Worse, the military regime, which did practically nothing to warn the Burmese people of the cyclone, is still not opening the country to international aid in any significant way. This behavior is consistent with the military regime's denial of access for aid agencies to help victims of the military regime's war on civilians in eastern Burma.
]]>Worse, the military regime, which did practically nothing to warn the Burmese people of the cyclone, is still not opening the country to international aid in any significant way. This behavior is consistent with the military regime's denial of access for aid agencies to help victims of the military regime's war on civilians in eastern Burma.
Grassroots International currently does not work in Burma or Southeast Asia but our Staff, Board and supporters recognize that donors' generous responses to help those in need must be sensitive to the ongoing struggles for social and economic justice and human rights in Burma.
For those Grassroots International donors and colleagues who wish to directly support progressive groups working in the region, we wish to suggest that you consider the United States Campaign for Burma's urgent call for major, emergency assistance. As the US Campaign for Burma points out, it is critical that this assistance goes to the victims of the cyclone and not the notoriously corrupt military regime.
The Campaign has set up a mechanism on its website so that you can help if you want to make direct donations to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. Please go to http://uscampaignforburma.org/ to make a donation, get updates on the cyclone, and on Burma. The Cyclone Nargis relief fund that the Campaign has set up will go to intermediate relief to help people in rebuilding their communities and homes, and will especially try and fill the gaps where other aid agencies are not able to assist.
As the Campaign states:
The people of Burma will be rebuilding their lives for a long time, and these funds will go directly to organizations inside Burma, led by Burmese who are working to help the people. For security purposes we cannot disclose who these groups are ( in the past the military regime has arrested those who accept international support). We will keep no overhead and 100% of the donations will go to the people of Burma.
The United States Campaign for Burma is a U.S.-based membership organization dedicated to empowering grassroots activists around the world to bring about an end to the military dictatorship in Burma. Through public education, leadership development initiatives, conferences, and advocacy campaigns at local, national and international levels, USCB works to empower Americans and Burmese dissidents-in-exile to promote freedom, democracy, and human rights in Burma and raise awareness about the egregious human rights violations committed by Burma's military regime.
The United Nations World Food Programme has also begun a special operation to make emergency donations of food. You can donate to its efforts at http://www.wfp.org/english/
]]>Prices on the world market for cereals are rising. Wheat prices increased by 130% in the period between March 2007-March 2008. Rice prices increased by almost 80% in the period up to 2008. Maize prices increased by 35% between March 2007 and March 2008 (1). In countries that depend heavily on food imports some prices have gone up dramatically. Poor families see their food bills go up and can no longer afford to buy the minimum needed.
]]>Prices on the world market for cereals are rising. Wheat prices increased by 130% in the period between March 2007-March 2008. Rice prices increased by almost 80% in the period up to 2008. Maize prices increased by 35% between March 2007 and March 2008 (1). In countries that depend heavily on food imports some prices have gone up dramatically. Poor families see their food bills go up and can no longer afford to buy the minimum needed.
In many countries cereal prices have doubled or tripled over the last year. Governments in these countries are under high pressure to make food available at reasonable prices. In Haiti the government already fell because of this issue and strong protests have taken place in other countries such as Cameroun, Egypt, and the Philippines...
The current crisis: a result of agricultural liberalization
Some analyst have been exclusively blaming agrofuels, the increasing world demand and global warming for the current food crisis. But actually, this crisis is also the result of many years of destructive policies that have undermined domestic food production. Trade liberalization has waged a virtual war against small producers. Farmers have been forced to produce cash crops for transnational corporations (TNCs) and buy their food on the world market.
Over the last 20-30 years the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more recently the WTO have forced countries to decrease investment in food production and to reduce support for peasant and small farmers. However, small farmers are the key food producers in the world.
Major international donors have also shown a lack of interest in food production. Development cooperation from industrialized countries to developing countries went up from 20 billion USD in 1980 to 100 billion USD in 2007. However, support for agriculture went down from 17 billion dollar to 3 billion USD during the same time. And most of these funds probably did not go to peasant-based food production.
Under neo-liberal policies, state managed food reserves have been considered too expensive and governments have been forced to reduce and privatize them under structural adjustment regimes. For example, Bulog, the Indonesian state company founded to regulate buffer stocks was privatized in 1998 under the policy package of the International Monetary Fund. Under pressure from the WTO, state marketing boards have been dismantled because they go against the principle of "free" trade. Under WTO agreements, countries have also been forced to "liberalize" their agricultural markets: reduce import duties (which is an important income loss for the importing governments!) and accept imports for at least 5% of their internal consumption even if they did not need it. At the same time TNCs have kept on dumping surpluses into their markets, using all forms of direct and indirect export subsidies.. At the same time, national governments have failed to stabilize their markets and protect farmers and consumers against sudden price fluctuations.
