“Under capitalism, Mother Earth is converted into a source of raw materials, and human beings into consumers and a means of production, into people that are seen as valuable only for what they own, and not for what they are”. - Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Rights of Mother Earth

The Rights of Mother Earth is a law and movement stating that nature must have basic rights, similar to the concept of human rights. This law is based upon the idea that humans and nature are interdependent. Nature is not only for our consumption, but has its own rights to life.  The statement was written in Bolivia at the World Conference for Climate Change and Mother Earth in April 2010.  I strongly encourage you to check out the Rights of Mother Earth

World Conference for Climate Change and Mother Earth, Bolivia April 2010

I was able to attend a meeting on the Rights of Mother Earth at Peoples’ Space located in KwaZulu - Natal University

At the meeting there was a panel discussion that included author, activist and environmental lawyer Cormac Cullinan and Tom Goldtooth, Director of the Indigenous Environmental Action Network. The panelists discussed their challenges, successes and ideas in the implementation of the Rights of Mother Earth into government constitutions and our global consciousness. As of now, Bolivia and Ecuador have incorporated the Rights of Mother Earth into their constitution and the city of Pittsburgh passed an ordinance recognizing the “rights of nature”.  The ordinance in Pittsburgh elevates the rights of people, the community, and nature over corporate “rights” and challenges the authority of the state to pre-empt community decision-making.

The main objective of the meeting was a call for a paradigm shift in how we understand and use nature. We can no longer think of nature as a commodity, owned by a property owner who decides the

Coal: Mountain Top Remova West Virginia, whyflies.com

fate of the land. You cannot believe that nature is a commodity and at the same time believe in the rights of nature. By thinking nature is a commodity you are separating yourself from the natural system and not being part of a Mother Earth. As Cormac Cullinan explained, “you cannot simultaneously believe the sun moves around the earth and earth moves around the sun”.  

Oil: Tar Sands Canada, Futurismnow.com

A paradigm shift will be a difficult feat for a world whose economy is based upon exploitation of resources from nature. In the past there have been shifts in consciousness and the way we view the economic system.  For years the US economy was based upon the struggle, abuse and enslavement of millions of Africans, stolen from their communities and sold in marketplaces. At that time many western leaders couldn’t imagine an economy without the free-labor of African slaves. Obviously, the rights of mother earth and emancipation of slaves in the US are two very different struggles. But our current economic system is based in the ideology of stealing “resources” (coal, oil, gold, forests for carbon trading) from impoverished countries and then taking those resources and selling them at an elevated rate in the global marketplace.

We must recognize our interconnectedness with Mother Earth and stop the commodification nature. Only when this shift of consciousness take place, will we be able stop the destruction of our planet.

Outlined below is the law that enumerates seven specific rights to which Mother Earth and her constituent life systems, including human communities, are entitled to:

To life: It is the right to the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes which sustain them, as well as the capacities and conditions for their renewal

To the Diversity of Life: It is the right to the preservation of the differentiation and variety of the beings that comprise Mother Earth, without being genetically altered, nor artificially modified in their structure, in such a manner that threatens their existence, functioning and future potential

To water: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of water to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components

To clean air: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of air to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components

To equilibrium: It is the right to maintenance or restoration of the inter-relation, interdependence, ability to complement and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced manner for the continuation of its cycles and the renewal of its vital processes

To Restoration: It is the right to the effective and opportune restoration of life systems affected by direct or indirect human activities

To live free of contamination: It is the right for preservation of Mother Earth and any of its components with regards to toxic and radioactive waste generated by human activities

Ecological Climate-Resilient Agriculture

Women Farming, Zimbabwe Women's News Network

Farmers, especially small-subsistence farmers, are being forced to adapt to the changing climate. Ecological climate-resilient agriculture is a term being brought into dialogues at the COP 17. Climate resilient agriculture is important to support and part of a feasible solution in addressing climate change adaptation. This term is based upon farmers' knowledge and incorporating agriculture methods that create healthy soil that store water during drought conditions and diversifying crops to create resilience against unpredictable weather patterns.

