Guest Blog:Oxfam’s Grow Campaign

Posted on January 3, 2012 by editor
Posted in Ethical Property Investing, Guest Bloggers Tagged Campaign, Grow, guest blog, Oxfam's

One in seven people goes hungry every day. One billion people. These are the figures from Oxfam’s latest scheme, the Grow Campaign, which seeks to fix the broken global food system.

Drought

It is an ambitious campaign from the charity, which is aiming to tackle four major factors that have woven together to create the food deficit: intensive farming, food price hikes, land grabs and climate change. This latter is especially prevalent at the moment, considering the terrible drought in Africa that has caused hundreds of thousands to flee Somalia and seek refuge in dangerously overcrowded camps.

And there are other factors forcing people from their homes. Oxfam’s fight against land grabs focuses on Uganda, where farmers and their families are having their land and homes taken away from them. Rising food prices mean that wealthy companies are looking for cheap agricultural land, often leaving it empty to increase in value and generate profit. However, in many cases, the sold land is already being lived on by families who use it to grow food to feed themselves and build shelter.

Land Grabbing

But with nothing in place to secure their rights to the land, they are evicted from it – often suddenly and without warning or compensation. There have even been reports of violence used against the evictees, forcing them off the land to be left in destitution. In one land grab case alone, Oxfam report that more than 20,000 people were evicted – in a move that was conducted by the UK-based New Forests Company.

Accounts from some of the evictees said that their claim to the land was still being considered at court when army and police members forced them out in waves of evictions over the course of a year. The land was being cleared to allow the New Forests Company to plant trees to gain carbon credits and sell timber.

The NFC responded to Oxfam’s investigations by saying that the company played no part in the evictions that were, on the whole, voluntary. Movement from government land happened daily, and is the sole responsibility of that authority.

Oxfam has continued to exert pressure on the NFC, however, and has since received assurance that the company will conduct an external investigation into the eviction claims. The charity is committed to following the progress of this and ensuring its completion.

Grow Campaign Aim

Ultimately, the aim of the Grow Campaign for this aspect is to nip it all in the bud and make sure that the rights of the land are clearly stated. It seeks global rules which will push governments to provide security for smallholder farmers and protect their rights, and should evictions need to take place, give the right support and compensation.
“>Joining the Grow campaign gives access to opportunities to help the cause, invitations to backstage events, progress reports and ways to pressure politicians and companies. All of which is arrowed towards no one had to go hungry every day.