Neo-liberal policies have destroyed the capacities of countries to feed themselves.
After 14 years of NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreements) Mexico went through a major crisis often dubbed as the "tortilla crisis". From an exporting country Mexico has become dependent on US maize imports and current imports 30 percent of its maize. Nowadays, while increased amounts of US maize have suddenly been diverted to agro-fuels production, quantities available for the Mexican markets have dropped, provoking price surges.
In 1992, Indonesian farmers produced enough soya to supply the domestic market. Soya-based tofu and 'tempeh' are an important part of the daily diet throughout the archipelago. Following the neo-liberal doctrine, the country opened its borders to food imports, allowing cheap US soy to flood the market. This destroyed national production. Today, 60% of the soy consumed in Indonesia is imported. Record prices for US soy last January led to a national crisis when the price of 'tempeh' and tofu (the « meat of the poor ») doubled in a few weeks.
According to the FAO the food deficit in West Africa increased by 81% between 1995 and 2004. During the same period cereal imports increased by 102%, sugar imports by 83%, dairy products by 152% and poultry by 500%. However, according to IFAD (2007) the region has the potential to produce sufficient amounts of food.
All around the world, even though it is increasing nation's vulnerability, liberalization goes on: the European Union is forcing the ACP countries into so-called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to liberalize the agricultural sector with foreseeable adverse effects on food production.
The agrofuel boom: a sudden shock on the world markets
The emergence of agrofuels is another cause of food price rises. Over the past few years, TNCs and world economic powers such as the US and the EU have rapidely developed agrofuel production. Massive subsidies and investments are flowing into this "booming" sector. As a result, land is rapidely being converted from food into fuel production and an important part of the US maize suddenly "disappeared" as it was bought up for ethanol production. This uncontrolled explosion of the agrofuel sector created a shock in the already unstable international agricultural markets. Egypt, one of the largest cereal importers, has called upon the US and the EU to stop encouraging the growth of maize and other crops for agrofuels. In Egypt food prices, including subsidized bread, went up by nearly 30% last year (2). In the Philippines, the government is now looking at some 1.2 million hectares for jatropha production in the southern island of Mindanao operated by the Philippine National Oil Co.-Alternative Fuels Corporation, It is also identifying more than 400,000 hectares of land for private sector investments. (Jatropha curcas is a drought-tolerant non-edible shrub. It produces fruits the size of golf balls which contain oil that can be converted into agrofuels. Impacts on local food security are expected (5).
Speculators: betting on expected scarcity
Often eclipsed in the public debate, speculation is one of the main causes of the current food crisis. Production remains high, but speculators are betting on expected scarcity and artificially increasing prices.
World grain production in 2007/2008 is estimated at 2108 million tones (an increase by 4,7% compared to 2006/2007). This is well over the average growth in the last decade of 2%. Average consumption of cereals for food increased around 1% per year and will reach 1009 million tones in 2007/2008. The use for feed purposes increased by 2% to 756 million tones. And the use for other purposes will be around 364 million tones. An important part of it is maize (95 million tones), much of which is going into agrofuels. The USA is expected to use 81 million tons of maize for ethanol, 37% more than in 2006/2007.
The world cereal stocks are estimated to decrease by 21 million (5%) tons to 405 million tons at the end of the season in 2008. Stocks have been going down for several years, they are now at the lowest levels in 25 years.
Although it is true that over the last years demand has increased slightly more compared to production, a balanced international and national policy regarding domestic food production could easily address the situation and would secure stable prices for farmers and consumers.
TNCs and mainstream analysts expect that land will be increasingly used for agrofuels (maize but also palm oil, rape seed, sugarcane...). They predict that the growing Asian middle class will start buying meat which will increase cereal demand and they expect negative climate effects on food production such as severe droughts and floods. Meanwhile, TNCs aggressively obtain large areas of agricultural land around cities for speculative purposes, expelling small food producers . In India more than 700 so called "New Economic Zones" are being established, kicking farmers out of their land.
Based on those predictions, TNCs have been manipulating the markets. Traders have kept stocks away from the market in order to stimulate price increases and generate huge profits afterwards. In Indonesia, in the midst of the soya price hike in January 2008, the company PT Cargill Indonesia was still keeping 13,000 tons of soybeans in its warehouse in Surabaya, waiting for prices to reach record highs.