Climate resilient agriculture allows farmers to work with nature, not against and without genetically modified seeds and chemicals. This removes a dependency from international aid in several ways. First, of all it encourages seed saving and allows crops to naturally evolve to the changing climate. Thus, farmers do not have to purchase GMO seeds every year, often which eliminate offspring seeds. Secondly, it is preventative measure against climate change. Crops are becoming increasingly more vulnerable as result of drastic and unpredictable changes in weather patterns. This results in people

Women Farming West Africa, Earth Institute

having an increased risk of going hungry and not be able to fully participate in their communities. By incorporating climate resilient agriculture, farmers can prepare for a wide range of weather patterns and increase crop yields.

According to the UNDP, women account for 80% of food production in many African countries. For many of our impoverished sisters farming in rural areas life can be a constant struggle for survival. Inadequate support to deal with climate change severely effects the livelihood of women and eliminates any chance of gender equality. As widely discussed with my colleagues at the Feminist Task Force, there can be no poverty eradication without gender equality.

Inevitably weather patterns will continue to worsen and current farming practices will become increasingly insufficient. Steps need to be taken in order to build self-reliance and increase food sovereignty. These are five essential steps that are crucial to move towards climate resiliency, as outlined by the Third World Network:

1. Increasing investment in ecological agriculture: Governments must reorient agriculture policies and funding to climate-resilient agriculture. Projects such as communal water catchments systems, agricultural biodiversity and agroforestry must be provided support.

2. Managing climate risks and reducing vulnerability: Agriculture vulnerability can only be reduced by governments building adaptive capacity and resilience. Social safety nets must be put in place to deal with climate disasters or else the continuous cycle of poverty will worsen.

Women Farming, Ghana IFAD

3. Stopping climate-destructive agriculture by dismantling perverse incentives and subsidies that promote unsuitable and high-emissions agriculture.

4. Implementing a research and knowledge-sharing agenda towards ecological agriculture and climate resilience.

5. Building supportive international policy frameworks.


 

“We want to feed ourselves. We want to produce our own food” - Rural Women’s Assembly

March for Climate Justice

Durban, South Africa 

December 3rd, 2011

 

Climate Octopus

Amy Goodman from Democracy Now, interviewing Greepeace Director Kumi Naidoo

UN Officials Greeting Protesto

This past Saturday I participated in a large march for Climate Justice with environmental groups, unions and activists from across the world and the continent of Africa.The lively march was attended by over 20,000 people. Major highways and roads where shut down for peoples voices and concerns to be heard at COP 17. The chants could even be heard through the UN walls! The march stopped in front of the dubbed, “Conference Of the Polluters” and a large rally took place. At the rally UN officials and Christiana Figueres, the Executive Director of the UN Convention and Framework on Climate Change, came out to hear the demands and speak. Of course, what they said was completely irrelevant and choices have all ready been made. As one point Ms. Figueres said, “I see people from all over the world here, even my own brother is in the crowd”. After she left, surrounded by a dozen riot police, the main organizer came up on the stage and said “Ms. Figueres said she saw one brother, but I look around the crowd and see thousands of my brothers and sisters”.



Over three-hundred women came in caravans from all over Africa with the “Rural Women’s Assembly” they joined the protest loudly singing songs, dancing and playing drums. One common chant was “the rain never came, my crops didn’t grow” and the chorus of “I am a Socialist”. It was very unique experience seeing people from the entire African continent joining together and telling the international community that they will no longer stand for environmental exploitation. Exploitation that takes away the ability of people to be self-reliant, work with the systems of Mother Earth to grow food and to provide decent life for themselves and their family.


Last year in Cancun, I was surrounded by indigenous peoples from all over Central America, the sounds of Peruvian flutes, women with long braid and brightly colored skirts. Along with hearing the continuous message and Latino passion for protecting Mother Earth. In Cancun, people were very upset and disappointed with the negotiation processes. But there was still a strong sense of hope that climate change could begin the be reversed and environmental destruction stopped .

