Since 2006, under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, indigenous communities in India have been able to claim their rights to use the forests surrounding their villages – in theory. But the bureaucratic obstacles are enormous. Now, with support from SWISSAID, the villages of Mendha Lekha (1,800 hectares of forest) and Marda (880 hectares) in Maharashtra state have finally succeeded in doing this. Mendha Lekha and Marda are the first and only villages in India where the people who have traditionally lived in, utilised and protected the forests have been given the legal rights to them – on 16 August, India's Independence Day. The rights have now been formally handed over to the villagers. Newspaper report»

The price of filling up with agro-fuel
SWISSAID is using its campaign against agro-fuels to raise awareness of the madness of so-called biofuels. The coffin and petrol pump illustrate where the agro-fuel boom may lead in extreme cases: people will die because valuable land will be used to grow energy plants, leaving them without enough to eat. More»

The campaign against agro-fuels is part of the three-year campaign entitled "Hunger is not determined by fate". SWISSAID is using the campaign to highlight the economic and political causes of the problem of hunger. There is more than enough food in the world, yet thousands of people die of hunger and malnutrition every day, due to unjust trading regulations and unethical distribution of land, and lack of access to water, loans and education. In short, hunger is the result of political and economic decisions.

SWISSAID therefore works at several different levels to combat hunger: with organic farming methods where people live, and by furthering women's rights. We also back up farmers' groups to enable them to better represent their interests in national and international policy.

SWISSAID calls for consistent application of the right of all people to food, including the right to feed themselves. Agricultural and trade policy must be aligned on the principle of sovereignty of sustenance, which enables all countries and the people who live in each country to decide for themselves what will be grown and consumed.