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International Indian Treaty Council CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS |
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PAN AP Congress Manila Declaration on Land and Food Without Poisons: People’s Rights and People’s Empowerment We, 140 participants from 17 countries representing people’s movements of peasants, women, agricultural workers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and rural youth, grassroots agroecological movements, consumers, human rights and child rights movements, research institutions, academicians, breast feeding advocates, scientists and social action groups met in the First PAN AP Congress in Manila from 1-4 April, 2003. We are meeting in a time of crisis. Along with an unjust war against Iraq and on other countries, an equally devastating war is destroying our lands, livelihoods, and our very existence. Under imperialist globalisation, through the WTO, IFIs such as the WB/IMF and the ADB, corporate monopoly of agriculture has intensified with the collusion of the landlords, governments and the rest of the elites causing greater misery for peasants, and other rural people. The governments have reneged on their responsibility to uphold the rights and welfare of the people. Trade liberalization is causing massive bankruptcies among peasants. Corporate farms and plantations displace peasants through contract growing schemes, and crop conversions, or eject them through land use conversions and outright takeover of their lands, water and other productive resources. At the same time, so-called development projects like tourism, golf courses, large dams, and corporate mining displace rural and coastal communities and indigenous peoples from their ancestral domain. People and rural communities are violently displaced. Landless, they are forced to migrate to even more exploitative conditions. On the other hand, agricultural land and other resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few landlords and agribusiness corporations. Agribusiness, food processing, agrochemical, seeds, pharmaceutical and veterinary TNCs are increasingly integrated into a few powerful global giants. This monopoly is intensifying the dependence on external industrial inputs, such as pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other inappropriate technologies. To suit their corporate interests, common resources are being patented and dangerous agro-technologies such as genetic engineering are being promoted. As a result more and more peasants, agricultural workers and their families are being poisoned; rural lands, forests, oceans and waters are devastated; biodiversity and beneficials are destroyed and food is unfit for human consumption. The livelihood and aspirations of peasants, agricultural workers, fisherfolk and indigenous peoples are consequently destroyed. The consumers choices are narrowed down to eat more unhealthy, unsafe and culturally undesirable food. At the same time, peasants, the very producers of food, have neither choice nor enough food for daily consumption. The US-led "War on terrorism" that now includes an invasion of Iraq is the culmination of a whole strategic and evolving pattern of militarisation, militarism, fundamentalism, casteism, and racism. This intensifies the hardship of rural communities and increases the violent repression and criminalisation of peasants, workers and people’s movements. Continued repression has not stopped our struggle and resistance to claim our rights, lands, resources and our dignity. In this first PAN AP Congress we celebrate our victories as we continue our resistance against imperialist globalisation. We have stopped TNCs encroaching our lands, prevented the construction of large dams, blocked the sale and use of pesticides, and strengthened ourselves even more. Now, with renewed vigour and determination, we forge ahead to achieve our vision of a people-centred, pro-women, ecological agriculture. This can only be realised in a society of peace and diversity that is free, just, equal and democratic. To realise this we shall:
As we link our arms across nations and build international solidarity, we march forward to resist imperialist globalisation, and realise a world where land and food are free from poisons and from the blood of oppression, subordination and exploitation.
The Manila Declaration was unanimously adopted by 140 participants from 17 countries—representing people’s movements of peasants, women, agricultural workers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and rural youth, grassroots agroecological movements, consumers, human rights and child rights movements, research institutions, academicians, breast feeding advocates, scientists and social action groups—who gathered at the first PAN AP Congress, held in Manila, Philippines, 1-4 April 2003.
The first Congress of the Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) successfully concluded with a consultative session to evolve the strong and inspirational Manila Declaration on Land and Food Without Poisons: People’s Rights and People’s Empowerment. This was followed by a fun and laughter filled exercise in network building! Photo: PAN AP
Building and strengthening the network, and the net! Participants gathered in a circle, and took turns to throw balls of string to build a net of partnership, solidarity, friendship, respect and commitment—attesting to the links forged at the Congress, and the struggles and tasks that still lay before us! Photo: PAN AP
PAN Asia and the
Pacific
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