Responses on the World Food Crisis :

Few observations from small & marginal peasants

in India

Ms. Ujjaini HalimMs. Ujjaini HalimInstitute for Motivating Self Employment (IMSE), IndiaInstitute for Motivating Self Employment (IMSE), India

Land Alienation A major threat to smallholders

• Around 95% smallholders in India• Lack of access to ‘Resources’• Land alienation intensified (in line with neo-liberal

policies) SEZs, large scale agro-fuel production, privatisation of common resources

• High costs of inputs making production unprofitable (without support from the state)

• Genuine Agrarian reform agenda has taken a back seat, despite several national/international commitments (RTF, ICARRD, VGRF…)

Key ImpactsKey Impacts

• Destruction of livelihoods of small farmers & rural labourers, women more affected

– Large scale CAL, SEZ (64,000 hec) & further concentration of land

– Denial of access (physical and economic) to productive resources (land, water, CPR), Privatisation of water, patents of seeds

– Evictions, displacements, violations & migrations– Decrease in per capita landholding from 0.30 hec to 0.27

hec– Environmental pollution– Jobless growth of economy, rural unemployment

increasing alarmingly– Lower wages

Land Acquired in Singur

In the name of ‘PUBLIC PURPOSE’ the Government of West Bengal COMPULSORILY ACQUIRED 997.11 acres of fertile agricultural lands in Singur through Land Acquisition Act 1894 and gave the same to TATA's (India’s largest MNC) for construction of an automobile manufacturing unit there in collaboration with FIAT. The process is declared complete in only 4 months amidst wide-scale discontents

• The majority of the residents (75%) are small-scale and marginal farmers with an average land holding of 2.5 to 5 acres. They depend solely on agriculture for livelihoods.

• The lands acquired by the state are multi cropping agricultural lands with a cropping density of 220 % with a well established system of irrigation.

• Livelihoods of around 30,000 people affected in Singur as they were dependent on agrarian economy as peasants, share croppers, agricultural labourers and other rural stakeholders

• Peasant women are worst sufferers

LIVELIHOODS DESTROYED

Peasants faced violationsPeasants faced violations

•The physical acquisition took place under the cordon of a strong police force and no ‘neutral’ presence was allowed in Singur during the process

•A state of emergency was then imposed on Singur (75 days), barring people from outside to enter and all public meetings, gatherings and processions were banned during the eviction process.

• On 2nd December 2006 police & goons ransacked the villages, brutally attacked the villagers and destroyed properties

•Women faced severe gender violence•on 18 December 2006, 18 year old activist girl, Tapashi Mallick, was raped and murdered, her charred body was found inside the fenced-off area for the proposed TATA Motors small car project.

Land Distribution in India up to 2007

Land Distribution in Selected Indian States

0

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

are

a i

n a

cre

s

surplus land

Area Possession

Area distributed

GAR Challenges & Ways AheadGAR Challenges & Ways Ahead

• Land Equality: Measures to fulfil commitments of GAR• Rejection: of global policies (World Bank model of LR)

which weaken LR and destroy livelihoods of farmers• Protection from forced evictions: upholding RTF

principles and obligations (bilateral agreements, AOA) • Effective participation: grassroots democracy to be

strengthened • Recognition: Customary Informal and tenancy rights to

be documented and acknowledged• Non Discrimination: Women’s rights to be effectively

protected• Promotion of peoples alternative: Food Sovereignty

Enabling ‘Victims’ to take part in the decision making and implementation

• A considerable part of one billion Euro (allotted for food crisis) should go to CSOs/NGOs/CBOs for establishing successful alternatives and ensuring realisation of RTF (e.g. social audit, monitoring based on VGRF, ICAARD commitments)

• An inclusive process needs to be established, with a bottom up approach, in identifying key actors while planning the utilisation of one billion Euro

We Urge EU Member States to:• Play a significant role in motivating developing nations

to mainstream RTF in their food policies & programmes (respecting & implementing commitments) and to support smallholders by providing those supports/services which ‘they need’ to ensure livelihood security

• Respect their obligations under RTF and promote such policies (protecting & promoting smallholders) which would address the root causes of food crisis and would lead to a sustainable solution (including climate change concerns)

• Broad base the process of developing Guidelines on CAL ,State land management, agro-fuel, climate change (FAO) etc.