Access to land and the right to food

Olivier De Schutter presented on 21 October 2010 his new report on access to land and the right to food at the 65th General Assembly of the United Nations. The report shows that up to 30 million hectares of farmland is lost annually due to environmental degradation, conversion to industrial use or urbanization. A trend exacerbated by the expansion of agrofuels and the speculation on farmland. The report identifies ways to confer legal security of tenure upon farmers, fishermen and indigenous people affected by the current pressure on land. It also asks how agrarian reform can be promoted as an alternative to the global enclosure that we are currently witnessing.

 Olivier de Schutter - October 2010