News: 2011

Yesterday in Central London, Gaia joined a silent protest which took place outside the General Meeting of Shareholders of Australian mining company, Coal of Africa Ltd (CoAL). The protest was held in solidarity with the communities of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, who face untold ecological, social and economic damage to their ancestral homes should the mine go ahead. Click here to watch a 2-minute video of the silent protest and find out more about the communities and ecosystems it will affect.

Silent Protest against CoAL

Civil society groups demand global corporations reconsider investment in Coal of Africa mining project, South Africa.

Today, civil society groups and community members from the Limpopo Province of South Africa sent a letter to over fifty shareholders and potential investors of Coal of Africa (CoAL) demanding that they reconsider their plans to support the company - and specifically the Makhado Project - in Venda, Limpopo because of the damaging impact that it will have on their ecosystem and livelihoods.

CoAL out of Africa!

GRAIN receives the 2011 Right Livelihood Award in Stockholm, "for its worldwide work to protect the livelihoods and rights of farming communities and to expose the massive purchases of farmland in developing countries by foreign financial interests".

During the Awards Ceremony speech, delivered to the Swedish Parliament, GRAIN coordinator Henk Hobbelink seized on the opportunity to demand an immediate end to land grabbing and a restitution of lands to local communities.

Call for end to land grabbing

Food Sovereignty essential as Climate Change solution for African farmers.

PRESS RELEASE Monday 5 December 2011
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)

African farmer and civil society groups in Africa are celebrating the launch of a "network of African networks", called the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). They have released a report emphasising that Food Sovereignty can cool the planet, while feeding the world and regenerating ecosystems.

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) launches at COP17

Gathuru Mburu on indigenous knowledge and African-led solutions to the challenges of climate change.

Gathuru Mburu talks to BBC World Today
We're thrilled to release the trailer for a NEW film, Seeds of Freedom, to be launched in 2012 with our partner the African Biodiversity Network. The film shows that global agriculture has changed more in the past 50 years than in the previous 10,000. Great conflicts have arisen as a result of this, but nowhere is this conflict more poignant than in the story of seed. The film explores the history of the corporate takeover of seed, and the impact that this is having on communities across the world.
Seeds of Freedom - The Takeover of Seed
On Tuesday 18th October a new Global Citizens' Report on the State of GMOs "The GMO Emperor has no Clothes", was launched by our partner Vandana Shiva at a press conference in Rome. The report, which features contributions from civil society networks from across 6 continents, has been co-ordinated by Navdanya International. The African Biodiversity Network has proudly contributed and edited the section on Africa.
The GMO Emperor has no clothes! New Report

A Story Worth Remembering documents an inspiring experiential workshop which Gaia and the African Biodiversity Network hold annually in Botswana. As this film shows so clearly, the process is a transformative one. It allows participants - many of whom are community leaders running their own local organisations across Africa - to break from their daily tasks and to find space to reflect on Africa's unique traditions, culture and identity.

A NEW film narrated by actor Hugh Quarshie

In landmark ruling, NGOs intervene at South Africa's Competition Tribunal to avoid takeover of South Africa's seed industry.

Biowatch takes on corporate monopoly in the seed sector

Talking at the Gaia Foundation in May 2011, Dr. Vandana Shiva explores the increasing intensity of mining and the devastation that it causes in both the short and long term.

Watch the video here.

Video Highlights of Vandana Shiva talk

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