About MONLAR

What is MONLAR ?

How and why we began

MONLAR (Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform) was initiated in 1990, by activists associated with All Lanka Peasant Congress (ALPC),one of the oldest peasant movements in the country. This was a response to the need to promote a wide understanding of the serious economic, social and political crisis that gave rise to the youth uprisings in Sri Lanka in 1971 and repeated in 1988 -1990 during which 60,000 young people disappeared ( got killed ) within the two years and to promote people’s engagement in working out solutions.

Wide spread discussion, analysis and education across the country to understand the reasons for the crisis and to find solutions, has been the main effort of MONLAR over the last 17 years.  In this process MONLAR has tried to relate to the efforts made through out the country and in other countries across the world, to develop a critic, a response and  resistance, against the destructive impact of globalization  and also to learn from efforts made to develop alternatives. This learning is seen as an essential aspect of empowering people to build alternatives and to build a vision of a better world, with conviction that a better world is possible.

In doing this we realize the need to facilitate broadest possible alliances, at the grass roots level across the country and across diverse sectors of society thus affected.

What we believe in

We believe that the agenda for eradication of hunger and poverty can succeed, if and only if, the people who are pushed out or excluded in the process of expansion of capitalist globalization  takes over the task of setting the agenda and of formulating strategies. The present processes of the “creators of poverty” also controlling the agenda of poverty reduction should be rejected.

People who do not have capital and are rejected from the globalised market,  have to be conscious of the advantages they have in making the best use of the gifts of nature to which they have free access. They should also struggle for their right to have access to such resources of nature and also to use and control such nature’s resources in a manner that would lead not only to “sustainability”, but also to the ultimate “restoration of nature’s ability to regenerate itself”.

 Thus promotion of “regenerative agriculture” and processes of production, exchange and consumption that would facilitate such restoration of regeneration should be the starting point of the poor and the excluded taking over the task of ensuring their survival, eradication of hunger and poverty and protection of livelihoods. This restoration of nature’s regeneration, we believe is the best and the only way forward if humankind and nature are to be saved. Thus the future of the world is in the hands of those who are compelled to create a radically different world, a new world due to the fact that the present world is not willing to include them. Millions of others who believe in a new world from a rational, an ethical and moral point of view could assist by being in alliance.

What we do ?

We work with rural, small scale and marginal farmers in education and development of skills in ecological agriculture to undertake such activity at household , community and regional levels.

We assist them in building farmers organisations, to share experiences and learning and also to undertake analysis, advocacy and lobbying to promote such policies at regional and national level. Such organized campaigning and advocacy with Government, international institutions and policy makers at all levels is seen as an essential part of our work

 We assist them build alliances with organizations in other sectors to push for overall changes in national policy. We help in building alliances across countries with movements, scientists, practitioners, research institutions and international networks learning from their experiences and sharing our experiences, linking the local with national and international efforts.

We participate in discussion and debate on development issues at all the above levels, writing papers, publishing material and doing research. Expansion and promotion of other organisations and movements to join in the efforts is seen by MONLAR as one of its most important contributions to the process of change.

We have initiated several programmes and collaborate with several networks :

i.     Programmes with farmers – National Farmers Assembly                           and collaboration with other farmer organisations in the country

ii.   Programme with Plantation organisations to build an alternative
      approach

iii.  Programme with Youth to educate them on Globalisation and to

      build  a vision of a better world

iv.   A regular magazine “Sandeshaya” in Sinhala and Tamil

v.    Occasional Publications on issues of importance

vi.    A mobile media unit to share information and knowledge

vii.  Support the “Alliance for Protection of National Resources and
       Human Rights

viii. Working in solidarity with organisations engaged building
      “North-South Dialogue on Peace and Sustainable Development”

ix.  People’s Planning Commission on Recovery after Tsunami with a
      network of organisations

x.  A dialogue with scientists and intellectuals on issues of development ,
     social justice, ecological sustainability and regeneration

Contact Us:

1151/58A, 4th Lane,
Kotte Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka.

Tel  : (+94) 11 2865534 (+94) 11 4407663 Fax : (+94) 11 4407663 

 Email:  monlar@sltnet.lk

We invite you

We invite you to join the process of building an analysis of the present realities in Sri Lanka and in the world, building a vision of an alternative, a better world, a vision that can enable the affected, victimized and rejected people to initiate their own agenda. We invite you to contribute to the dialogue.

We invite you to help people to organize themselves, help disseminate information, organize meetings and seminars, support people’s actions to prevent destruction. Help in building alliances. Help in influencing policy makers to pay attention and listen to people’s views and proposals. Form groups of activists, scientists and intellectuals. MONLAR intends to accompany you and your efforts.