Seeds of Discontent
The documentary film by director
Geoff Arbourne looks at the community of Licole, located in the
region where the company Chikweti Forests of Niassa has set up large
tree plantations. Chikweti Forests of Niassa is a subsidiary of
Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF), a Sweden-based investment fund,
co-owned by Dutch pension fund ABP, the Diocese of Västerås
(Sweden), and the Norwegian church endowment, OVF.
The
documentary film was launched just five days before the Committee on
World Food Security (CFS) meets for its 40th round of talks. CFS is
an international and intergovernmental platform that seeks to ensure
food security and nutrition for all. Transnational Institute (TNI)
and FIAN as part of the "Hands off the Land Alliance" are
campaigning for effective measures to stop land and resource
grabbing, such as the implementation of the Guidelines on the
Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests,
which were adopted by the CFS in 2012. "Seeds of discontent"
is a case study of how investors in agriculture that claim to be
well-meaning and to apply "responsible" practices can end
up fueling land grabs and sowing deep divisions in rural communities
such as Licole.
"Cases like this one [in Mozambique] are
happening every day, all over the globe" argues Philip Seufert
of FIAN International, member of the Hands off the Land Alliance.
"Communities are confronted with investors who arrive and
promise a lot to them: jobs, 'development', money, a bright future.
But what really happens, then, is that communities find their
valuable land no longer available for farming, people have to work
under bad conditions for the investors, communities get divided
against each other, and all nice promises turn out to be empty. The
people of Niassa have to be able to realize their right to adequate
food and to live a life in dignity. While the Mozambican state has
the main responsibility to ensure this, European home states of
foreign investors carry responsibilities as well."
"The
beautiful and uncommon intimacy of the footage provided a powerful
palette for the film", Geoff Arbourne says about the film.
"In just a few weeks we witnessed the dangers and
disappointments of these kinds of investment deals and saw how the
experience of one forestry company affected people's attitudes, hopes
and dreams".
'a case study of how investors in agriculture that claim to be
well-meaning and to apply "responsible" practices can end
up fueling land grabs and sowing deep divisions' - this quote demonstrates the futility of chasing after 'benevolent' capitalism. There may well be benevolent capitalists to be found here and there, however the system as a whole is based on the division between those who must work and those who simply live from the exploitation of those workers. Only the total abolition of this system in favour of the egalitarian system of socialism can bring about the end of such practices described above.
JS
The documentary film by director Geoff Arbourne looks at the community
of Licole, located in the region where the company Chikweti Forests of
Niassa has set up large tree plantations. Chikweti Forests of Niassa is a
subsidiary of Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF), a Sweden-based
investment fund, co-owned by Dutch pension fund ABP, the Diocese of
Västerås (Sweden), and the Norwegian church endowment, OVF.
The documentary film was launched just five days before the Committee
on World Food Security (CFS) meets for its 40th round of talks. CFS is
an international and intergovernmental platform that seeks to ensure
food security and nutrition for all. Transnational Institute (TNI) and
FIAN as part of the "Hands off the Land Alliance" are campaigning for
effective measures to stop land and resource grabbing, such as the
implementation of the Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure
of Land, Fisheries and Forests, which were adopted by the CFS in 2012.
"Seeds of discontent" is a case study of how investors in agriculture
that claim to be well-meaning and to apply "responsible" practices can
end up fueling land grabs and sowing deep divisions in rural communities
such as Licole.
"Cases like this one [in Mozambique] are happening every day, all over
the globe" argues Philip Seufert of FIAN International, member of the
Hands off the Land Alliance. "Communities are confronted with investors
who arrive and promise a lot to them: jobs, 'development', money, a
bright future. But what really happens, then, is that communities find
their valuable land no longer available for farming, people have to work
under bad conditions for the investors, communities get divided against
each other, and all nice promises turn out to be empty. The people of
Niassa have to be able to realize their right to adequate food and to
live a life in dignity. While the Mozambican state has the main
responsibility to ensure this, European home states of foreign investors
carry responsibilities as well."
"The beautiful and uncommon intimacy of the footage provided a powerful
palette for the film", Geoff Arbourne says about the film. "In just a
few weeks we witnessed the dangers and disappointments of these kinds of
investment deals and saw how the experience of one forestry company
affected people's attitudes, hopes and dreams".
- See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22644#sthash.zWqAq6Nt.dpuf
The documentary film by director Geoff Arbourne looks at the community
of Licole, located in the region where the company Chikweti Forests of
Niassa has set up large tree plantations. Chikweti Forests of Niassa is a
subsidiary of Global Solidarity Forest Fund (GSFF), a Sweden-based
investment fund, co-owned by Dutch pension fund ABP, the Diocese of
Västerås (Sweden), and the Norwegian church endowment, OVF.
The documentary film was launched just five days before the Committee
on World Food Security (CFS) meets for its 40th round of talks. CFS is
an international and intergovernmental platform that seeks to ensure
food security and nutrition for all. Transnational Institute (TNI) and
FIAN as part of the "Hands off the Land Alliance" are campaigning for
effective measures to stop land and resource grabbing, such as the
implementation of the Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure
of Land, Fisheries and Forests, which were adopted by the CFS in 2012.
"Seeds of discontent" is a case study of how investors in agriculture
that claim to be well-meaning and to apply "responsible" practices can
end up fueling land grabs and sowing deep divisions in rural communities
such as Licole.
"Cases like this one [in Mozambique] are happening every day, all over
the globe" argues Philip Seufert of FIAN International, member of the
Hands off the Land Alliance. "Communities are confronted with investors
who arrive and promise a lot to them: jobs, 'development', money, a
bright future. But what really happens, then, is that communities find
their valuable land no longer available for farming, people have to work
under bad conditions for the investors, communities get divided against
each other, and all nice promises turn out to be empty. The people of
Niassa have to be able to realize their right to adequate food and to
live a life in dignity. While the Mozambican state has the main
responsibility to ensure this, European home states of foreign investors
carry responsibilities as well."
"The beautiful and uncommon intimacy of the footage provided a powerful
palette for the film", Geoff Arbourne says about the film. "In just a
few weeks we witnessed the dangers and disappointments of these kinds of
investment deals and saw how the experience of one forestry company
affected people's attitudes, hopes and dreams".
- See more at: http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22644#sthash.zWqAq6Nt.dpuf
