the access to and control over land, peasant’s seeds, water and other natural resources. As peasants we need the protection and the respect for our values and our role in society to achieve food sovereignty,”Elizabeth Mpofu, peasant farmer from Zimbabwe & general coordinator of La Via Campesina Declaration promoting the legacy of Chico Mendez: Xapuri, Brazil -- 16 Dec 2018 "From here in Xapuri, we remind the world that Chico Mendes did not die. He was assassinated. This was the price he paid for dedicating his life to the cause of agrarian land reform and the protection of forests. The fact is that those in power never accepted that the peoples of the forest have a right to land, bread and dreams."
North African Network for Food Sovereignty Tunis -- 05 Jul 2017 "Food sovereignty is the human right of peoples as individuals and communities to define their own food systems. It means, working with nature and protecting resources to produce sufficient, healthy and culturally appropriate food by: giving priority to local production and staple food; putting in place popular agrarian reforms; guaranteeing a free access to seeds; protecting national produce; and by involving people in elaborating agricultural policies."
Uluru Statement from the Heart First Nations National Constitutional Convention, Uluru, NT, Australia -- 26 May 2017 "Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago. This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors."
Resolution on the Protection of Sacred Natural Sites and Territories African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, meeting at its 60th Ordinary Session, Niamey, Republic of Niger -- 22 May 2017 "Recognising that sacred natural sites are one of the oldest forms of culture-based conservation, defined as“areas of land or water having special spiritual significance to peoples and communities”(IUCN, 2008) and often harbouring rich biodiversity contributing to connectivity, resilience and adaptability of valuable landscapes and ecosystems;"
Marabá Declaration: International Conference on Agrarian Reform Marabá, Para, Brazil -- 17 Apr 2016 "The 20th anniversary of the International Day of Peasants’ and Farmers’ Struggle was marked on 17 Apr 2016 – a date that highlights the persecution and violence suffered by peasants and farmers around the world." See also: Every Day Should Be International Day of Peasants' Struggles Adrian Bebb and Ramona Duminicioiu, euobserver -- 18 Apr 2016
Declaration on Plant Variety Protection and Seed Laws from the South-South Dialogue Durban, South Africa -- 27-29 Nov 2015 "Seeds are ... the collective heritage for people serving humanity. Peasants and indigenous peoples have always been the custodians and guardians of the collective knowledge embedded in the wide diversity of seed that has enabled the development of humankind as a species."
Declaration on Land Grabbing & Just Governance in Africa Limuru, Kenya -- 22-26 Nov 2015 "We recognize that land grabbing – as well as the structural issues that are tied to it – and just governance commit us to walk together from grassroots to global level. From an African perspective land is something sacred and we believe that an important part of any future success in our fight against land grabbing lies in our ability to build deep connections with our land."
Agroecology - The Bold Future of Africa Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa -- 26 Oct 2015 "Agroecology is the journey that African farming should be making. It’s a journey towards thriving living soil, towards increasing biodiversity, towards strengthening farmer innovation,knowledge development and sharing, and towards far higher levels of nutrition security."
Don't Be Fooled! Civil Society Says NO to "Climate Smart Agriculture” and Urges Decision-Makers to Support AgroEcology -- Sep 2015 "... we share deep concerns about the growing influence and agenda of so-called “Climate-Smart Agriculture” (CSA) and the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture (GACSA). Climate change is the biggest and the most urgent threat our societies face. We need a radical transformation of our food systems away from an industrial model and its false solutions, and toward food sovereignty, local food systems, and integral agrarian reform in order to achieve the full realization of the human right to adequate food and nutrition. We therefore urge decision-makers at country and UN levels to reject the dangerous rhetoric of Climate-Smart Agriculture."
Final Recommendations of the Regional Seminar on AgroEcology in Latin America and the Caribbean [Portuguese Version] Seminar organised by the FAO, Brazilian Government, civil society and social movements, Brasilia, Brazil -- 24-26 June 2015 "Agroecology in the region has been carried out in practice for decades; by social movements of small-holder farmers, rural groups, traditional communities, indigenous peoples, artisanal fisher folk, herders, and gatherers. It has a strong scientific base and is increasingly receiving support from governments through new public policies. The practices and elements of agroecology ensure food security and sovereignty, as well as strengthen family farming."
