Foreign Farmers Undermine Food Security in Zambia
Many foreign and local companies are now involved in land-grabs, where large stretches of land are taken to develop their plants and factories.
On this land, live many people – who all depend on the land they have to survive, to grow food, to send their children to school. The problem is that most of these people do not hold official title deeds of the land – so legally speaking, they do not own the land: they are squatters.
So when these companies move in and take the land, things like this happen:
“They (the South African agribusiness) came with guns and threatened to shoot anyone who resisted moving out. They burnt all our household properties without any notice. We were almost 200 households. They burnt my food barns, clothes, blankets, bedding, television set – they even burnt my fields”
Before colonization, the common way of land tenure was through customs. You get a piece of land, you work it, you “own” it. Only after colonization, was statutory tenure introduced , where the whole legal technicalities and you having a particular piece of paper saying you own the land became a requirement.
So, imagine you are one of these Zambian farmers. You live on a piece of land, you grow and eat your own food for most of your life, and then someone comes chasing you off with guns and burns your shit down because you don’t have a paper that proofs that this land belongs to you. You live in a rural area, you are poor – the process of acquiring such a legal document can cost up to $2000 and take anything from 2 months to 10 years. There’s not much choice now is there? You’d have to basically sell your land to come up with the money to get a paper that says you own the land – but by then of course it’s already too late.
Zambia’s situation is not a very pleasant one, 59% of the people live below the poverty line, and 65% of the people live in rural areas. The dislocation of these farmers does not just destroy their personal lives, but will also generate consequence for the whole of the population, as food security turns into insecurity.
If we look at the definition of ‘justice’ we get:
1. Just behavior or treatment.
2. The quality of being fair and reasonable.
The situation described above is not fair nor reasonable – these people’s lives are completely disregarded in the favour of those who can afford to acquire legal documents. This in itself shows that the Justice/Legal System is corrupt – as one has to bribe their way in to be able to be part of the legal system.
This is completely unacceptable and goes contrary to everything justice as a principle is supposed to stand for.
It is time, once more, to critically investigate the nature of our reality and what we participate in.
In an Equal Money System, no such phenomenon will have space to take place – as all will be IN FACT equal, and not have to buy their way in. You are here on Earth, you should not have to ‘earn’ your living or prove that you are worthy of existing based on your economic and legal status. Investigate Equal Money – the only valid alternative to transform our world of abuse and corruption to a world that is Best for All Life.
