Auteur/autrice : Heidi Barathieu-Brun

Does the end of high food prices mark the end of the global land rush?

Published on farmlandgrab.org, by Pascal Liu, FAO, Jan 18, 2017.

The surge in commodity prices in 2007-2008 was one of the main causes of what has sometimes been described as the “global land rush” – a wave of large-scale land acquisitions in developing countries by foreign investors. Non-governmental organisations and the media were quick to denounce these deals as “land grabbing”, which were blamed for ignoring the rights and interests of the people who make their living from a land that is legitimately theirs.   Continuer la lecture de « Does the end of high food prices mark the end of the global land rush? »

Life Without Money in Detroit’s Survival Economy

How the city’s neglected poor rely on time banking, skill-sharing, and giveaways to get – Published on Bloomberg, by Valerie Vande Panne, January 12, 2017.

When her car broke down, Halima Cassells didn’t have $400 to fix it. But she had logged hours in her Detroit neighborhood time bank by babysitting, and that time yielded a repair. When she was pregnant in 2012, she couldn’t afford baby clothes, a stroller, or a car seat. But she could throw a potluck barbecue, and her friends could afford to bring their old baby supplies. “When people come together to share, it’s not transactional,” says Cassells. “Everyone assumes an amount of responsibility with everybody. It’s a different way of knowing your needs are being met.”   Continuer la lecture de « Life Without Money in Detroit’s Survival Economy »