FIAN: Launch of report on Land Policies and the Right to Food in Ecuador

On the ocassion of the International Human Rights Day, FIAN Ecuador launches the "Monitoring Report on Land Policies and the Right to Food in Ecuador 2013" Quito, December 9th, 2013: FIAN Ecuador, Unión Tierra y Vida and the Department for Development, Environment and Territories of the FLACSO University Ecuador, are organizing the launch of the "Monitoring Report on Land Policies and the Right to Food in Ecuador 2013", on Monday December 9th at 5 pm in Quito. (FLACSO, La Pradera E7-174 y Av. Diego de Almagro) The report offers an overview of the current process of land accumulation, which was specifically accelerated in line with the food price crisis of previous years and has its particular characteristics in Latin America, including in Ecuador. This phenomenon, also known as "land grabbing", represents and involves clear Human Rights violations, specifically including violations of the Right to Adequate Food. The document gives account of the Ecuadorian provinces that feature a prevalence of large scale agricultural property acquisitions, and areas with high presence of the agro industry, which is dynamically moving towards export markets, mainly in the sugarcane, banana, and palm oil business. The state-supported project of land redistribution for landless peasants named "Plan Tierras", with the aim to end poverty and promote sustainability and wealth equity, has been in execution since October 2009 in Ecuador and will come to an end this month. The plan featured a high level of interest and support from social organizations, especially those representing families with possessions of land used in bank speculations during the late nineties. The report aims to analyze the results of this political strategy from a Human Rights perspective, and to contribute to the elaboration of an extensive reflection process on the prevailing necessity of a new legal framework, which is coherent with the principles of Food Sovereignty and a Right to Food. Photo courtesy of FIAN International Click here for the full story