Bel\u00e9m do Par\u00e1, Brazil \u2013 12 November 2025
A vibrant delegation from La V\u00eda Campesina \u2014 composed of grassroots delegates from the United States, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Niger, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Thailand, Tunisia and Morocco \u2014 recently descended upon the \u201cAbril Vermelho\u201d encampment of Brazil\u2019s Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) in the Bel\u00e9m region of Par\u00e1. Their mission: not just to observe, but to engage in an act of international solidarity, recognising that the struggle for land, food sovereignty and climate justice is shared across continents.<\/p>\n
Framed by the preparatory work for COP 30 and the parallel Peoples\u2019 Summit in Bel\u00e9m, the visit underscored the delegates\u2019 commitment to strengthen political formation, share lived experiences of resistance, and reinforce the global front of peasant movements for climate justice and food sovereignty. The MST itself confirms this moment as part of a wider mobilisation of popular movements from 62 countries converging in Bel\u00e9m.<\/p>\n
From Monoculture Ruin to Collective Rebirth<\/strong> Faced with an abandoned, degraded landscape and land that no longer served its social purpose, MST began establishing temporary camps in the region around 2003. From 2004 onward, families began to occupy the land collectively \u2014 reframing it from unproductive latifundios and illegally seized \u201cterras griladas\u201d into a living settlement. One longtime resident, Do\u00f1a Rai, who arrived in 2004, puts it simply: \u201cWhen we came there was nothing; everything you see today was grown by the families themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Agroecology as Resistance and Renewal<\/strong> At the settlement, families practice syntropic agriculture and agroforestry systems (SAFs) \u2014 integrating trees with crops \u2014 with the aim of regenerating soil health, promoting food sovereignty and creating dignified livelihoods. While the original article you shared mentions specific parcels and practices (for example raising stingless bees, using pet-bottle brick construction etc.), even broadly the movement\u2019s National Plan emphasises agroecology, food sovereignty and restoration of common goods like soil, water and biodiversity.<\/p>\n Housing, Diversification and Cooperative Economy<\/strong> Yet, even in this transformation, the struggle persists: the community still awaits infrastructure such as a tractor, and continues to organise in nuclei of 8\u201310 families forming polos, as one resident put it: \u201cWe need a friendly shoulder in this struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n Global Solidarity and Climate Justice<\/strong> In Bel\u00e9m, the message is clear: the true solutions to the climate crisis cannot simply be technical fixes or carbon markets; they must root themselves in territorial justice, food sovereignty and empowerment of those who produce food and defend the land.<\/p>\n What This Means for Nepal and Beyond<\/strong> As COP 30 approaches (officially 10\u201321 November) and the Peoples\u2019 Summit convenes (12\u201316 November) in Bel\u00e9m, this mobilisation of peasants, small-farmers and communities of the Global South signals a different pathway \u2014 one rooted in dignity, diversity and collective action. In the end, the visit of the La V\u00eda Campesina delegation to the MST settlement reiterates that agroecology is not simply a production model \u2014 it is a political project of resistance that links land, nature, labour and community. And in the struggle for a just world \u2014 one where food and climate rights are not commodified but guaranteed \u2014 the rural poor are not victims: they are protagonists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bel\u00e9m do Par\u00e1, Brazil \u2013 12 November 2025A vibrant delegation from La V\u00eda Campesina \u2014 composed of grassroots delegates from the United States, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, Uruguay,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3,4],"tags":[176,1731,1725,1735,1724,1123,1736,1719,1722,1728,1732,1727,1720,858,1733,1746,1721,1744,1718,1734,1261,1747,1745,1748,1723,1729,1743,1726,1730,1738],"class_list":["post-2113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-asia","category-international","tag-agroecology","tag-agroforestry","tag-amazon","tag-anticapitalism","tag-belem","tag-brazil","tag-climateaction","tag-climatejustice","tag-cop30","tag-ecologicalregeneration","tag-environmentaljustice","tag-farmersrights","tag-foodsovereignty","tag-globalsolidarity","tag-globalsouth","tag-landliberation","tag-landreform","tag-latinamerica","tag-laviacampesina","tag-leftperspective","tag-mst","tag-nepalsolidarity","tag-peasantmovements","tag-peoplesstruggle","tag-peoplessummit","tag-ruraljustice","tag-socialistperspective","tag-socialmovements","tag-solidarityeconomy","tag-sustainableagriculture"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The site visited \u2014 the Abril Vermelho settlement \u2014 carries a history of corporate agribusiness collapse and popular reinvention. Once this land was dominated by a vast African oil-palm (\u201cdend\u00ea\u201d) monoculture plantation operated by the company Dempasa \/ Dend\u00ea do Par\u00e1 S\/A. According to industry reports, the plantation began in the 1970s but suffered massive losses when a disease known as amarellicimento fatal<\/em> (fatal yellowing) devastated the crop, leading the company into bankruptcy by 2000.<\/p>\n
What stands out in this settlement is how agroecology is not merely an alternative technique \u2014 it is a social and political project. The MST has long placed agroecology at the heart of its strategy, describing it as \u201cviable, just & necessary.\u201d In the Amazon context, a World Resources Institute (WRI) study cites the Abril Vermelho and neighbouring settlement Jo\u00e3o Batista as examples of former industrial-scale plantation land being transformed by agroforestry and community-led restoration.<\/p>\n
Beyond the fields, the settlement reflects a comprehensive model of living differently: families are building homes with low-impact bioconstruction (such as PET bottle bricks), growing diversified crops (a\u00e7a\u00ed, cacao, cupua\u00e7u, maize, cassava, Par\u00e1 nuts etc.), and participating actively in fairs and cooperative trading. These are not isolated experiments but a coherent challenge to the agribusiness model that dominates food, land and labour in Brazil and globally.<\/p>\n
For the international delegates, the field visit offered a lived insight into how land rights, agroecology, and climate justice are interwoven. As La V\u00eda Campesina declares, \u201cWe promote and practice agroecology as the systemic solution to achieve food sovereignty and social justice\u2026\u201d\u00a0Meanwhile, the MST outlines its presence at COP 30 and the Peoples\u2019 Summit as more than symbolic: \u201c1,300 MST activists will meet with movements from around the world \u2026 to push for more ambitious goals beyond what corporate-led climate policy offers.\u201d<\/p>\n
For readers in Nepal \u2014 where land inequality, forced displacement and industrial agribusiness also pose deep challenges \u2014 this gathering offers a powerful lesson. It reminds us that agroecology is not just an alternative farming method, but a form of collective resistance; that land reform remains central to both social justice and ecological sustainability; and that global solidarity across rural movements is critical in an era of climate breakdown.<\/p>\n
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