In many countries large supermarkets have gained a near monopoly power and they are increasing prices far more than is justified by the price increase of the agricultural product. For example in France the price of certain yoghurts increased by 40% although the cost of the milk accounts for only a third of the total price. A substantial increase of the milk price for farmers could never cause such a price increase. (3) In Germany, farmers have seen the farm-gate price of milk dropping by 20-30%, pushing them into bankruptcy because supermarkets use cheap dairy products as a marketing tool to attract consumers.
International financial speculation is playing a major role in food price increases since the summer of 2007. Due to the financial crisis in the USA, speculators started to move from financial products to raw materials, including agricultural products. This directly affects prices in the domestic markets as many countries are increasingly dependent on food imports.
This is happening while there is still enough food in the world to feed the global population. According to the FAO the world could even feed up to 12 billion people in the future.
Lessons learned from the crisis: the market will not solve the problem
Instability on the international food markets is one of the characteristics of agricultural markets: as production is seasonal and variable, and a increase of production cannot be realized very quickly as crops need time to grow. At the same time consumption does not increase very much if more food is available. So small differences in supply and demand, uncertainties regarding future harvests and speculation on international markets can create huge price effects. The volatility in the food markets is mainly due to deregulation, the lack of control on the big players and the lack of necessary state intervention at the international and the national level to stabilize markets. De-regulated markets are key part of the problem!
Peasants and small farmers do not benefit from higher prices
While speculators and large traders do benefit from the current crises, most peasants and farmers do not benefit from the higher prices. They grow food, but the benefits of the harvest often get out of their hands : it is already sold out to the money lender, to the agricultural inputs company, or directly to the trader or the processing unit. Although prices for farmers have gone up for some cereals, this is modest compared with increases on the world market and increases imposed upon consumers. If food on the market comes from domestic producers, usually benefits of higher prices are reaped by companies and other intermediaries that buy the products from the farmers and sell them at an high price. If the products come from the international market, this is even clearer: transnational companies control that market. They define at what prices products are bought in the original country and at what prices they are sold in the importing country. Although in certain cases prices did go up for producers, the biggest part of the increase is cashed in by others. In the dairy and meat sector, because of the increased production costs, farmers even see their prices going down while consumers prices are shooting up.
Despite some moderate price increases at the farm level, stock breeders are in a crisis due to the rise in feed prices and cereal producers are facing sharp rises in oil based fertilizer prices. Farmers sell their produce at an extremely low price compared to what consumers pay. In Europe the Spanish Coordination of Farmer Unions (COAG) calculated that consumers in Spain pay up to 600% more than what the food producer gets for his/her production. Similar figures also exist for other countries where the consumer price is mainly defined by costs for processing, transport and retailing.
Among the victims: agricultural workers, landless farmers and cash crop producers
Agricultural workers as well as many people in the rural areas also have to buy food as they do not have access to land to produce. Therefore, they are severely hit by the current crisis. Some peasants and small farmers may have land but they are forced to produce cash crops instead of food. The increase of the price of edible oil in Indonesia since 2007 has not benefited the Indonesian palm oil farmers at all. They received only a minor price increase from the large buyers and they do not understand why ordinary people and consumers have to suffer such high prices for edible oil. Many of them are working under contract farming with big agribusiness companies which process, refine and sell the product. A small number of big agribusiness companies increased domestic prices, following the international price hike. The contract farming model creates a situation in which farmers cannot produce food for their families as they have to produce cash crops as monocultures such as sugar cane, palm oil, coffee, tea and cacao. This means that even if the farmer receives a minor increase for his cash crop, she has to buy much more expensive food on the market. Therefore increasing food prices also cause more poverty in their families.
Urban consumers hit hard
The international policies of the last decades have expelled hundreds of millions of people to the urban areas where most of them landed in slums, having a very precarious life, forced to work for very low wages and buy food and other goods at a high price. They are the first victims of the current crisis as they have no way to produce their own food. Their number has increased dramatically and they spend a big part of their income on food. According to the FAO, food represents up to 60-80 percent of consumer's spending in developing countries (including landless farmers and agricultural workers). Companies ruthlessly exploit the current situation, accepting that increasing numbers of people go hungry as they do not have the money to buy the available food. Governments are forced to import expensive food to meet consumer demand and do not have the means to support the poorest consumers.
More free trade will not solve the crisis
Institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF as well as some governments are now advocating more investment in agriculture, increased food aid for the low income food importing countries and further liberalization of markets so that countries can improve their income through export. Many argue that we need more intensive production patterns, which means for them more industrial high input agriculture. This includes the introduction of GMOs and the use of more fossil energy!