Via Campesina - Africa

In Durban, I am surrounded by women singing in Zulu, wearing beautiful colored fabrics, large hair wraps and playing very loud leather drums. People are still widely debating the system that continuously steals natural resources from the soils of the earth and encourages corporate exploitation of impoverished communities. But, the energy is changing, people are very angry and they can not grow crops. In order to survive they are being forced to leave their communities and no resources are being made accessible for farmers to adapt to our changing climate. 

At the march and in various meetings I sense a feeling of frustration. The talks are moving away from how to lower carbons emissions and to climate adaptation. We are being forced to adapt to the changing climate, as result of international governing bodies not enforcing laws and stopping the destruction. People are sadly accepting that countries will continue to focus on their GDP and not the protection of mother earth. 

Myself and Marta, my friend and colleague

...fairness for those who have contributed the least, yet are the most affected by our changing climate

December 1, 2011

“The UN is committed to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. This means equity. This means fairness for those who have contributed the least, yet are the most affected by our changing climate. This means climate justice for all.” - Time For Climate Justice

Durban, South Africa

COP 17 Conference

Greetings from beautiful South Africa! I am here attending the COP 17 Conference as part of the Feminist Task Force delegation and as a  representative of the Loretto Community. While attending the conference I will be writing reports on emerging climate change policy, food sovereignty and the rights of small subsistence farmers.

 The UN COP 17, officially called the Conference of the Parties is an annual event that assesses progress on how the international community is dealing with climate change. It’s also a time for international social movements, farmers, indigenous groups and non-governmental organizations to mobilize and present their demands for climate justice to international delegations.

One of the major themes this year is the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol (KP) was developed in 1997 and is a legally binding agreement under which industrialized countries will reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2% compared to the year 1990 (but note that, compared to the emissions levels that would be expected by 2010 without the Protocol, this target represents a 29% cut). Currently being discussed here at Durban is the Kyoto second commitment period, which is a time for governments to ratify their 5-year QEROs (quantified emission reduction obligations) and insure it is in alignment with the agreements made last year for the temperature to raise a high two-degrees celsius.

As result of continued economic growth and consumption habits in the global north we are on track to exceed the two-degree celsius mark. To avoid large fines and international pressure countries such as the US and Canada are planning to exit the KP. They want to develop a new “pledge and review” system, where countries would make a pledge to the UN and only pollute an agreed amount. In reality, countries are going to continue their assault on mother earth and temperature will rise.  We can not trust that countries who are all ready ignoring international environmental laws will stop their projected economic growth. 

Only by developing a new economic system and different ways to measure growth will we be able to stop the destruction of our planet. CO2 emissions are the result of natural resources being extracted from mother earth, deforestation and corporate exploitation. There is a direct correlation between northern consumption habits and climate change. The demand for products is excruciating high and we are in no way living sustainably. Whether it be a driving to a grocery store a mile away or consuming meat, that led to a forest being cut down for cattle grazing. Every consumption choice we make leads to the exploitation of mother earth and our brothers and sisters in the global south.

“Small and simple efforts make big efforts. When we talk about food security, we must focus on small scale farmers, especially women farmers”. – Sami Hassan

The final session I attended at the LDC conference was on the role of women in agriculture. The session was sponsored by the Zenab for Women in Development (http://www.zenab.org/) based in Sudan. This was a great meeting and incredibly informative. The organizers and farmers from Zenab talked about actual ways women farmers are improving their livelihood, not just theoretical ideas.  



Agriculture Tools Built by Zenab



The founder and president of Zenab is Fatima Ahmed, who presented most of the information about the organization and explained their practices. Currently, Zenab is working with over a 1,000 women in over 25 rural communities throughout Sudan. Based on their research and experience the agriculture programs have greatly enhanced lives of woman throughout Sudan. They believe that if these initiatives were adopted in other rural communities, especially in African, food security issues could change for the better.

Zenab development work is mainly concentrated on women farmers. Their services mainly consist of providing seeds, assisting in land preparation and providing farming tools to women.

Hagir Ibrahim, a women in farmer from Sudan and an organization project manager, presented a case study about the Gedaref state in Sudan on women subsistence farmers, whom make up 57% of all farmers in Gedaref.

