Presentation of the theme

Women's access to land and natural resources is a key international issue. Too often, women's rights to land and natural resources are minimised or denied in favour of men, even though they make up the bulk of the peasant workforce and play a key role in agricultural production and natural resource management. This is the combined result of two major factors:

• customs reinforced by the misinterpretation of religion,
• land policies and laws that do not sufficiently recognise the place of women

Women peasants are therefore doubly penalised, on the one hand because as peasants they are subject to the same pressure as men in terms of land grabbing, particularly on the commons which are often their main source of resources, and on the other hand because within the communities they are discriminated against by patriarchal traditions.

Young people are also affected by these patriarchal customs, which also make it difficult for them to access land and become empowered, with the result that they tend to flee the rural world and abandon agriculture, weakening communities and leaving them vulnerable to external pressures, when they could have an important role to play in strengthening them and ensuring the future of peasant agriculture. The difference with women is that young people are destined to become senior citizens, so this discrimination is temporary, unlike that affecting women.

This discussion will be based on the experience developed by the UACCDDDD (Union of Associations and Coordination of Associations for the Development of the Rights of the Poor), a member of the Malian Convergence Against Land Grabbing (CMAT) in Mali.

Purpose of this discussion

This approach was developed in the specific context of West Africa, and does not claim to have universal value. Struggles must be adapted to local and national contexts, and therefore the forms of mobilisation will necessarily be different in other regions. The objective of this debate will be to compare the experiences of women's struggles around the world with that of the UACCDD and to reflect on possible common actions between various organisations and regions mobilised around this struggle, and on the international advocacy to be strengthened.

Main co-organiser: Convergence of Struggles for Land and Natural Resources - West Africa on the occasion of the launch of the third West African Caravan on the Right to Land, Water and Peasant Agroecology.

Theme 2: Timeline

The thematic discussion took place between 23 November and 16 December. You will find hereafter the recording of the launching videoconference (23/11/2021) as well as the closing one (16 December 2021).

Launch videoconference - 23/11/2021.

This one is available in French, and another one in Portuguese. For the English and Spanish versions, you can watch the videoconference in French with subtitles.

Speakers :
- Christian Castellanet - Agronomist and ecologist - AGTER
- Alonso Batista dos Santos - CONTAG
- Mônica Bufon Augusto - CONTAG
- Alair Dos Santos - Agricultural Policy Secretary - CONTAG
- Fanny Métrat - Confédération Paysanne

French version :

Portuguese version :

Closing video conference - 16/12/2021.

This one is available in French, and another one in Portuguese. For the English and Spanish versions, you can watch the videoconference in French with subtitles.

Find the programme and the speakers of this videoconference here : Programme

Speakers :
- Lucie Regal - Paysanne en France - Confédération Paysanne youth group
- Céline Berthier - Breeder and cheese-maker in France
- Mazé Morais - CONTAG
- Mônica Bufon Augusto - CONTAG
- Aïchata Koné - Communications Officer - CGLTE-OA
- Carmen diana Deere - Professor Emeritus of Latin American Studies and Economics at the University of Florida and FLACSO
- Hélène Guetat - Professor of Higher Agricultural Education at the Ecole Nationale de Formation Agronomique

French version :

Portuguese version:

"Access to land for women and young people

(October-December 2021)

Thematic discussion coordinated by Agter and the CGLTE-OA

Main topics covered: 

1. The importance of women and youth for the future of the peasantry
2. Structural differences in treatment and consideration between men and women and specific violence linked to patriarchy
3. Young people's difficulties in accessing land
4. Customary land rights and their impact on women's and young people's rights, how to make them more inclusive?
5. The role of farmers' organisations
6. Concrete ways forward on women's empowerment and organisation
7. Public policies for women
8. The articulation of struggles and strategies

Overall summary of discussions :

Full transcript of the launch webinar:

Full transcript of the closing webinar:

During this discussion of theme 2, we collected testimonies of the struggles of women and young peasants from different countries around the world and shared a series of testimonies on our Youtube channel.

You will find here two of these testimonies, that ofAïchata Koné (CGLTE-OA) and of Yeva Swart (ECVC), a young Dutch farmer .

Yeva Swart's testimony in English with subtitles available in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

Yeva Swart is a young farmer from the Netherlands. In this video she gives us a brief overview of the obstacles that young people and women face when they want to set up a farm. There is an urgent need for European and international solutions to facilitate women's and young people's access to land.

Testimony of Aïchata Koné in French with subtitles available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Aichata Koné is a young Malian activist with energy to spare! Her testimony takes us from her native region of Yanfoyila to Bamako. She tells us about her journey, that of a fighter for women's rights, and more broadly for the rights of peasants to access land. As Aichata says: "To all the women of the world and to all the girls of the world, together we will go all the way! Same damage, same fight, we have rights too! "