At the same time they promote a second TNC-led "green" revolution in Africa, they keep on pushing for more market access for their TNCs in the Doha round and tie up the extra financial support to political criteria to increase the dependency of these countries. Nothing is said about the need for increased market regulation and stabilization or whether the support that is called for will go to peasant-based food production. Such investments will go to the importing countries by offering their financial "help", bring more investment in corporate-led food production and continue to impose the same recipe of deregulation and privatization.
In the WTO negotiations high prices are used to make governments accept further tariff cuts and more de-regulation of the agricultural markets. This will create the next crisis when price fluctuations go in the other direction.
A way out of the crisis: rebuilding national food economies
To address the current crisis, La Via Campesina believes that countries should give priority in their budget to support the poorest consumers so that they have access to sufficient food. Meanwhile, they should give priority to their domestic food production in order to become less dependent on the world market. This means increased investment in peasant and farmer-based food production for the domestic market.
We do need more intensive food production, but intensive in the use of labor and in the sustainable use of natural resources. Diverse production systems have to be developed, systems that are not exclusively focusing on the main crops such as corn, soya, rice and wheat but that integrate local foods that have been neglected since the onset of the "green" revolution.. Small-scale family farms can produce a large diversity of food that garantees a balanced diet and some surpluses for the markets. Small-scale family farming is a protection against hunger!
Internal market prices have to be stabilized at a reasonable level for farmers and consumers: for farmers so that they can receive prices that cover the cost of production and secure a decent income and for consumers so that they are protected against high food prices. Direct sales from peasants and small farmers to consumers has to be encouraged. Mr. Jacques Diouf, secretary General of FAO has stated that developing countries should be enabled to achieve food self sufficiency(6).
In every country an intervention system has to be put in place that can stabilize market prices. In order to achieve this, import controls with taxes and quotas are needed to regulate imports and avoid dumping or low price imports that undermine domestic production. National buffer stocks managed by the state have to be built up in order to stabilize domestic markets: in times of surplus, cereals can be taken from the market to build up the stock and in case of shortage, cereals can be released.
Therefore land should be distributed equally to the landless and peasant family through genuine agrarian reform and land reform. This should include the control over and access to water, seed, credits and appropriate technology. People should be enabled again to produce their own food and feed their own communities. Any land grabbing, land evictions and expansion of land allocation for the expansion of agribusiness-led agriculture has to be stopped. Immediate measures are needed to support small farmers and peasants to increase agro-ecological food production.
National governments should not repeat the mistake of promoting agribusiness corporations to invest in large food production units. According to the FAO, ex-Soviet countries plan to open their land to agribusiness companies to produce food on land that is currently not cultivated. This could turn out to be another mistake if this is presented as a solution for the food crisis.
Regulating international markets and implementing basic rights
At the international level stabilization measures have to be implemented. International buffer stocks have to be built up as well as an intervention mechanism to stabilize prices on the international markets at a reasonable level. Exporting countries have to accept international rules that control the quantities they can bring to the market.
Countries should have the freedom to control imports in order to protect domestic food production.
Production of cereals for agrofuels is unacceptable and has to be stopped as this competes with food production. As a first step we ask for an immediate moratorium on agrofuels as proposed by Jean Ziegler former UN rapporteur on the Right to Food.
The influence of transnational corporations has to be limited and the international trade in staple foods has to be brought to a necessary minimum level. As much as possible domestic production should fulfill internal demand. This is the only way to protect farmers and consumers against sudden price fluctuations from the international market.
A possible agreement in the Doha Round will mean another blow for peasant-based food production; therefore any agreement has to be rejected.
Peasants and small farmers are the main food producers
La Via Campesina is convinced that peasants and small farmers can feed the world. They therefore have to be considered as the key part of the solution. With sufficient political will and the implementation of adequate policies more peasants and small farmers will easily produce sufficient food to feed everyone at a reasonable price. The current situation shows that changes are needed!
The time for food sovereignty has come!
References
The increase in food prices is impacting the most vulnerable - the poor are particularly affected, as their diets rely on the very staples that are becoming too costly: cereal grains, cooking oil, and dairy. However, the crisis is being felt not only by the poor, but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, while investors and speculators are busy moving financial capital into food commodity markets after the housing bubble burst in 2007. In the meanwhile International Financial Institutions are promoting further trade liberalization and technological fixes such as the Green Revolution to boost agricultural production.