Lack of land sovereignty is a problem for rural farmers around the world; we see that this injustice is also problematic in Sudan. One of the main barriers that women face is land sovereignty. In Gedaref only 1% of all land is registered under a women’s name. As result of their little or no assets it is very difficult to gain access bank loans and purchase land. The lack of land limits them to growing food for only their families and unable to grow any cash crops.

One of the first actions Zenab in Gedaref was to help organize start a womens’farmer women’s union in collaboration with local agriculture authorities. Through the union a savings group was established, which eventually allowed women to establish credit with banks. With credit women were able to purchase land and began to plant cash crops. The creation of the farmer’s union helped build partnership with public and private financial groups. This was a crucial step because it increased access to inputs and outputs markets as well as knowledge, technology and extension services.

Zenab also focused on increasing women’s access to farming tools or intermediate technology. Many of the women in Gedaref were limited to using a sal’luca, a traditional tool used to prepare the land for planting. The use of new technology and tools increased efficiency, production capabilities and quality of life for women

materials used to build agriculture tools

Sami Hassan, an agriculture engineer with Zenab, built several products that enabled women to produce more for their families and increase their production levels. All of the products are made in the communities from local or recycled materials.

• Hand driven fertilizer that is light, robust and easy to operate. Allows of equal distribution of fertilizer, instead of hand distribution.
• Hand driven inter row cultivator, removes weeds from in between plants. This is instead of using one small hand tool while sitting on ground.
• Hand driven ridge re-shaper, in Sudan they plant on ridges not flat land. For high production it is essential to reshape ridges, it encourages water flow and good soil production.
• Hand driven precise planter that can plant two rows at a time. Planter also places seeds in the correct depths and spacing.

presenters from Zenab

Sami than went on to explain; “As a LDC, 70% of population is engaged with agriculture. If we are generally concerned about development, we must focus on agriculture. We must touch on the needs of the people to make the change. These small and simple technologies assist in the development of countries”.

Overall it was a very interesting session and provided concrete, simple solutions on how to improve lives of women farmers in rural communities. I appreciated that NGO workers and women farmers from Sudan made the presentation, not university professors conducting research on foreign “subjects”.

Domestic Workers and Migration

Gender and Migration: Care workers at the interface of migration and Development

Sponsored by UN Women and International Labor Organization

On Thursday I attended a meeting on domestic workers and migration, sponsored by UN Women and the International Labor Organization. This meeting was a good follow-up to other events I attended at the UN this past year. The event was facilitated by Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile and now executive director of UN Women.

The migration of care workers and their rights is an issue that is very inter-related with the LDCs. Many of the workers migrate from LDCs to find employment in wealthier countries. A domestic worker or care worker is usually someone employed in a home, providing elderly care, cleaning, cooking or child care services. More often then not it is a woman, working in a country that is not her own and sending a large portion of her earning back home to her family.

We heard from an expert in the field, Prof. Judy Fudge from the University of Victoria in Canada. She explained that immigrant women lack many rights within host countries and are often restricted to care work.

Many of the women lack any labor standards or protection from abuse. It is difficult to impose any employment regulations when workers are living and working in their employers’ home. Dr. Fudge empathized that it is important to have international labor standards in order to recognize the importance of domestic work. If these labor standards are passed by the UN and internationalized organizations will be able to better regulate working conditions and workers’ unions will receive international protection.

One of the solutions Prof. Fudge and the other speakers mentioned is the convention on Decent Work for Domestic workers. Currently the ILO is trying to pass a draft convention at the United Nations. The convention is very comprehensive and essential to giving domestic worker the respect and protection they deserve.

Overall the meeting was interesting and relevant to current conventions that are being drafted at the UN. But I was incredibly disappointed in the lack of diversity, specifically class diversity. Several times through the event the speakers would mention how “domestic workers help us” and “workers are essential in our households”. I feel as if so many of theses meetings are incredibly classist and egotistical. How can you have a meeting about domestic workers in the LDCs without having workers present to talking about their struggles and what they want?

