Who owned the land in Britain influenced the Industrial Revolution and British colonial ambitions. Now it is an important part of solving the climate crisis.
This is an article in the fourth issue of New Economics Magazine.You can read the full question here.
In the final analysis, land is about power. The people who own the land decide what to do with it, who can access it, and how they are allowed to act on it. Historically, the more land you own, the greater your political influence in parliament, the more wealth you can accumulate, and the more you may be eager to acquire more land at home and abroad. The accumulation of land and power led to large-scale enclosures (a process of converting public land to private ownership) in the UK from the mid-18th century (although informal enclosure practices occurred hundreds of years ago). These have turned more and more countries from public ownership to private ownership, forcing people to leave rural lands and enter towns, in order to promote the rapid development of the industrial revolution.
At the same time, the colonization of overseas lands and violence against indigenous peoples are often involved, putting more and more of the earth’s surface under British control (along with other European colonial powers). Extract resources, ‘The improvement of the land to make it produce more commodities, and to obtain and use human beings to generate greater profits by enslaving human beings are all deeply intertwined processes. The racial injustice that persists today stems from the colonization and enslavement of people around the world by the ancestors of many people living in Britain today. Over time, the exploitation of the land and the destructive agricultural practices of those forced to work on the land, using plantations, damage the ecosystem, destroy the soil, and continue to damage today’s climate Sexual influence. If we want to repair and change the damage done to land, climate, and racialized people, we need to link the struggle for land, climate, and racial justice.
Affected by the anxiety of many of us about the climate, and the feeling that any hope for our future lies in building a better relationship with the knowledge of land, ecology and how to grow food, I co-founded Login in our name (Lion). We are a grassroots collective led by black people, committed to reparations in the UK by linking land and climate justice with racial justice. It is very important to clarify issues related to food, land, and agriculture in Britain from our perspective as blacks and people of color and from the perspective of racial justice.We are with the basic workstations of those on the front lines of climate injustice-land defenders, communities fighting against air pollution, and smallholder farmers fighting against smallholder farmers ‘The green revolution led by Bill Gates and others.
As Lion, we take restoration methods for agriculture and food production. Repairing is mainly repairing, combining land repairing with repairing people. Many of the communities we support come from former colonial countries, enslaved people, and people whose ancestors created wealth for Britain. We are a minority in the UK and we are trying to use imperfect terms about race and racialization to build a positive identity. We hope that more blacks and people of color will be engaged in agriculture, from urban community gardens to agriculture in rural areas. This means solving all the problems that follow-from rural racism to unequal access to land ownership and resources.
“In the final analysis, land is about power. “
We know that we need to understand regenerative agriculture, which maintains the natural world rather than extracts from it, to solve the problem of climate collapse. We know that the three least diverse (whitest) sectors in the UK are agriculture, horticulture and the environment. We know that many of the people who own the most land in the UK have inherited the wealth accumulated through the economic activities of the former colonies. We know that black and colored communities in the UK have been deprived of land in their heritage country. We came to the UK with the knowledge and experience of growing food harmoniously in a wider ecosystem, but with the exception of a few people with private gardens, distribution and community planting projects, we often cannot express or pass on these skills.our Rootz enters the food farming industry Research shows that social enterprise food growers of blacks and other people of color are often underpaid, exploited, or viewed as incompetent.
The impact of land use, especially in agriculture, has a huge impact on our climate. Without land justice, there can be no climate justice.exist Report issued by the Land Workers Union (LWA)It is estimated that the British food system accounts for 30% of our emissions. This encompasses the full impact of food and agriculture, from agriculture to transportation, refrigeration to packaging and waste, as well as overseas land use, including deforestation and pasture cultivation. The report recommends a shift to farming methods that both regenerate soil and reduce emissions: develop a more localized food system and apply ecological principles to farming techniques to ensure that the food system is resilient when the impact of the climate crisis accelerates. This means transitioning from the current industrialized agricultural system to more small-scale farms and agricultural practices to improve soil quality and ecosystem health.
At Lion, we are working hard to build an anti-racist food and agricultural movement. We are building an evidence base around barriers to access to land and food in the UK. We also clarified that black and colored communities in the UK must obtain land use rights and land ownership that can be used for food planting and other regenerative ecological practices. These practices may be for health benefits, spiritual reasons, or to restore more community lifestyles on the land we know existed in the pre-colonial era-from the kin-based commons found in West Africa to support the flourishing development The indigenous practices of biodiversity, nomadic communities all over the world. We fundamentally believe in the principle that all of us should manage the land and have a positive impact on the world. We are supporting new growers, black growers and other growers of color, especially growers who have been deprived of resources throughout history. The way we do this includes granting grants to growers, building networks and campaigns for support and solidarity, and changing the narrative, representation, and reality of who has access to land to grow food in a way that is conducive to climate, land, and racial justice.
Due to the historical connection between racial injustice, inequality in access to land and the climate crisis, we at Lion call for land as compensation-to repair the injustices that existed in the past. Support us in this work and join us so that we can all live, grow, play and heal on land in our name.
Josina Calliste is a health expert, community organizer, and co-founder of Land in our Names (LION), a black-led collective that aims to address land that affects the ability of blacks and people of color to cultivate and grow food in Britain Issues of inequality.
This article is based on the opinions of Katherine Wall, who is a coordinator and organizer
Tipping Point UK, Resist + Renew and Organizing for Change, supports social movements to build strength.
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