Brazil: organic cotton farmers lead the way
Organic cotton production lifts resettled and Quilombola communities out of poverty in Brazil, but there are challenges to keeping the trade sustainable in the long term.
Britain exports banned pesticide to Paraguay
Paraquat, manufactured by British company Syngenta, is banned in the UK and the EU. But it is widely used on Paraguay's booming soya farms, with often terrible effects on the crops and health of local people.
Brazil: palm oil producers launch an avalanche of litigation
Oil palm producer Brazilian Biofuels is accused of violating land rights and using violence against those who oppose its intrusion onto indigenous and quilombo lands. Its response has been to launch a wave of law suits targeting protestors, prosecutors and even the police
Honduras: Deaths of environmental activists reopen wounds in Aguán Valley
In January, four social activists were murdered in Honduras within a period of 11 days. The deaths of two environmental defenders from Guapinol were followed by the murder of a peasant leader and his father-in-law.
Mexico: how to escape FTA bondage
'Free trade and investment agreements are tools for the “deviation of power” away from communities and into corporate boardrooms. This is what the experience of people in Mexico teaches us.' This is the conclusion of a new report by GRAIN, a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems.
Brazil: new farms occupy indigenous land
Since 2020, more than 400 farms located inside Indigenous territories have been granted titles thanks to a new ruling from the National Indian Foundation (Funai), now heavily influenced by agribusiness. New ruling IN-09 allows farms located inside unratified Indigenous Territories to be certified and registered in the Federal Land Management System.
Brazil: fighting desertification in Paraíba
In Brazil’s semi-arid northeast, family farmers are using technology and collective resource management to fight climate change and environmental degradation.
Brazilians vs Bolsonaro’s ‘Package of Destruction’
The 'packet of destruction' raft of new bills is set to pass in Brazil's congress, with the enthusiastic endorsement of President Bolsonaro. It spells death and destruction for the Amazon and for indigenous communities.
Brazil: timber export boom under Bolsonaro
Police investigations implicated then Brazilian environment minister Riacrdo Salles in illegal exports of high-value timber from the Amazon to consumers in the US and Europe.
Nicaragua: The invasion of autonomous land
Indigenous people along Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast face constant danger as they seek to defend their autonomous territories against invasion by colonos and government claims that these are 'empty lands' available for development.