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A conspiracy indictment was brought last week against a Los Angeles company, alleging forced labor on a chilling scale. Six contractors are accused of a scheme to hold 400 workers from Thailand in virtual slavery on farms in Hawaii and Washington State. The Justice Department says it is the largest human-trafficking case ever brought by the federal government. Just as disturbing is how familiar the accusations are.

The company, Global Horizons Manpower, is accused of abusing the federal guest worker program, known as H-2A, in 2004 and 2005 and luring workers with false promises of steady work at decent pay. The workers, poor men from the Thai countryside, took on crushing debt to pay exorbitant recruiting fees, about $9,500 to $21,000. After they arrived in America, according to the indictment, their passports were taken and they were set up in shoddy housing and told that if they complained or fled they would be fired, arrested or deported.

The case, brought in Honolulu, coincides with the sentencing on Thursday of two Hawaii farmers, Mike and Alec Sou, who pleaded guilty in January to a forced-labor scheme involving 44 Thai workers. The Sous worked with Global Horizons before but are linked to the latest case only by the methods they admitted to using.

Read the full story at the New York Times

AFA and PAKISAMA supports the campaign of the residents of the town of Casiguran in Quezon province, Philippines (mostly farmers, fishers, and indigenous peoples) who will be displaced by the creation of a special economic zone in the area.

The Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN), together with the Task Force Anti-APECO, held the first of a series of fora on “Addressing the APECO” in Quezon City, Philippines last June 4, 2010.

The activity convened multi-sectoral partners in support of affected residents of Casiguran, Aurora, largely comprised of farmers, fisher folk and indigenous peoples, who will be displaced by the passage of RA 10083 or the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO) law.
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The Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), held its Fourth General Assembly, with the theme “Sustaining our Gains, Nourishing our Work” on April 20-23 at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in Taiwan.

The event was hosted by the Taiwan Wax Apple Development Association (TWADA) in cooperation with NPUST.

The highlights of the General Assembly was a review of AFA’s 2006-2010 strategic plan, as well as the crafting of its 2011-2015 strategic plan.

The WRF, together with AFA, AsiaDHRRA, and CIFA as the host partner, are organizing an IYFF Asia Continental strategy meeting, to be held in New Delhi, March 23-24, 2010. The participants will be Asian Farmers’ organisations supporting the IYFF Campaign as well as representatives of national and international policy makers.

The aim of the Continental meeting is to discuss issues related to the IYFF Campaign: how to involve more and more governments and civil society, how to reach a common understanding of the main issues and challenges of Family Farming, and the probable outstanding activities and benefits of the IYFF, once it is declared by the UN General Assembly.

Read the full story at AsiaDHRRA

Farm clothes are not known for their sartorial elegance, but a group of Hokkaido women are staging their own catwalk shows with a new line of outdoor farmwear they are calling “Agri-Fashion.”

The women behind “Agri-Fashion,” which sounds similar to “ugly fashion” when pronounced in Japanese, are even touting it as a movement with the potential to attract younger people to careers in farming.

“I always wanted cute working clothes that were more fashionable,” says Kimiko Ikawa, 56, who launched the new line. “I thought by using bright colors and lots of patterns, I could make a new brand of farmwear that hasn’t been made before.”

Ikawa, a fashion school graduate, married a farmer and followed him to the town of Biei, Hokkaido, where the absence of younger residents has become a serious problem.

Read the full story at The Japan Times

AFA Secretary General Estrella Penunia is in Rome to attend the Third Global Farmers’ Forum from 15 and 16 February 2010 in conjunction with the Thirty-third session of IFAD’s Governing Council. The Forum will bring together more 70 farmers’ leaders from around the world, representing millions of smallholders and rural producers from all over the world who will interact with IFAD staff and selected partners. The Forum will be opened by the President of IFAD, Kanayo Nwanze. Its closing session, in the afternoon of Tuesday, 16 February, will be open to the members of IFAD’s governing bodies.

The following is an excerpt from IFAD’s social reporting blog:

Estrella Penunia, gave a passionate keynote address, in which she said: “Women farmers will not remain victims, we’re key solution providers, nothing about us without us”. She made a plea to move away from gender stereotypes and reminded the participants and audience that women should be at the forefront of the agriculture. She said: “If we earn more, we can spend more on food, education, health.” Estrella then continued to say “Women perform magic to put food on the table”.

In her keynote address, Estrella shared with the gathering that “in many developing countries women cannot owe land, yet we are the one who cultivate the land and take care of land.”

She continuted to say that “50-90% of work in farms is done by women and women ensure food security when crops fail.”

Estrella Penunia and other women leaders such as Elisabeth Atangana, Kati Partanen and all the women farmer leaders showed passion in their interventions. Elisabeth remarked: “If women don’t have economic power, they can’t do very much. Women need access to financial resources, and access to land”.

As Estrella said: “Women work with personal touch, we need to help more women farmer leaders to further unleash their potential”.

Read more at at the IFAD Social Reporting Blog

Ten most outstanding farmers in the country were presented the “2009 Farming Genie” prize at a ceremony in Hanoi on January 31.

The awardees representing over 50 million farmers nationwide have production models that bring high economic values.

Read the full story at Nhan Dan