UNDROP is also unprecedented in that it includes language on the “right to food sovereignty”. This is quite remarkable! In general, governments have an aversion to the term ‘food sovereignty’. This has to do with the inherent political implications of the power shifting that occurs when peasants exercise their rights to seeds, land, water, and the protection of their traditional knowledge, which are key aspects of food sovereignty.
From a human rights perspective, UNDROP contains other unique elements that have not been addressed before in any UN instrument. These include the recognition of agroecology as a means to achieve important peasants’ rights, the right to be protected against the use of – and the right not to use – hazardous substances such as agrochemicals, and the right to be protected against human rights infringements arising from GMO-related activities."
What are the roots of UNDROP?
"Over the years, awareness has been growing about the essential socio-cultural roles of peasants, as well as their collective production capacity in terms of volume, diversity and outreach. We’ve seen increased discussions in international fora about the vulnerable situation and lack of protection for peasants and rural workers.
"UNDROP was born out of an ethical urgency to recognise, respect and dignify peasants and rural workers"
Recognition of the need to respect peasants’ rights is long overdue. Peasants not only play an essential role in feeding the world; they also manage agroecosystems and preserve cultures connected with farming and food. The 2.4 billion peasants around the world produce up to 80% of all locally consumed food, mostly on small plots of land of under five hectares. Paradoxically, peasants suffer more material poverty, discrimination, and rights violations than any other population around the world.
UNDROP is the result of attempts to address these systemic injustices. It was born out of a rightful need and an ethical urgency to recognise, respect and dignify peasants and rural agricultural workers.
Thanks to the work of committed civil society and grassroots organisations including La Vía Campesina (LVC), the peasants’ rights discussion was ‘elevated’ to the UN fora. The participation of peasants throughout the entire UNDROP drafting process allowed them to bring their specific struggles to the negotiating table. Thanks in part to their crucial contribution, UNDROP addresses many of the complex and interrelated challenges faced by peasants and rural workers."
How will UNDROP be useful for the agroecology movement, and vice-versa?
"Agroecology is recognised as both a right and a duty in the declaration, at different complementary levels. UNDROP explicitly mentions the role of agroecology in preserving livelihoods and traditional knowledge, in protecting land and so-called natural resources, and in the transition to sustainable agriculture. Moreover, other provisions of UNDROP are relevant to agroecological management and the positive impacts it fosters.
At the same time, the agroecological movement will be fundamental in the implementation of UNDROP. For instance, agroecology supports the fulfillment of peasants’ rights by restoring the ecosystems upon which peasant livelihoods and identities are built. Furthermore, the technical and social processes promoted by agroecology contribute to achieving keystone rights: to food sovereignty, to resilience, to healthy food, to decent work and safe working conditions, and to many other rights covered by UNDROP. UNDROP and agroecological movements and processes are therefore mutually supportive."
Does this new agreement give you optimism about the coming years?
"Yes! UNDROP comes at a very crucial time for the strengthening and supporting of peasants’ movements in a context where rural areas are aging, cities and infrastructure are expanding on agricultural lands, mainstream market and trade practices are impoverishing peasant communities, and illegal activities and armed conflicts are eroding peasant territories around the world. Moreover, climate change is devastating rural livelihoods, and there is insufficient institutional support for coping in the short term and adapting in the long term. These are enormous and intertwined issues that weaken and shrink peasantries. This in turn is very dangerous: without peasants, humanity will face unbearable food and cultural crises.
"Promoting, protecting and implementing the rights of peasants is vital and involves profound positive transformations including changing our values and the way we recognise and respect each other"
Even though the prediction that peasants will disappear has been around for many decades, they still show huge amounts of relevance and resilience. But we know resilience also has its limits. It is therefore very important to work on different levels – global, national and local – to strengthen, revive and dignify peasants, including women, children and youth. Let me share some specific examples in which UNDROP has played a supporting role.
There are already examples of how UNDROP has been used in practice. At the territorial level, elements in the declaration provided guidance to three Indigenous nations in Bolivia (Yampara, Khara Khara and Guaraní) in proposing a new regulatory instrument. This led to a departmental law that protects native varieties and landraces of maize and the associated knowledge, based on the rights of Indigenous Peoples and peasants. At the national level, in July 2023 Colombia recognised the country’s peasants as rights holders and people deserving special protection.
Globally, the UN approved a special mechanism to strengthen the implementation and monitoring of UNDROP in September 2023. Around two months later, the first regional governmental consultation on the implementation of UNDROP in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Colombia. Also, various international grassroot groups, such as the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) and La Vía Campesina, together with civil society organisations and committed scholars, are actively promoting UNDROP as a cross cutting instrument in different UN discussions.
The road ahead is long, but the stage is set for adopting human rights-based approaches that will help us to effectively address urgent global challenges. Promoting, protecting and implementing the rights of peasants is vital, and involves profound positive transformations including changing our values and the way we recognise and respect each other.
UNDROP and agroecology respectively provide the legal framework and the territorial experiences and evidence that will help us to move towards more just, dignified, and healthy livelihoods for peasants and, hence, for all humanity."
Interview by Ann Doherty, a farmer in the Netherlands and an editor of Rooted magazine. Contact rooted@cultivatecollective.org.
An elaborate analysis of UNDROP written by Georgina Catacora-Vargas is available in our sister magazines LEISA Revista de Agroecologia (Spanish) and in Agriculturas (Portuguese).
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This article is part of Issue 1-2024: Policies for Agroecology
