Highlighting land grabbing and malnourishment in Zambia

The increasing concentration of land in the hands of agribusiness hampers the access to vital resources of smallholder communities in Zambia, thereby contributing to high levels of malnutrition. The relevance and impact of European development policies around this issue will be the focus of the land rights expert Archie Mulunda, who will be paying a visit to the European capital, Brussels.

“Land that is used on the basis of customary law, is the most important resource for poor populations in Zambia […] At the same time, these plots are in the center of interest of land grabbing of large agricultural corporations from developed countries,” said Mr Mulunda. The Zambian government supports investments by foreign companies but fails to provide the necessary legal framework to prevent violations of economic, social and cultural human rights such as the right to food in this context.

Around two-thirds of the population in Zambia work in agriculture, and 78 percent of these live in rural areas, below the poverty line. According to the United Nations, the proportion of malnourished people has increased from 33.8 to 47.8 percent over the last 25 years. There is an urgent need to prevent the increase of malnourishment levels as well as any activities that violate human rights.

During his visit to Brussels, Mr Mulunda, together with FIAN Germany, and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO), will meet to discuss EU development policies in Zambia and the impact of European private capitals in Zambia’s food and agricultural sector.The EU-supported rehabilitation of the Great East Road, extension of the Nacala corridor, highly critized by civil society, will also be on the agenda.

For any enquiries, please contact R.herre[at]fian.de
For further information on Archie Mulunda’s work on land grabbing read “A Policy Approach to address land grabbing”