Poor, Rural and Indigenous: The ‘Treble Struggle’ of Chilean Women

Abstract

On Monday 10 June, 2013, the US Court of Appeals unanimously reaffirmed Monsanto’s licence agreement on seed patents, continuing the transnational’s domination of agriculture through seed property rights. The ‘Monsanto Law’ — UPOV 91 — effectively criminalises traditional methods of seed-saving and food production, thus displacing thousands of peasant farmers throughout the Global South (Tramel, 2013). La Via Campesina reasserted its commitment to seed sovereignty in Jakarta, Indonesia, the following week at its Sixth Conference, led by Chilean activist Francisca ‘Pancha’ Rodriguez, leader of the movement’s campaign to recover, protect and preserve peasant seeds, and a founding member of the National Association of Indigenous and Rural Women (ANAMURI).