La Via Campesina has called on all the peasant organisations of the world and their allies to organise actions in the month of June. 'The advance of the capitalist system that has reached unprecedented dimensions in the past two decades is resulting in crises that are of equally unprecedented dimensions. The financial, food, energy and environmental crises are phases of the structural crisis of capitalism, which has no limits in its search for more profits. And, as in other structural crises, it impacts the peoples of the world and not the elites.'

Uganda’s proposed National Oil Company will have the right to acquire a 15 per cent stake in the oil fields that Tullow Oil, TOTAL and CNOOC are developing, according to Eoin Mekie, Tullow’s General Manager in Uganda, speaking exclusively to Oil in Uganda. The arrangement was included in the agreements signed between Tullow and the government in early February, in defiance of a parliamentary moratorium on further oil contracts.

Drawing on the Land Matrix database, this paper contains an in depth analysis of large-scale agricultural land transactions that entail a transfer of rights to use, control or own land, that have been concluded since the year 2000. It particularly focuses on (i) land acquisitions or investments targeting the Global South and Eastern Europe; (ii) transnational deals, excluding deals where only domestic actors are involved;(iii) and deals where the envisioned land use is agricultural.

Vast groundwater resources have been revealed in Africa by the first continent-wide quantitative maps. But the resources may not be easily accessible because of political and technical challenges and costs, say experts. The new groundwater maps, published last month (19 April) in Environmental Research Letters, are based on an extensive review of available maps, publications and data. They show the continent has a total underground water storage capacity of 0.66 million cubic kilometres - more than 20 times the freshwater storage capacity of lakes on the continent.

Ethiopia has made more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of 'fertile and unutilized' land available for agriculture companies that meet government requirements, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. About 300,000 hectares has been leased for commercial farming so far, he said at an Ethiopian investment forum in the capital, Addis Ababa.

A report launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has warned that high levels of vulnerability, combined with more severe and frequent weather and climate extremes, may make some places such as African coastal cities increasingly difficult places in which to live and work. The report also said any delay in greenhouse gas mitigation is likely to lead to more severe and frequent climate extremes in the future, and will likely further contribute to disaster losses.

The Refugee Law Project, under its video advocacy programme, has produced documentaries to show the work being done at RLP, as well as highlight the plight of forced migrants in Uganda. The latest video on a page featuring their productions involves land evictions in Apaa.

These simple exchanges between two citizens of Africa show their dreams, pain, hope and civic action to ensure that the continent becomes the promised land where everyone can live in peace and justice, solidarity and prosperity.

The National Coordination of Peasant Organizations (CNOP) of Mali and La Via Campesina have published a new report on the mobilization of social movements against land grabbing. Land grabs jeopardize food sovereignty and threaten sustainable family farming and peasants everywhere in the world. The document stems from the first international peasant and farmer conference against land grabbing, held at the Nyéléni site in Sélingué in Mali, from 17 to 19 November 2011. The gathering included about 250 participants, principally women and men of rural and peasant origin, from 40 mainly African countries. It witnessed numerous testimonies by populations that had been ousted from their land by foreign investors who have set up vast monocultures for the export of foodstuffs or agrofuels. In most cases the populations are neither informed nor compensated.

The 'Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives' series features twelve alternative social and economic models which expand the possibilities for justice, equity, and strong community. They are based in the US, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Some are national-level, some global-level. Some are propelled by people’s movements, some forced or adopted into government policy. In first-hand narratives, women describe their role in having created the models and show us their unique perspectives and challenges in the movements. The fifth narrative focuses on land occupations in Honduras.

As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in northeastern Nigeria, the atmosphere of despair is telling. The air is dusty, the wind is fierce and unrelenting, the plants are wilting and the earth is turning into sand dunes. The sparse vegetation is occasionally broken by withered trees and shrubs. The lives of herders, fisherfolk and farmers are teetering on the edge as the lake dries up before their eyes. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called the situation an 'ecological catastrophe', predicting that the lake could disappear this century.

The price for Uganda Land Alliance’s (ULA) investigations into cases of land grabbing has been set-so high that once paid, it will become extremely risky for anyone attempting to question the vices of land grabbing and forceful evictions of innocent citizens. Government has given ULA two weeks within which to among other stern conditions; provide evidence of land grabbing or else have her permit revoked; and to make an apology to the President and government ministries. The above conditions were contained in a damning 19-page investigation report on the works of ULA, produced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Last week, a new Land Matrix 'land grab' database was released at a big World Bank conference on land. On paper, says one academic, they have a strong methodology and very strict criteria about projects that are to be included, but some projects involved China are listed even though they were exaggerated or never came to fruition.

In response to the Saturday 28 April 2012 attack on the camp of Pakistani nationals who were advising Ethiopian multi millionaire, Sheik Al Moudi on rice production and irrigation for his 10,000 hectare Saudi Star rice project in Gambela region, the Ethiopian government quickly confirmed the attack but gave an inaccurate account of events, according to the Anywaa Survival Organisation (ASO), a non-profit organisation that believes in a world of social justice and of environmentally sensitive development that recognises and respects the rights of indigenous peoples to actively participate in and enjoy the benefits of development in their own territories without prejudice. 'Despite the government's claim that the suspected assailant are under custody (Gunmen kill one Pakistani, four Ethiopians: official), our local sources indicate that those suffering in the hands of the army are innocent indigenous civilians employed by Saudi Star to safeguard and protect the company's employees and properties.'

When President Museveni signed the controversial Land Amendment Bill into law protection from illegal eviction was guaranteed. However, participants debating the issue of land grabbing in a public policy symposium in Kampala last week, cited state house, police, the lands ministry, investors and government officials among the key drivers of land disputes and illegal evictions.

A stand-off between central government and a policy advocacy group, the Uganda Land Alliance (ULA), has alarmed national level civil society organisations but seems not to have affected work by grassroots organisations in oil exploration areas. According to a public statement by the ULA, the Minister for Internal Affairs, Hillary Onek, has demanded that the Alliance withdraw a report on ‘land grabbing’ and apologise to the government for bringing Uganda into international disrepute. Onek, the Alliance says, has threatened the group with closure if they fail to meet these conditions. The controversial report, co-published in September 2011 by the Alliance and the international development and campaigning NGO, Oxfam, alleged that the National Forestry Authority evicted some 20,000 people from farmland in Mubende and Kiboga districts, in order to award a concession to the UK-based New Forest Company.

This portal impartially presents the human rights impacts of oil pollution, from all sides. What are the victims, advocates, companies and commentators saying? Are the abuses continuing? Are past abuses being addressed? Are steps being taken to prevent further spills? Do victims have effective remedies? What is the latest news about lawsuits and compensation claims? The portal’s purpose is to keep an ongoing focus on these important issues, and to provide a platform to reflect the continuing public debate.

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Farm Radio Weekly has a story about Michael Gitau, one of 5,000 members of the Central Organic Farmers and Consumer Organization who has been growing organically for six years. He is happy that he now makes double the income he used to as a conventional farmer. In a second story, Selinah Mncwango from South Africa is a farmer who treasures the seeds that have been handed down to her from generation to generation. But she worries that the South African government is taking steps which may deprive her and other South African farmers of their seed heritage.