Posts Categorized: Land Grabbing

Homes and Livelihoods Fall into the Sea

Sri Lanka builds a man-made island and fisherfolk lose everything to coastal erosion By Herman Kumara and Prasad Purnimal Jayamanna | Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Network Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan Government’s Port City project is well underway.  The project, carried out in partnership with the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), extends the city of… Read more »

Communities Struggle for Fair Compensation in Cameroon

Large-scale development projects destroy property and livelihoods By Jaff Bamenjo with contributions from Prosper Kouayep  and Jacques Bile | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Since 2000, large-scale development projects have been on the rise in Cameroon. The implementation of oil pipeline, road , port infrastructure  and agribusiness projects have resulted in the destruction of property and… Read more »

Haitian farmers and civil society peacefully demand social reforms

By Cindy Corell | Mission Co-worker Haiti Haiti operates daily in crisis mode. Eighty percent of Haitians survive on less than $2.40 a day. Inflation puts the price of daily necessities further and further out of reach for the average family. The cost of education, too, is rising, so parents will do without to send… Read more »

Haiti: Land use and the environment

By Fabienne Jean | Coordinator for FONDAMA   Before it was colonized, the island     of Haiti was inhabited    by a people who depended mainly and traditionally on natural resources. These people lived and produced their food with methods that respected the “Pachamama,” a term meaning “Our mother, the earth.” With the Treaty of Ryswick (1697), the island… Read more »

Fishing Villages Demand Release of Lands from Military Occupation

Eight years after the end of civil war in Sri Lanka, internally displaced persons continue to struggle to return home By Raajan Francis | Coordinator of Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Sri Lanka In 2009, in the final stages of the nearly three-decades civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the militant group Liberation… Read more »

Palm Plantation Invades Ancestral Lands

Land grab in Mbonjo village, Cameroon displaces population and disrespects ancestral burial grounds By Jaff Bamenjo | Coordinator of RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon Imagine the graves of your loved ones being taken over by a palm tree plantation for the export of palm oil. The palm trees stand tall, surrounding the graves, and standing on the graves… Read more »

The Continuous Struggle for Land Rights in Sri Lanka

By Herman Kumara | Chairperson of Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Sri Lanka   Praja Abhilasha (PA), the Joining Hands network in Sri Lanka, in partnership with its member organization the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), organized a 3-day land rights workshop in April 2017 to bring together land rights campaigners from across the country to… Read more »

Herakles Farms’ Cameroon Land Grab is Losing its Grip

By Joséphine Maidjane Mbara and Jaff Bamenjo | RELUFA, Joining Hands Cameroon The frequency of large scale land acquisitions for agro-industry projects has been exponentially on the rise in most African countries for the past decade. Land deals are always portrayed by investors and government agencies as necessary to improve economic growth and expand local… Read more »

Haiti’s New President Worries Land-Rights Advocates

By Cindy Corell | Mission Co-worker, Joining Hands Haiti With more than 2 million of its almost 11 million citizens still suffering seven years after a catastrophic earthquake struck in 2010, Haitians living on the island took another harsh blow in October 2016 when Hurricane Matthew hit. The massive storm took lives, destroyed crops, livestock… Read more »

Sand Mining in Sri Lanka Endangers Coral Reefs and Livelihoods

By Herman Kumara | Praja Abhilasha, Joining Hands Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan Government, in partnership with the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC), is moving forward with its plans to build a Port City, a business and tourism district that extends the city of Colombo onto a man-made island. The government promises that the Port… Read more »