This Policy Brief examines the impact and causes of the soaring food prices and explores the viability of solutions recommended by the World Bank, WTO and the IMF to deal with growing hunger. It then makes own recommendations on how to stave off the starvation.
]]>It is a growing crisis, and leaders of Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (MST) are calling on the government to tighten and close loopholes in already-existing laws restricting the ownership of Brazilian land by foreigners. The head of Brazil's land reform agency, INCRA, is troubled by the growing percentage of foreign-owned land and seeks a remedy. You can read an article about the developments here.
]]>- Fourth Geneva Convention, article 33
Nonviolence. Opportunity. Innovation. In the wake of the recent escalating violence and food insecurity in Gaza, our grassroots partners have redoubled their quest for social change and sustainability in one of the most troubled places in the world. We are humbled by their laudable tenacity in the face of massive obstacles.
]]>- Fourth Geneva Convention, article 33
Nonviolence. Opportunity. Innovation. In the wake of the recent escalating violence and food insecurity in Gaza, our grassroots partners have redoubled their quest for social change and sustainability in one of the most troubled places in the world. We are humbled by their laudable tenacity in the face of massive obstacles.
Gaza's recent history has been a tragic testament to the experience of ongoing collective punishment. The Gaza Strip is about the same size as Chicago's O'Hare airport and the most densely populated place on earth. It is often described as an open-air prison between Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean. The people of Gaza have been wracked by violence from Israel's military occupation as well as due to Hamas' actions. Through Israeli missile and tank attacks, the death toll has reached an unprecedented height. Nightly sonic booms have shattered windows and terrified the civilian population- likewise citizens of Israel living near the border with Gaza are traumatized by rocket attacks. Water in Gaza has been restricted and power plants have been bombed, causing a wide-spread panic around the loss of resources. Whatever the intention, targeting civilians and collective punishment have both been prohibited by binding international law.
From Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt, the reality of a global food crisis is quickly unfolding. In Gaza, the nature of the military blockade suggests dire consequences for the majority who are currently experiencing extreme poverty. At least 80% of Gaza's one and a half million residents are dependent on food aid to meet their basic needs. Within the last year, the Israeli government has tightened an already extremely strict closure on the area, allowing only about 15 basic items to reach Gazans via the tightly monitored international humanitarian community. This has crippled Gaza, and poverty has been skyrocketing ever since. So has the violence.
These past few months have seen some of the most Israeli military incursions since the 2005 unilateral Israeli disengagement. Alarmingly, an increasing number of children are dying as a result. In the first quarter of 2008, there were more child deaths than the entire year of 2007. On Monday, a woman and four of her young children were killed in their home by a missile as they ate breakfast.
This past week, the situation hit rock bottom as the United Nations has been forced to halt its food deliveries due to a lack of fuel. The Israeli authorities are responsible for allowing petrol to cross the checkpoints into Gaza. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, this has not been allowed for nearly six weeks. UN officials report having enough supplies on hand to feed 650,000 people and to perform crucial garbage collection services to a third of the population. At the current pace, hospitals will run out of fuel within the week. The people of Gaza need our support, perhaps now more than ever.
Through it all, our partners on the ground in Gaza are pursuing their goals of a just and self-sustaining society and tackling these challenges head on. They are offering real alternatives at the grassroots level to a humanitarian crisis that cannot be solved through food handouts alone. The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) is engaged in an innovative urban garden program that promotes self-determination through food security for refugees and the urban populace. The project also creates job opportunities for rural women and contributes to environmental awareness and protection. Additionally, PARC has created an emergency farm to table program that is tackling food dependence at its root. Their three-tiered plan starts by compensating local export-oriented crop farmers who have lost their livelihoods. From there it moves on to benefit traditional farmers who have been put out of work by the larger export-led farmers and then filters through women cooperatives that process these agricultural products. The food is then bought for a fair price and distributed to those most in need.
Another organization actively engaged in promoting dignity and well-being is our partner the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP). Their effective response to crisis continually sows seeds of hope in Gaza's traumatized population. One of their most dynamic programs is the Women's Empowerment Project, providing rehabilitation, psychological care and training, and other services in their three strategically located centers. GCMHP has also played a founding role in the Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza which has been a fundamental voice for peace and justice.
We commend our partners for denouncing increasing measures of collective punishment while taking a clear stance against militant violence on both sides of the conflict. These actions provide a voice of hope, reconciliation, and in the long run, a mutually beneficial non-violent relationship between Israelis and Palestinians.
