The Bionatur Network for Agro-ecological Seeds (or in Portuguese Rede Bionatur de Sementes Agroecológicas) is one of the strategic tools that the MST organized for the development of the actions of its Seeds Campaign and the promotion of agro-ecology.
(Bionatur is the MST’s own organic seed producer. Organic farmers who after two harvests that have been cultivated with natural products, without use of chemicals, can be classified as organic. These farmers, many members of Brazil’s Landless Movement, will be able to sell them to the movement’s own organic seed producer, Bionatur. The Bionatural Network offers an alternative to the use of genetically-modified seeds and chemical farming.)
The embryo of Bionatur germinated, in 1997, with initiatives to organically produce horticultural seeds in the southern half of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, more specifically in the regions of Hulha Negra and Candiota Mineral. The initiatives were co-coordinated by COOPERAL (Cooperativa Regional dos Agricultores Assentados, the Board of Regional Cooperatives of Agricultural Settlements). COOPERAL sought to construct alternatives to the process of industrial integration of agriculture based on technological models of agro-chemical development promoted by the seed companies in the region. Coincidently, this region is home to the 10 largest national and international companies in the country, which spend about US$75 million [annually] to produce and control a market of predominantly horticultural hybrids to the detriment of [the production and availability of] natural seed varieties.
The seed-producing companies located in this region because of its superior topsoil and a climate ideal for the production of high quality species of seeds, which require cold temperatures followed by higher temperatures and lower humidity in the spring and summer to reproduce.
In the period 1997-2002, the COOPERAL was in charge of the process of organizing Bionatur. In 2003, with the advent of the Seeds Campaign, the support and coordination of Bionatur passed to the National Collective’s Sector of Production, under the auspices of the MST, which reorganized it into Rede Bionatur de Sementes Agroecológicas. This initiative formalized Bionatur’s already existing presence in diverse cities throughout the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais and in various phases of formation in Mato Grosso, Goiás, District Federal and Sergipe. Together they yielded a harvest in 2004 of approximately 7.0 tons of seed, made up of more than 90 varieties of plants, all organic.
CHARACTERISTICS OF VIA CAMPESINA
WHAT IS VIA CAMPESINA?
Via Campesina is an international movement that coordinates organizations of peasants, small and medium-sized farmers, farm workers, rural women, and indigenous communities of Asia, Africa, America, and Europe.
It is an autonomous, pluralist movement, without political or economical ties of any type. It is made up of national and regional organizations whose autonomy is carefully respected.
It is organized in eight regions: Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast and Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Central America and South America. Other regions in Africa will soon be added.
HOW WAS VIA CAMPESINA BORN?
Via Campesina originated in April 1992, when various rural leaders from Central America, North America, and Europe came together in Manágua, Nicarágua in the context of the Congress of the National Union of Farmers and Ranchers (National Union of Farmers and Cattlemen–UNAG). In May 1993, the First Conference of Via Campesina was held in Mons, Belgium, during which the world-wide organization was constituted and the first strategic lines of work were defined, along with their structures.
The second international conference was held in Tlaxcala, México, in April 1996. Thirty seven countries and 69 national and regional organizations were present. They analyzed a series of topics that are of central concern to the small and medium-sized producers such as: food sovereignity, agrarian reform, credit and the external debt, technology, participation of women, and rural development, among other topics.
During the Second Conference, April 17 was declared the International Day of Farmers’ Struggle, in homage to the comrades who fell in the massacre of Eldorado dos Carajás.
The Third Conference took place in Bangalore, India with the participation of over 100 delegates from peasant organizations in 40 countries.
Via Campesina is in a process of expanding and consolidating. By its nature it is a politically complex, multicultural organization covering a broad geographical range, projecting itself as an organization of the highest representation of small and medium-sized producers at a world-wide level.
Via Campesina develops its work from the following axes of action: Organizational, Political, Economic, Communication, Gender, Training, and Technology.
For each of these axes, objectives and priorities are defined:
- Joint work and strengthening of its affiliated organizations
- Work to pressure the centers of power and decision-making of governmental and multilateral organizations to reorient economic and agricultural policies that affect small and medium-sized producers
- Strengthening of women’s participation in the social, economic, political, and cultural aspects
- Formulation of proposals about important topics such as Agrarian Reform, Food Sovereignty, Production, Trade, Research, Genetic Resources, Biodiversity, Environment, and Gender.