Zimbabwe : Solidarity message for our brothers and sisters in Mali
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- Published on Wednesday, 27 February 2013 20:35
(Harare, 22 February 2013) We, the African peasant youth, members of la Via Campesina, representing organisations from South Africa, Angola, The Republic of the Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe, gathered here in Harare, Zimbabwe between the 21 and 22 February for our continental meeting of the African youth of la Via Campesina, wish to transmit our message of solidarity to our brothers and sisters in Mali offering them our support for the terrible situation in which the populations, particularly the youth, find themselves, as a result of territory issues in the north of Mali.
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Special Resolution : We will continue farming on Japanese soil!
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- Published on Friday, 02 March 2012 17:02
20th NOUMINREN Youth Conference
We hereby declare that we will continue farming on Japanese soil. Japan has good soil and nature that suits agriculture. Our ancestors have lived in harmony with land and nature and have developed and passed on food culture and tradition in each region.
Today under the globalized economy and liberalist policies, Free Trade Agreements such as FTAs, TPP and genpatsu (nuclear power plants) have been promoted. Did those policies make our livelihood better? The amount of imported food and agricultural products has increased, and invaded our diet. On the other hand, because the youth leave the rural areas leaving only old people in the villages, many farms have been abandoned that eventually led to the destruction of many rural areas. The youth disappear from rural areas and the youth who go to the cities are now facing high competition and forced to work in poorer working condition. Unemployment and temporary work are also threatening their future. The accident of nuclear power plant has dispersed radioactivity all over the world contaminating farmland, food, and our life. In this situation the whole society is about to fall apart and the farmers whose livelihood are rooted on the earth must speak out to the city people who left the earth, and together propose a future.
Japan: “We will continue farming on Japanese soil!”
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- Published on Tuesday, 28 February 2012 17:25
NOUMINREN Youth held its 20th conference in Tokyo on February 11thand 12th this year. Approximately 100 people participated in the conference (the largest ever). For NOUMINREN, this conference was probably its most important in last 20 years as it was the first conference after 3.11 earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plant accidents. All participants were eager to share and reflect on what they underwent after 3.11 and to use these understandings to overcome their concerns.
On the first day, a forum was held to discuss the issue Why we must continue farming on Japanese soil: Understanding how nuclear power plants and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will destroy us. In this forum, five panelists (three farmers, one food researcher, and one local community activist) presented their commitment to protect agriculture and food sovereignty of Japan.
The first panelist, Souhei Miura, reported that after the disaster and nuclear power plant accident, he evacuated to Chiba prefecture. However, he decided to go back to Fukushima to farm again. He said that “it is possible to produce safe food in Fukushima if we continue doing the checkups. Nuclear power plant accidents can happen anywhere in the world today, so why don’t I stay and farm in Fukushima, the prefecture I love the most.” This commitment moved many in the audience.
The 4th Southeast and East Asia Youth Assembly: We are the Youth, Food Sovereignty is Our Only Option
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- Published on Tuesday, 11 October 2011 08:07
From 4-7 September 2011, 26 youth delegations from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Timor Leste and Australia gathered in Sang Joo City, North Kyeongsang, South Korea for the 4th regional youth assembly. The assembly first started in Chiang Mai in 2007 and the aim of the assembly is to increase and strengthen the role and involvement of youth both in farming and in farmers’ organizations.
In almost every country, young people are disappearing from rural areas. In some countries like Japan and South Korea, the average ages of farmers are above 65 years old. Meanwhile, in other countries like Indonesia, Thailand or Cambodia, even if the number of young people who farm still remains significant, it is decreasing rapidly. Young people find it difficult to stay in agriculture for various reasons such as a lack of land to farm, land grabbing and cheap imported food due to free trade agreements that means that local farmers cannot receive a fair price for their products. The situation forces young people to leave rural areas to work in the city or become migrant workers.
Yoon Geum Sun, an ICC member from the Southeast and East Asia region, stated the importance of this youth assembly. Daring to dream for a better future for agriculture in this region as well as in the world is in the hands of the youth. Young people have a great spirit that enables them to bring about change and create a way out of the global multiple crises.
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