]]>Twenty-five years ago, Santos co-founded the Center for Integral Small Farmer Development of the Mixtec (CEDICAM), which encourages farmers to return to traditional agricultural methods in the barren lands of the Mixtec Highlands. Santos was concerned about the region's severe soil erosion – caused by deforestation – which was preventing rainwater from soaking into the ground. The subsequent lack of adequate groundwater aquifers was leading farmers to either abandon their land for the cities or use pesticides or non-native seeds to try to recapture crop yields.
CEDICAM members began planting trees in the Mixtec Highlands as a way to stop rainwater runoff and provide people of the region with firewood. They learned how to build rainwater storage structures and engage in organic composting, passing along these skills to other farmers. They also started a seed bank where local farmers can find native varieties of corn and other crops. Today, most farmers in the Mixtec Highlands plant native seeds, and the region is nearly free of genetically modified crops.
On April 14, the 42-year-old Santos joined five other activists from around the world to receive a 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize at an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. The six recipients, honored as pioneering environmental activists, each received $150,000 to further their work.
Grassroots International has proudly funded CEDICAM over the years, sharing the network's belief in the power of local solutions arrived at through local knowledge and skills. You can read more about Santos and CEDICAM in the new book "The Other Game: Lessons from How Life is Played in Mexican Villages," by Phil Dahl-Bredine and Stephen Hicken (Orbis Publishers). In this book, the authors "visit villages that have existed for thousands of years, meet their inhabitants, and talk with them about life, economics, work, and family. We see how their way of life presents concrete alternatives to our Western culture that we must take seriously in order to create a sustainable future for ourselves, our human race, and the other dwellers of the planet. Far from being a romantic throwback to a lost paradise, the indigenous society in this book -- so close yet so far -- offers us strong contemporary options at a turning point in our own history."
]]>Please read on for the Oakland Institute's briefing on this urgent matter.
"UN agencies are meeting in Berne to tackle the world food price crisis. Heads of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), including Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank (former U.S. trade representative) and Pascal Lamy, WTO's Director General, are among the attendees. Will the "battle plan" emerging from the Swiss capital, a charming city with splendid sandstone buildings and far removed from the grinding poverty and hunger which has reduced people to eating mud cakes in Haiti and scavenging garbage heaps, be more of the same - promote free trade to deal with the food crisis?
The growing social unrest against food prices has forced governments to take policy measures such as export bans, to fulfill domestic needs. This has created uproar among policy circles as fear of trade being undermined sets in. "The food crisis of 2008 may become a challenge to globalization," exclaims The Economist in its April 17, 2008 issue. Not surprisingly then, the "Doha Development Round" which has been in a stalemate since the collapse of the 2003 WTO Ministerial in Cancun, largely due to the hypocrisy of agricultural polices of the rich nations, is being resuscitated as a solution to rising food prices.
Speaking at the Center for Global Development, Zoellick passionately argued that the time was "now or never" for breaking the Doha Round impasse and reaching a global trade deal. Pascal Lamy has argued, "At a time when the world economy is in rough waters, concluding the Doha Round can provide a strong anchor." Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF, has claimed, "No one should forget that all countries rely on open trade to feed their populations. [Š] Completing the Doha round would play a critically helpful role in this regard, as it would reduce trade barriers and distortions and encourage agricultural trade."
Preaching at the altar of free market to deal with the current crisis requires a degree of official amnesia. It was through the removal of tariff barriers, through the international trade agreements, that allowed rich nations such as the U.S. to dump heavily subsidized farm surplus in developing countries while destroying their agricultural base and undermining local food production. Reduction of rice tariffs from 100 to 20 percent in Ghana under structural adjustment policies enforced by the World Bank, rice imports increased from 250,000 tons in 1998 to 415,150 tons in 2003, with 66 percent of rice producers recording negative returns leading to loss of employment. In Cameroon, poultry imports increased by about six-fold with the lowering of tariff protection to 25 percent while import increases wiped out 70 percent of Senegal's poultry industry.
Developing countries had an overall agricultural trade surplus of almost US$7 billion per year in the 1960s. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), gross imports of food by developing countries grew with trade liberalization, turning into a food trade deficit of more than US$11 billion by 2001 with cereal import bill for Low Income Food Deficit Countries reaching over $38 billion in 2007/2008.
Erosion of agricultural base of the developing countries has increased hunger among their farmers while destroying their ability to meet their food needs. The 1996 World Food Summit's commitment to reduce the number of hungry - 815 million then - by half by 2015 had already become a far-fetched idea by its 10th anniversary. U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Jean Ziegler, reported last June that nearly 854 million people in the world-one in every six human beings-are gravely undernourished.
