La Via Campesina was born in the process of fierce struggles by rural working classes – poor peasants, smallholder farmers, landless farmworkers, artisanal fishers, and small pastoralists – against neoliberal global capitalism. Since its establishment three decades ago, it has become one of the world’s most influential transnational movement organizations. It has kickstarted political projects that led to the formation of wider movements, such as food sovereignty and its accompanying mass movement. In this paper, Paul Nicholson reflects on the key achievements by and challenges of La Via Campesina.