A Word About the Word Campesino

International Day of Peasant Struggle

• Commemorates the massacre of 19 landless farmers in Brazil (1996).
• Date unites global actions supporting rights of peasants and smallholder farmers.
• Organized by La Via Campesina, collaborating with groups like Heifer in Latin America.

Understanding "Campesino"

• Literal translation: "peasant", often found in history books.
• Alternative translations: "smallholder farmer" or "family farmer" (misses the richness of the term).
• Encompasses:
  • Small- and medium-size farmers
  • Landless people
  • Women farmers
  • Indigenous people
  • Migrants and agricultural workers

Etymology and Cultural Significance

• Campo (field/rural area) + ino (Latin for ownership/relationship).
• Represents those with a sense of belonging to the land.
• Typically rural producers working small plots, relying on family labor, often landless.
• Harvest is for self-consumption and market, sustaining family life over capital accumulation.

Values and Lifestyle

• Associated with rural values and community relationships.
• More than an economic occupation—a lifestyle and a form of life.
• Challenges include marginalization and exploitation.

Heifer and Project Initiatives

• Address obstacles like land access and fair sale prices.
• Support campesinos in overcoming marginalization.

Connotations and Reclaiming Pride

• Historically pejorative terms for rural workers (serfs, tenants, slaves).
• "Campesino" seen as a reclaimable term critical for food security and sovereignty.
• Pride in being a campesino similar to respected professions.
• Organizations like Heifer and La Via Campesina fostering pride in sustainable cultivation.

Dia Internacional de la Lucha Campesina

• Celebrating 25 years of striving for food sovereignty.
• Focus on sustainable, culturally appropriate food production.

References

• La Via Campesina, Spanish for Social Change blog by Sara Koopman.
• Quotes from Oscar Castaeda (Heifer) and Adriana Garcia-DeVun (Heifer).