In Brazil, a case of land grabbing in the state of Pernambuco will come under scrutiny by the Federal Public Ministry in reaction to an Oxfam report published earlier this month. The Brazilian State prosecutor for the State of Pernambuco, Silvia Regina, announced last week that the Federal Public Ministry will launch an investigation. The Oxfam report “Nothing sweet about it” describes the growing threat of land grabs in the sugar industry, highlighting the case of a fishing community on the Sirinhaem estuary in Brazil. In 1998, they were violently evicted from their land to make way for the Usina Trapiche sugar mill which, according to the report, provides sugar to Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The prosecutor convened a public hearing to assess delays since 2009 in the creation of an Extractive Reserve on the land that would enable the community to return to the mangroves where they fished and grew food. “Action to restore local people’s access to their land is long overdue,” said Gabrielle Watson, campaign manager in Brazil for Oxfam’s Behind the Brands initiative. The report also shed light on the case of the Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous community in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul whose land was occupied by a sugar plantation supplying a mill owned by Bunge. Much of the Guarani-Kaiowá’s land in the south-western state has been converted to soy, cattle and sugar cane farms due to the expansion of agribusiness, with sugar cane cultivation tripling between 2007 and 2012. Indigenous peoples are among the groups most severely affected by agro-industry. This is confirmed by a report published on Tuesday by a United Nations expert body which calls for action to prevent the violation of indigenous peoples’ rights as a result of business-related activities.