Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Puerto Alegre (Fides Service) - From 6 to 10 March in Puerto Alegre in Brazil there was an International Conference on Land Reform and Rural Development to discuss the situation of rural communities in countries in the southern hemisphere, often the most affected by poverty. The conference was organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO the Brazilian government provided funding and logistic assistance.
According to FAO, three quarters of the world’s 852 million people suffering from hunger live in rural areas. Most are subsistence farmers who have no land of their own or only small unproductive plots which fail to give enough food for survival. Land reform and guaranteed access to water is the only path to improve living conditions and offer new opportunities for development.
The Conference focused on five main issues: promoting policies to guarantee access to resources for poor people; improve local planning and management of natural resources; identify new development opportunities for rural communities; the necessity for land reform to be based on criteria of social justice and sustainability and the importance of food sovereignty for equal access to resources .
Parallel to the FAO Conference there was also a “Land, Territory and Dignity”, panel discussion involving NGOs and rural organisations from all over the world. (AP) (14/3/2006 Agenzia Fides; Righe:24; Parole:274)