So on whose behalf are the heads of the IFIs promoting the conclusion of the Doha Round and further liberalization of agriculture? While Investors Chronicle in its April 2008 feature story, "Crop Boom Winners" explores how investors can gain exposure to the dramatic turnaround in food and farmland prices, a new report from GRAIN, Making a Killing from the Food Crisis, shows Cargill, the world's biggest grain trader, achieved an 86% increase in profits from commodity trading in the first quarter of 2008; Bunge had a 77% increase in profits during the last quarter of 2007; ADM, the second largest grain trader in the world, registered a 67% per cent increase in profits in 2007. Behind the chieftains of the capitalist system are powerful transnational corporations, traders, and speculators who trade food worldwide, determine commodity prices, create and then manipulate shortages and surpluses to their advantage, and are the real beneficiaries of international trade agreements.
The vultures of greed are circling the carcasses of growing hunger and poverty as another 100 million join the ranks of the world's poorest - nearly 3 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. Agriculture is fundamental to the well-being of all people, both in terms of access to safe and nutritious food and as the foundation of healthy communities, cultures, and environment. The answer to the current crisis will not come from the WTO or the World Bank, but lies in the principles of food sovereignty that can ensure food self-sufficiency for each nation. It is time for the developing countries to uphold the rights of their people to safe and nutritious food and break with decades of ill-advised policies that have failed to benefit their people."
]]>All around the globe, food riots have shaken countries from Haiti to Egypt to India to Uzebekistan while rising rice prices cause grief in many Asian countries. A global food crisis threatens to impoverish millions around the world. Here at home, livestock and dairy producers, bakers and food processors have expressed their fears over skyrocketing commodity prices while higher food prices are eating into many family budgets. News reports nervously highlight that U.S. and world grain stocks are at all-time lows since World War II.
]]>All around the globe, food riots have shaken countries from Haiti to Egypt to India to Uzebekistan while rising rice prices cause grief in many Asian countries. A global food crisis threatens to impoverish millions around the world. Here at home, livestock and dairy producers, bakers and food processors have expressed their fears over skyrocketing commodity prices while higher food prices are eating into many family budgets. News reports nervously highlight that U.S. and world grain stocks are at all-time lows since World War II.
For more than a decade, and particularly during Farm Bill negotiations of the past year, we have been sounding alarms over the precarious state of our food security. The undersigned farm, consumer, environmental, religious and development groups believe it is urgent that we establish a Strategic Grain Reserve, similar to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and re-instate the Farmer-Owned Reserve. Under the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act, the United States eliminated all its government stocks, save for a very small amount in the Emerson Humanitarian Trust Reserve intended for foreign aid. We are just one drought away from possibly seeing $10/bushel corn or $20/bushel wheat with absolutely no plan in place to deal with such a calamity. The president and U.S. Congress have irresponsibly ignored this issue throughout the entire Farm Bill debate, even as other countries such as China and India build up their strategic stocks. Last October, the European Union stated they would examine establishing reserves to further buffer against price shocks. The United States cannot afford such ill-prepared planning that is putting our food system and larger economy at grave risk.
The idea of holding grain reserves to stem hunger has been a part of many ancient civilizations. In the Old Testament, Pharoah put Joseph in charge of Egypt’s grain reserves that would set aside one-fifth of production to account for seven fat years followed by seven lean years. A “constantly normal granary” operated in China for over 1,400 years. China’s grain reserve is presently between 150 million and 200 million tons. During the New Deal, the United States established grain reserves as a way to protect farmers from depressed prices and to ensure soldiers and consumers had enough to eat. The idea for the government to hold “buffer stocks” as a way to stabilize commodity markets was widely popularized by Benjamin Graham, a Wall Street legend who mentored Warren Buffett. In 1977, Congress enacted the Farmer-Owned Reserve in the Farm Bill as a means of “maintaining adequate food reserves.” These policy mechanisms were all dismantled by the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act. The global move towards free trade and trade liberalization means countries around the world have also forfeited much of their food stocks. The current price volatility roiling global food prices should come as no surprise.
Reinstating food reserves would facilitate more orderly marketing, protect consumers from price surges, and could meet energy and humanitarian needs. The possibility of short supplies seriously threatens our reputation as a reliable exporter and is one of the fundamental reasons behind current market speculation as suppliers hoard their stock and commodity traders buy and sell wildly. Currently, private corporations control U.S. grain reserves as a result of Congress’s decision to privatize our excess commodity supply.
