Land grabs to armed conflicts: Share Lent tackling challenges faced by farmers

With the plight of farmers making headlines around the world, Share Lent’s focus this year on small-scale farming and agriculture workers’ human rights seems especially timely.

Share Lent is the annual campaign to raise awareness and funding for Development and Peace - Caritas Canada, the official international solidarity organization of the Catholic Church in Canada.

This year’s campaign, Reaping Our Rights, focuses on building solidarity with rural and peasant communities around the world.

Reaping Our Rights is aimed at helping peasant communities that face challenges such as armed conflicts, land grabbing, and climate change, all of which threaten their rights to land, water, justice, and a safe environment, the organization says.

To help promote this year’s campaign, Development and Peace executive director Carl Hetu and president Brenda Azakara spoke with bishops from across Western Canada at their recent conference in Vancouver.

Vancouver Development and Peace organizers also brought in a visitor from their partner organization in Indonesia. Karno Batiran met with Archbishop J. Michael Miller to talk about the school on organic farming and sustainable land use that he has run for small-scale farmers in Indonesia for 18 years.

Batiran also visited parishes in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island parishes, offering workshops.

Batiran is spearheading his organization’s youth farming project with the support of Development and Peace. The project trains young people, especially women, in sustainable agriculture, community resource management, and rural entrepreneurship techniques to make farming a viable local livelihood option and to stem economic migration to Indonesia’s cities.

Vancouver Development and Peace spokesperson Jenny Cheng said local organizers were excited to have a partner visit for the first time in years. “We have not been able to get Solidarity visitors  coming here from their native land often.” 

The idea behind this year’s campaign “is to address all the challenges and aspirations that peasant communities and small-scale farmers have across the world,” said Mayalène Lavigne-Martel, Development and Peace’s campaigns officer. 

Development and Peace partners with organizations around the world to work on defending rights to life, land, water, biodiversity, justice, health and more for small-scale farmers and related communities. Share Lent donations help support each partner’s mission funding projects in up to 34 countries. 

“There are a lot of challenges in the book in the Global South, and there’s a lot of threats to their way of life (farming and agriculture), so it’s not easy,” Lavigne-Martel said. “This is why we chose to put this year’s theme forward, and with things like climate change, conflicts and land grabbing, there are so many threats that make it even harder for them just to make a living.” 

Last year, Share Lent raised upwards of $5.18 million through the national Solidarity Sunday collection, which takes place Sunday, March 17, and through online donations.

“It is really a significant amount for us and for us to be able to carry out our work,” Lavigne-Martel said. Despite fluctuations over the years, particularly during the pandemic, the organization hopes to raise at least $5 million again this year, she said.

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop William McGrattan invited Catholics to give generously. Citing Hosea 10:12, he said, “I invite you to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world through your generosity, engagement and solidarity; to ‘Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you,’ “ 

Development and Peace offers a year-round monthly donor option, available until Pentecost on May 19. Donations will be automatically matched by Development and Peace. 

For more information, visit devp.org/en/campaign/reaping-our-rights.

With Canadian Catholic News files

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