{"id":1643,"date":"2025-04-16T23:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T18:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlinepeoplesnews.com\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2025-04-16T23:54:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T18:09:04","slug":"april-17-international-day-of-peasants-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlinepeoplesnews.com\/?p=1643","title":{"rendered":"April 17: International Day of Peasants\u2019 Struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pramesh Pokharel<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00a0Photo: From Archive<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 17 is a historic day for the peasant communities of the world. Similar to May Day for workers and March 8 for women, April 17 is the International Day of Solidarity and Action for Peasant Communities. Millions of peasants around the world have been celebrating this day as the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle for the last 29 years. In particular, the members of La Via Campesina, the largest peasant network of food producers in more than 80 countries observe this day with the call for Peasants’ Rights, Food Sovereignty, and an End to War and Genocide.<\/p>\n

Since the 1996 massacre of peasants in Eldorado dos Caraj\u00e1s, in Brazil, where 21 peasants were murdered for fighting for agrarian reform, this day has\u00a0 symbolized\u00a0 solidarity, internationalism, and struggles for food sovereignty, peasant agroecology, agrarian reform, and peasant feminism, etc. Recently, the call has grown louder for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)<\/b> and the fight for climate justice. This year, the struggle demands an end to the genocide in Gaza and an end to war and violence around the world. On this occasion, this article discusses UNDROP, its relevance, and its ratification process in Nepal.<\/p>\n

What is the Peasants\u2019 Rights Declaration (UNDROP)?<\/b><\/p>\n

UNDROP is the acronym for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. We know about various United Nations instruments to protect the rights of people and communities, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Covenant on Economic and Socio-Cultural Rights (1966), Rights of Disabled Persons (1975), Indigenous Peoples\u2019 Rights (2007), the Vienna Declaration (1993), ILO 169, the Refugee Rights (1951), Women\u2019s Rights (CEDAW, 1979), Children’s Rights (1989), etc. These international instruments have played an important role in protecting the rights of their respective groups, democratizing communities, and harmonizing national laws [1].<\/p>\n

However, in the case of small food producers\u2014who are primarily victims of systemic and structural crises\u2014these UN standards have been insufficient. For many years,\u00a0 demands for\u00a0 a\u00a0 peasants charter\u00a0 were neglected and undermined. Peasants\u2019 movements, led by La Via Campesina,\u00a0 advocated for the declaration for decades, negotiating with UN bodies. Though it did not result in a binding legal charter, the achievement came in the form of a declaration on December 17, 2018 [2].<\/p>\n

This campaign, initiated by La Via Campesina 30 years ago, began its formal process 20 years ago and, after a long\u00a0 struggle at different levels, became a reality. Many\u00a0 may not realize that tDecember 17, 2023, marked five years since the declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly [1].<\/p>\n

Chronology of the Peasants Struggle for Peasants Rights Law in Nepal<\/b><\/p>\n

All Nepal Peasants\u2019s Federation (ANPFa) has long advocated for comprehensive legislation\u00a0 addressing peasants\u2019 rights, which has been one of its core struggles. ANPFa actively participated in developing UNDROP from its initial discussions within La Via Campesina, including early initiatives led by Indonesia’s SPI.<\/p>\n

The neoliberal policies implemented in\u00a0 Nepal after the 1990s exacerbated the challenges of low agricultural productivity.\u00a0 This era saw accelerated commercialization of agriculture, leading to resource privatization, widespread landlessness, and the marginalization of small-scale producers.<\/p>\n

Even under democratic governments\u2014including those led by leftist parties\u2014meaningful land reform programs never materialized. Without structural challenges to production systems, farmers lost control over their means of production, fueling landlessness and absentee land ownership. This vacuum enabled the rise of a comprador class that exploits agricultural resources without investing in rural communities.<\/p>\n

That is why beyond\u00a0 peasants\u2019 movements, even NGOs and INGOs have advocated for farmers\u2019 legislation, particularly regarding international organizations like the\u00a0 CBD, TRIPS, ITPGRFA, and WTO rules. A seminal 2008 study\u00a0 \u201cLegal Mechanisms to Protect Farmers\u2019 Rights in Nepal\u201d<\/i> by Kamalesh Adhikari (PRO PUBLIC\/SAWTEE), urges legal protections [3].<\/p>\n

The 2019 Kathmandu Declaration from the International Conference on Food Sovereignty and Peasants Rights emphasized: \u201cWe commit to\u00a0 fighting for peasants\u2019 rights-ensuring those practicing \u00a0 small-scale farming can live with dignity and prosper. UNDROP and food sovereignty\u00a0 rights are essential tools to achieve this vision\u201d [4].<\/p>\n

Completing this, Nepal\u2019s National Human Rights Commissions (NHRC) published\u00a0 \u201cReinforcing Peasants\u2019 Rights\u201d, which\u00a0 recommended constitutional recognition of\u00a0 peasants\u2019 rights through Farmers\u2019 Law [5]:<\/p>\n