"Our farming practices have barely changed. Our indigenous knowledge systems and practices are the reason why we're still here on our ancestral lands”
Private Equity firms have been quietly buying up farmland worldwide. Using a network of investment and ownership, they exert control over entire food systems, from seed to supermarket, from field to fork. Today, 70% of global farmland is in the hands of 1% of farms.
It's a disturbing trend.
Their unsustainable methods prioritise shareholders over the health of people and the planet, but small-holder farmers all over the world are coming together to fight back. We need agriculture to be controlled by people who know and care about the land.
Small farmers won’t destroy their land for short-term profit.
It's time to listen to the true experts in their field...
IN VIETNAM...
Pô Kô Farm Agricultural Cooperative in Vietnam was initiated in 2009 by a group of smallholder farmers. Through collective action based on the farmers' vision of economic well-being, Pô Kô Farms was able to challenge large-scale food chain operations. Their production methods are now respectful of people and the environment. Changes in farming practices have contributed to sustainable economic development, as methods such as planting shade trees to increase biodiversity have improved the soil’s organic matter and enhanced its fertility.
IN THE PHILIPPINES....
In the Philippines, many indigenous peoples were told to vacate their ancestral homes after the forests that supplied their food, materials for shelter and medicine were declared state property and cleared out. Those who have managed to stay, continue to practice small-scale traditional farming, taking care of their community and land.
"In the old days, specifically here at Sitio San Guinto, even when farmers owned ten hectares of land, only a hectare of it would be cultivated in a year. We do this to allow the previously cultivated land to rest, replenish and sustain the nutrients of the soil." - Explains Datu.
IN COLOMBIA...
"We are women who farm the land. We are still here fighting to show other women who want to do this that - yes - it is possible!"
For our food, our health and our planet: Don’t let food giants displace the true experts in their fields.
Learn more by reading UNEVEN GROUND our most recent analysis on land inequality, informed by 17 specially commissioned research papers.
