There are now about fifty scattered in thirty countries. They aim to change the connotations of agriculture. For now, they are notable for conflicts with rural communities. Agricultural growth poles, agro-industrial parks, growth hubs and corridors and special economic zones. They have different names but the same purpose: to activate agricultural development. Sponsored as a…
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It is called participatory genetic improvement of seeds, takes place in the fields, involves farmers, and stems from the reduction of biodiversity. It prevents seeds from being controlled by a few. The FAO defines food sovereignty as the ‘right of peoples, communities and countries to determine their own agricultural, labour, fisheries, food and land policies…
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In Cambodia, Songvat and Tharin, today Sister Marie and Sister Teresa, are the first women to enter the religious life since the bloody regime of the Khmer Rouge. A conversion that went hand in hand with the reconstruction of the country. A Church that is reborn thanks to the preaching of the Gospel in the…
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Repression, kidnappings, intimidation. The Catholic Church under siege. But ‘the hearts of the people resist’. We received this letter from a religious sister who writes under a pseudonym for security reasons. It is not easy to nourish hope in Nicaragua. Blow after blow, it seems that the intention of President Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo…
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The Yoruba people are one of the largest in West Africa; they live in southern Nigeria and Benin. They have developed a refined culture, at the centre of which is a religious world rich in symbols, mythologies, and ceremonies. One of the most characteristic aspects of the Yoruba religion is the masks. One of these…
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She has led a campaign to secure legal stewardship of 17,824 acres of tropical forest land for six Indigenous communities in North Sumatra. Her community’s activism reclaimed this territory from a pulp and paper company that had partially converted it into a monoculture, non-native, industrial eucalyptus plantation. The six communities have begun restoring the forests,…
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The director of the Institute for Research and Promotion of Alternatives in Development, Mamadou Goita, criticizes the policies of the African Development Bank. And he argues that it is necessary to transition to a model based on access to the land, the rational use of natural resources and the re-appropriation of the genetic heritage is…
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It is mostly farmers who guarantee the production of food, not only in African countries but throughout the world. Estimates by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) speak of 33 million small farmers who contribute 70% of the food needs of the continent. The average size of a field is only 1.3 hectares. In…
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There is no shortage of water, but floods are increasingly frequent. To enable families to have enough food and earn their living, a group of Salesians have promoted a project for the cultivation and transformation of moringa. From moringa to Coffea Stenophylla, from horizontally grown tomatoes to new generation tea, in Sierra Leone, where climate…
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In Lisbon, during WYD23, Pope Francis indicated seven important steps that enable the youth to continue their journey. Step 1: Called by name This is how the Pope began his message at the welcoming celebration: “Called because we are loved [by] Him who calls us every day to embrace and encourage; to make each of…
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Last August, Southern African bishops filed a class-action suit against a mining company that has failed to compensate miners for black lung disease. This is one of the many cases in an industry where workers pay a huge tribute to profits. South Africa’s mining sector contributed in 2022 US $ 25 billion and 8 percent…
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It has spread to the entire Persian Gulf, representing, to date, a new threat also for Europe. Captagon is the name given to phenethylline, a synthetic stimulant, a narcotic that causes disinhibiting effects and gives a sense of invincibility, considerably altering the perception of what one is doing, facilitating acts of extreme violence, as well…
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When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…
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Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…
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On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…
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