On February 11, 2011, at a general meeting, farming organizations, NGOs, trade unions and other civic groups at the World Social Forum in Dakar, launched an appeal against “land grabbing”.

 “The recent massive hoarding of tens of millions of acres for the benefit of private interests or third states is contrary to human rights because it deprives local communities, (indigenous, rural, pastoral and fishing) of their ability to be productive and limits their access to natural resources, depriving them of basic liberties,” states the Appeal.

“We will keep working to ensure that Africa does not suffer another genocide as a result of land grabbing,” stressed the Comboni Missionaries, one of the groups present.  The hoarding of arable land is, in effect, one of the main threats that weigh on food sovereignty today in many countries, especially in Africa, and has become a central issue for the future.

Due to even higher prices for agricultural products, there is a real race for the earth. “Buyers are companies, like Daewoo in Madagascar, even State importers who buy land to grow crops for export or for the agro-fuels production,” said Ambroise Mazal, in an interview published in Alternatives Economiques. After the financial crisis, there have been also speculators who focused on purchasing or leasing land with long-term contracts concerning 10,000s of hectares. According to the World Bank, the number increased from four million hectares sold on average each year over the last decade to 45 million in 2009 alone. The phenomenon then multiplied by ten. This occurs in poor or developing countries where the right of property is very fragile; where the management of land is regulated and recognized by informal or traditional local customs. Where, however, the right to property is not guaranteed by international agreements. This means that the small farmers cannot prove they are the owners of the land they cultivate, and have possessed for many generations.

Use of these lands by foreign groups is fatal to the needs of local people with whom they compete. “In Mali, the fertile lands along the Niger are an example according to Mazal. Libyan buyers relocated entire populations and even installed agricultural projects in their cemeteries. The locals weren’t aware of this until it became too late.”

Investing in agriculture is essential for a country’s food security, but it has to consider the well-being of the local population who rely on agricultural production and food agro-ecology, not to benefit multinational companies and government departments. The right to use the land is a natural right and primordial, a universal value of every human being and no other economic right should have the upper hand. Worse still is a scenario where the companies do come in, and virtually eliminate, entire communities. “Foreign investment is not in itself a source of development and can even destabilize the local socio-economic systems,” said Ambrose Mazal. What can be done to fight back?

Civil society, in its Dakar Appeal gave indications: “We appeal to the parliaments and national governments to immediately stop all land grabs, both those in progress or in planning stages. We ask that the lands taken be returned. We call on governments to cease all forms of oppression and criminalization of all forms of struggle for the land, and to release the militants who have been illegally imprisoned. We demand that governments prepare an effective framework for the recognition and regulation of property rights of those who use the land, through a consultation of all stakeholders and before allocating any properties. This requires putting an end to corruption and cronyism and nullifies any shared management of agricultural property.”

Ambroise Mazal, in solidarity, expressed this in the same way in Alternatives Economiques: “We call on governments to immediately stop the sale of these lands to foreign entities. The Southern States must take into account their populations, turning away from the lure of foreign investments that denies distribution of wealth with respect to the hard-working local populations.”

What is the result? Let’s face it: the phenomenon continues, the cries of alarm repeat themselves, the case studies increase because “this battle of the level of ideas is also a diplomatic battle, in which the Southern States, hand-in-hand with the multinationals of the North often oppose any regulation,” said Mazal. Then, what?

The Dakar Appeal rightly demands that the Regional Unions of States, the FAO and other national and international institutions put into practice what was decided in 2006 at the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CIRADR). Namely, to secure the property rights of the users, to revive the process of land reform based on access and respect for the right to natural resources and agricultural development for the welfare of all. The Appeal also asks that the directives of the FAO, in this regard, be reinforced, and to ensure that these agencies acted in this way.

However, it asks for strategy and coordination between civil society (starting with the NGOs) present in, or recognized, as international organizations of the U.N., FAO, European Parliament, and the African Union - and community-based organizations working on the ground. Otherwise, we will have to face the same problem during the upcoming World Social Forum in Tunis in March, with the same cries of protest even more resonant, and the same feelings of frustration yielding the same results - empty and useless.