The World Social Forum on Monday denounced land grabbing (jordtyveri) in Africa by foreign groups.
Bernard Pineau of the Catholic Committee against Hunger and Development said the purchases of land were made not only by multinational companies such as South Korea’s Daewoo in Madagascar, but also by states such as Saudi Arabia, ‘to the detriment of (skade for) small farmers”.
– African countries should pursue a “green revolution” to protect the world’s poorest continent from rising global food prices, said former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
– There can be no sovereignty without food sovereignty, he told a meeting of the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal,adding: – I am convinced that Africa has all the conditions necessary to follow the path trailed by Brazil, with the promotion of a green revolution.
Lula urged African countries to unite politically and distance themselves from “the major world powers” by forging ties with other developing nations.
The annual World Social Forum was founded in 2001 as an alternative to the business-oriented World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The forum defines itself as a platform for those “opposed to neoliberalism and a world dominated by capital or any form of imperialism”.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