Our government should be responsible for providing a stable supply of food for their citizens in the face of unpredictable disruptions in grain production. Strategic reserves are also a much more responsible approach to addressing the rise in commodity prices that have caused much anguish from livestock and dairy producers, bakers and food processors. Some groups have advocated for allowing Conservation Reserve Program acres to be brought into production as a solution. We oppose this shortsighted move that would devastate ecologically sensitive land so revered by conservationists and hunters. We cannot grow our way out of this crisis.
Those clamoring for the days of cheap commodities need to remember that commodity prices collapsed after the 1996 Farm Bill, with corn falling to $1.50 / bushel and wheat under $3 / bushel. These prices were lower than what farmers received in the 1970s! As a result, thousands of farmers went out of business and billions were spent in emergency federal payments. Agribusinesses profiting from buying cheap corn and wheat have never showed much concern for the perilous plight of farmers. Now that higher prices are sparking cries for more production, the United States needs to have a long-term vision for preserving our food security and food sovereignty – much more than simply answering agribusiness’s pleas for cheap commodities. A prudent reserves policy that stabilizes commodity prices would reduce controversial farm subsidy payments by ensuring prices do not collapse. Ten-dollar corn is a threat to our system, but $2 corn should be every bit as unacceptable.
A Strategic Grain Reserve is just as vital as a Strategic Petroleum reserve. It is not too late for Congress to establish policy that will benefit both consumers and farmers instead of leaving our fates to the whims and dictates of unstable, globalized markets. As a matter of national security, our government should recognize and act on its responsibility to provide a stable market for food in an era of unprecedented risk.
Sincerely,
National Family Farm Coalition
Grassroots International
Agricultural Missions, Inc.
American Agriculture Movement, Inc.
American Corn Growers Association
Ashtabula County Farmers Union (Ohio)
Border Agricultural Workers Project (El Paso, TX)
California Farmers Union
Center of Concern
Community Farm Alliance (Kentucky)
Congregation of the Holy Cross; Coordinator for Peace and Justice
Family Farm Defenders
Farm Aid
Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
Food and Water Watch
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy
Hispanic Organizations Leadership Alliance
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
International Labor Rights Forum
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
Kansas Farmers Union
Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Justice, Peace/Integrity of Creation Office
Missouri Rural Crisis Center
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National Farmers Organization
National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association
Ohio Farmers Union
Organic Consumers Association
Rural Advancement Fund (NC)
Rural Coalition /Coalicion Rural
Western Organization of Resource Councils
For more information or to reach signors, please contact NFFC at (202) 543-5675.
]]>In Jakarta, the Indonesian Peasant's Union together with trade unions, human right groups, fisherfolk, women's organisations and others are holding a general assembly against transnational corporations. Opening this event, Henry Saragih - general coordinator of the International Peasant's Movement La Via Campesina said: « Today is the day where the silenced communities are raising their voices. Farmers and rural populations represent almost half of the people on earth, but our voices are not heard and our concerns are ignored. Too often we are marginalised, impoverished and oppressed. But on the 17th of April, we celebrate our struggle for life! »
In Argentina, the National indigenous and farmers movement is gathering in seven provinces and organising marches against large soya producers who are grabbing land and destroying soils, organising actions against Syngenta and Monsanto; marches for life and against the plundering of land, water and seeds by transnational companies.
In Germany, a whole week of actions have been organised by a coalition of several grassroots-groups, NGOs and networks active in the field of global agriculture in and around Berlin. They include a picture exhibition, a biodiversity window in an organic shop, a special selection on global agriculture in a bookshop, a bicycle rally and action at a GMO-research-field of the chemical giant BASF and many others.
In Cameroon, the Rural council for the development of agriculture and fishing (CORDAP) is organising a conference in Yaoundé discussing "What kind of food policy do we want to develop in Cameroon in the era of rising international food prices?".
(A full list of activities is available on www.viacampesina.org)
This global mobilisation is taking place as hunger is back on the public agenda. Food prices have been rising dramatically over the past year and hunger riots are happening in various parts of the world. For La Via Campesina, the current food crisis is largely due to speculation and trade liberalisation in the agriculture sector. Large food traders are now speculating on expected future shortages and rising prices artificially, creating hunger and increasing poverty. On the other hand, the steady dismantling of state mechanisms (such as buffer stocks and import controls) over the past decades has left countries extremely vulnerable to food price volatility.
Mobilised today, farmers organisations members of La Via Campesina and all their friends and allies believe that sustainable family farming and local food production can solve the current crisis. They are ready to take up the challenge.
More information on www.viacampesina.org
Media contact: Isabelle Delforge: +62-21-7991890, +62 81513224565, E-mail: delforge@viacampesina.org