In many ways none of these ideas and conventions can not be implemented or actualized while neo-liberal policies are being enforced by global governing bodies. Without a looking for alternatives to our current capitalist system the disparity between the rich and poor will continue to grow and low-wage workers will continue to be exploited.

The following quote from Paulo Freire, author of the outstanding book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed exemplifies many of my thoughts about this meeting and others that I have attended in recent months; "Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress".

Food Vulnerabilities in the LDCs

This afternoon I attended a large thematic debate at the official LDC-IV conference titled: Reducing food vulnerabilities, responding to emerging challenges and enhancing food security in least developed countries. In simple terms it was a meeting that addressed why LDCs are at high risk for food vulnerability and what can be done to address these challenges.

The main themes of the event were climate changes effects on food security, importance of investing in small farmers, malnutrition and how farming and agriculture are the backbone of the LDCs.



Picture from the meeting today



Climate change and agriculture are obviously very interrelated, as weather patterns change so do crop yields. Dr. Louis Kasekende from Uganda explained that: “Climate change is close to wiping out any development the LDCs made over the past ten years.” Dr. Kasekende pointed to the case of South Asia whose crop yields over the past decade have decreased 30%-40% due to complexities of climate change.

Specifically one can look at the increase of droughts worldwide. Case studies of countries effected by droughts show how changing climate patterns systematically affects the entire social structure of countries. Prof. Anna Tibaijuka from Tanzania stressed that: “A huge vulnerability of  LDCs is drought (a majority of LDCs are in Africa) and how it disproportionally affects the poor. Drought has serious impacts on the economies of rural communities. Often it forces families to sell their assets in order to make up for agriculture losses. Assets usually consist of livestock, which has to be sold in a vey depressed market, resulting in even higher losses for families. Drought has serious implications on women’s livelihood. It can make women more vulnerable to malnutrition and increase in physical violence and abuse. This is in addition to an all ready stressed and unstable living environment.”

Many of the speakers stressed that there must be a safety net to enhance the resistance of people as they deal with the impacts of climate change. Mr. Amir Abdulla, Deputy Secretary Director of the World Food Program, explained that climate change will potentially increase the number of people dealing with food insecurity by 10-20%. Which means there will be 25 million more malnourished children in world, a direct consequence of climate change.

There has been a shift in aid/development from food distribution to impoverished countries to building infrastructures that support small farmers to be self-reliant and grow their own food. Gender plays an important role in this because women are usually the farmers. Dr. Babu Mathews, from the South Asia Alliance to Eradicate Poverty, addressed the question of food production and distribution when analyzing food vulnerabilities in the LDCs. “In order for there to be adequate food production it is tremendously importance that land is given to women with countries following the principle of eminent domain. On a community level it is important that group farming and communal granaries are supported. Only by really prioritizing subsistence farming can you have food security."

Food vulnerability is a struggle for millions of people around the world. The meeting did a good job at analyzing the issue and how international documents dealing with food vulnerability must be ratified because of climate change. But it is difficult for me to see how any of these changes will be actualized, particularly because of the lack of farmers from the LDcs present at the meetings and I assume in the document negotiation processes. One change that could be addressed as result of the meeting is organizations such the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food program altering their current aid distribution models. Sadly, it does not seem too hopeful that changes will be made by mega food aid organizations. The first thing the FAO representative discussed was how the organization is increasing chemical fertilizer distribution by millions of tons and increasing access to “scientifically enhanced seeds” (aka Monsanto GMO seeds) to farmers in the LDCs. From my very limited understanding I see the only way for their to be real food security is by small subsistence farmers organizing themselves, continuing traditional farming methods (with the addition of new farming techniques that encourage bio-diversity), ending a the force feeding of GMO seeds, lowering tariffs so goods can be exported at a just price and incorporating communal farming. Basically everything that the peasant organization La Via Campesina and the goddess of seed saving Vandana Shiva advocate.

I encourage you to read La Via Campesina's report on "How Small Farmers Can Feed the World": http://www.viacampesina.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=8&Itemid=30