IDI is excited to launch Following the Money: An Advocate’s Guide to Securing Accountability in Agricultural Investments – a new tool in the fight against land & natural resource grabs and corporate impunity in the agricultural sector. IDI partnered with International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to develop this practical guide for local advocates working to support communities whose land rights, resources and livelihoods are threatened or adversely affected by agricultural investments. It provides guidance on:
- How to “follow the money” to identify and leverage pressure points along agricultural investment chains (eg. equity investors, lenders, producers, importers and retailers) to defend land and resource rights.
- How to collect evidence, document impacts and analyze compliance with legal obligations and policies that bind responsible actors.
- How to hold investors and corporate accountable through a range of advocacy strategies, including litigation, alternative accountability mechanisms and media, shareholder and consumer advocacy.
The guide is informed by experiences and lessons learned from activists and practitioners throughout the world and draws on real life examples of investment projects that have harmed communities and strategies that have been used to challenge those investments and secure accountability.
This is the first in a new set of tools that IDI is developing to support communities and grassroots advocates to follow the money behind destructive projects and leverage this information to defend their land, housing and natural resource rights.
The guide can be downloaded here.