Day of the Landless Date in the current year: March 29, 2025

Although the colonial empires of the past collapsed after World War II, many say we are living in the era of modern imperialism: large agribusiness corporations gain control of agricultural lands, constantly seeking expansion and living peasants landless. Other factors contributing to landlessness include land acquisition for development projects, both by governments and private investors, and military conflict.

According to a 2020 report titled “Uneven Ground: Land Inequality at the Heart of Unequal Societies” by the Land Inequality Initiative, 70% of the world’s arable land is operated by just 1% of landowners. Smallholder farmers, indigenous communities, rural women, youth and landless rural communities are being squeezed onto smaller plots of land or displaced altogether, while land ownership is increasingly concentrated among fewer landowners, primarily benefiting corporate agribusiness and distant investors. These industrial agricultural models require fewer workers, further reducing rural employment opportunities.

The Day of the Landless was initiated by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), an Asia-wide coalition working for the rights of landless peasants, farmers, agricultural workers, fisherfolk, herders, pastoralists, Dalit (untouchables and outcasts), and indigenous peoples, including women and youth in these groups.

The APC was formed following the Asian Peasants Conference held in the Philippines in March 2003. Conference participants took a united stand against modern imperialism, which has left thousands landless in underdeveloped countries, and committed themselves to further consolidating peasant movements throughout the Asian region. Today, the APC has more than 15 million members, represented by more than 20 organizations from 11 Asian countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Day of the Landless was established in 2015 by the APC and PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP), a regional center of the Pesticide Action Network. Its date, March 29, was chosen to commemorate the founding anniversary of the APC and the launch of PANAP’s “No Land, No Life!” campaign. Since its inception, the Day of the Landless has been supported by more than 100 national and local organizations in five regions: Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America.

Day of the Landless events organized by stakeholders around the world include meetings and rallies, discussions, protests, social media campaigns, and more. Their primary goal is to raise awareness of the struggles of landless peasants and the broader challenges facing rural communities around the world, such as hunger, displacement, environmental degradation, and human rights abuses.