Declaration of the International Forum for AgroEcology Nyéléni, Mali -- 27 Feb 2015 "We gathered here at the Nyéléni Center in Sélingué, Mali from 24 to 27 of February, 2015, to come to a common understanding of agroecology as a key element in the construction of Food Sovereignty, and to develop joint strategies to promote Agroecology and defend it from co-optation." See also: Nyéléni Declaration from 27 Feb 2007
Asunción Declaration: A Resounding NO to GE Trees! Asunción, Paraguay -- 22 Nov 2014 "We, agronomists, biologists, geneticists, Indigenous Peoples, foresters, activists, attorneys, community organizers, ecologists and others coming together on 22 November 2014 in Asunción, Paraguay from Northern and Southern Asia, South Pacific Islands, Western Africa, Europe, and South, Central and North America, stand together in our rejection of all genetically engineered trees, including field trials."
Africa-US Food Sovereignty Statement Seattle Conference -- 13 Oct 2014 "We are brought together by a shared belief in just, sustainable and equitable food for all. We share a concern over the dangerous loss of agricultural biodiversity and of the loss of dignified and viable livelihoods in the countryside." See also: Africa-US Food Sovereignty Summit Report
World Conference on Indigenous Peoples: Outcome Document UN General Assembly -- Approved 22 Sep 2014 (See "Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" from 2007 for related resources, below)
Climate-Smart Greenwash: Why we Reject the Global Alliance on Climate-Smart Agriculture [NGO open letter to the UN Climate Summit, 23 Sep 2014] -- Sep 2014 "The Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture ... will not deliver the solutions that we so urgently need. Instead, “climate-smart” agriculture provides a dangerous platform for corporations to implement the very activities we oppose. By endorsing the activities of the planet’s worst climate offenders in agribusiness and industrial agriculture, the Alliance will undermine the very objectives that it claims to aim for." See also: UN-masking Climate Smart Agriculture La Via Campesina[press release] -- 23 Sep 2014
Scientists Praise and Challenge FAO on AgroEcology [open letter to the International Symposium on Agroecology for Food and Nutrition] -- 18-19 Sep 2014 "Agroecology integrates multiple fields into a unique “trans-discipline,” drawing on ecology, agronomy, political economy and sociology, among other fields. It can be considered a science, a set of practices, and a social movement for distributive and procedural justice." See also: Only Small Farmers and AgroEcology Can Feed the World [Article reporting on the speech by Prof. Hilal Elver, the new UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, coinciding with the FAO International Symposium on Agroecology for Food and Nutrition] Nafeez Ahmed, The Ecologist -- 23 Sep 2014
Towards Food Sovereignty in Africa:Nurture the Environment and Put Farmers at the Centre Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), issued from Lome, Togo -- 19 July 2014
Yvapuruvu Declaration: Seed Laws - Resisting Dispossession Alianza Biodiversidad, Red por una América Latina Libre de Transgénicos, and Vía Campesina World Seeds Campaign -- Paraguay 17-18 Oct 2013
Declaration on Seed Freedom: Dr. Vandana Shiva, Navdanya, India Global Campaign on Seed Freedom -- Launched 22 June 2012 at Rio+20 Conference
Lusaka Declaration: Mainstreaming Organic Agriculture into the African Development Agenda 2nd African Organic Conference, Lusaka, Zambia -- 02-04 May 2012
The "Right to Water" Resolution - H.Con.Res. 468 (108th Congress) Expressing the Sense of the Congress with Respect to the World's Fresh Water Resources Introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL09) -- 25 Jun 2004
Earth Charter (English Version) Earth Charter (Portuguese Version) Approved March 2000 at UNESCO, launched June 2000
Indigenous Tribal Peoples Convention International Labour Organization, No. 169 -- 1989 (Entry into force: 05 Sep 1991) (See "Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" from 2007 for subsequent and related resources, above)