Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
IFC Performance Standards on Social and Environmental Sustainability are quite
explicit concerning displacement of rural peoples. For example, Performance Stand-
ard #5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resetlement refers 'both to physical dis-
placement (relocation or loss of shelter) and to economic displacement (loss of assets
or access to assets that leads to loss of income sources or means of livelihood) as a
result of project-related land acquisition' (quoted in Daniel, 2010, p49). The text con-
tinues:
Unless properly managed, involuntary resetlement may result in long-term
hardship and impoverishment for affected persons and communities, as well as
environmental damage and social stress in areas to whih they have been dis-
placed. For these reasons, involuntary resetlement should be avoided or at least
minimized. However, where it is unavoidable, appropriate measures to mitigate
adverse impacts on displaced persons and host communities should be carefully
planned and implemented. Experience demonstrates that the direct involvement
of the client in resetlement activities can result in cost-efective, eicient, and
timely implementation of those activities … Negotiated setlements help avoid
expropriation and eliminate the need to use governmental authority to remove
people forcibly. Negotiated setlements can usually be ahieved by providing fair
and appropriate compensation and other incentives or benefits to affected per-
sons or communities, and by mitigating the risks of asymmetry of information
and bargaining power. Clients are encouraged to acquire land rights through ne-
gotiated setlements wherever possible, even if they have the legal means to gain
access to the land without the seller's consent.
Beyond the assumption that some, and eventually more, communities will be
displaced into resetlement areas 'with appropriate disclosure of information, con-
sultation, and the informed participation of those affected', there is the additional as-
sumption, spelt out in Performance Standard 7, that 'Private sector projects may cre-
ate opportunities for indigenous peoples to participate in, and benefit from, project-
related activities that may help them fulfill their aspiration for economic and social
development' (Daniel, 2010, p50).
Basically, eviction is to be handled as an inevitable price, or opportunity of pro-
gress, understood as agro-industrialization to fuel and energize the global consumer
class.
Representation of the land-grab by development agencies as a 'win-win' opera-
tion proceeds from neo-classical assumptions that development necessitates rural de-
