The Great Black Dispossession

May 20, 2024

On December 8, 2020, US President-elect Joe Biden chose Tom Vilsack to head the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Vilsack had served as USDA Secretary under President Obama. Black farmers were outraged. One farmer, Michael Stovall, founder of Independent Black Farmers, said of Vilsack, “When it comes to civil rights, the rights of people, he’s not for that. It’s very disappointing they even want to consider him coming back after what he has done to limited resource farmers and what he continues to do to destroy lives.” Black farmers’ disappointment with Vilsack’s selection was compounded by the fact that Biden’s campaign specifically courted Black farmers more than any in recent years. Biden’s decision, however, can be seen as the continuation of century-long US agricultural policies that have played an instrumental role in one of the greatest overlooked civil rights issues in American history: the loss of Black farmland in the United States in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Emperor Has No New Clothes
January 30, 2020
The EBA program was not created to help farmers. The Bank's claims to support farmers via the EBA is inherently contradictory to the own raison d'être of the program. The best way for the World Bank to assist farmers would be to disband the EBA program altogether.

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The Failure of Input Subsidies and a New Path Forward to Fight Hunger in Malawi
January 23, 2020 Andy Currier
On October 15th 2019, Malawi’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Water Development, Kondwani Nankhuma kicked off the 14th year of the country’s Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP). The program, which distributes vouchers to farmers that subsidize the cost of fertilizer and "improved" seed varieties, has been the dominant response to persistent food insecurity in the country.

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Feeding the Rich While Starving the Poor: Trump Administration’s Cuts to Food Assistance
December 26, 2019 Andy Currier
Early December, the Trump administration finalized a rule that will tighten work requirements to qualify for food stamps; a decision that will strip desperately needed food assistance from an estimated 700,000 people.

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Tanzania's Withdrawal from the African Court on Human and People's Rights
December 9, 2019 Anuradha Mittal
A Wrong Move for the Country and for the Continent Maasai villagers, their faces are hidden for their protection. Credit: Oakland Institute When domestic mechanisms fail and there is no rule of law, independent regional and international mechanisms are essential to ensure accountability and human rights for all. This December 10th, recognized internationally as Human Rights Day, it is necessary to challenge Tanzanian President John Magufuli...

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Haq Nahi to Jail Sahi
November 23, 2019 Janhavi Mittal
“Wildlife ki seva hi karni hai, aur aadmi ki nahi, toh inse kahiye ki election samay par vote bhi janvaron se lene jaye. Humein na toh adhikar milte hain, na insan ka darja.“ “If they want to only protect wildlife and not people, let them turn to animals for votes during elections. We neither get our forest rights, or even the most basic human rights.“ Anar Singh Bandole

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Dalit and Adivasi Women at the Forefront of the Forest Rights Movement in India
September 9, 2019 Janhavi Mittal
The Supreme Court of India is set to rule on a case, Wildlife Trust Vs the Union of India, which could result in the eviction of 1.9 million forest dwellers from the country's Indigenous and traditionally marginalized communities.

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Legalizing Dispossession: A Tale of Two Indian Land Grabs
August 15, 2019 Anuradha Mittal
India's 73rd Independence Day merits introspection on the deep crisis faced by the world's largest democracy. Two recent attempts at perpetuating unprecedented land grabs, mark the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government's proclivity for legalizing dispossession and marginalization of the most vulnerable.

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We Need Bold, Ambitious Action to Address the Climate Crisis – and Agroecology is the Answer
August 13, 2019 Elizabeth Fraser
With the clock ticking and the window for change narrowing each day that goes by, it is clear that we need a bold and ambitious campaign to invest in agroecological solutions that build robust, diverse, and resilient food systems in communities across the planet. The good news is, just as is evident in the Himalayas, such bold action won't just help us address climate change--it also has the potential to address systemic issues like poverty and...

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Who is Afraid of the Forest Rights Act?
August 5, 2019 Janhavi Mittal
International civil society must continue to demand that the government of India not only defend the FRA, a progressive legislation that protects traditional forest dwelling communities, but also ensure its careful and widespread implementation.

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A Response to Klaus Deininger’s Blog Post The World Bank’s Land and Poverty Conference: 20 years on
March 22, 2019 Frederic Mousseau
Dear Mr. Deininger, Your recent blog post surprisingly contradicts the prescriptions and policy guidance that your organization, the World Bank, gives to governments around the world, particularly in Africa. You stress the need “to base interventions on land, on solid empirical evidence rather than ideology.” Yet, when it comes to land and agriculture, the World Bank clearly follows an ideological blueprint, which focuses on...

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