|
Asian Rice Crisis, due to Imperialist Globalization
Statement by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC)
"The worsening food crisis is the fault of the neo-liberal policies of imperialist globalization which incessantly oppress the peasants who till the land to feed the world. Asian farmers have long been victims of the liberalization of agriculture, but the current crisis manifested by the escalating price of staples and other commodities and the decrease of food production across Asia and other parts of the world attests to these crimes," stated Biplab Halim, Chairperson of the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC).
"Since the start of 2006, the average world price for rice has risen by 217 percent, wheat by 136 percent, maize by 125 percent and soybeans by 107 percent. In the Philippines, food prices, particularly rice have dramatically increased. Regular rice is sold between Php 41.00 to Php 60.00 per kilo. The government has earlier resorted to selling cheaper imported rice due to its skyrocketing price in the market. Long hours of queuing at rolling stores and National Food Authority (NFA) offices under scorching heat just to provide the family a scanty kilo of cheap rice has been a common scenario. An old man has in fact lost his life due to heatstroke days after he collapsed while lining up," said Danilo Ramos, secretary general of APC and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).
Hoarding
At least 29 countries have sharply curbed food exports in recent months, to ensure that their own people have enough to eat, at affordable prices. When it comes to rice, India, Vietnam, China and 11 other countries have limited or banned exports. Fifteen countries, including Pakistan and Bolivia, have capped or halted wheat exports. More than a dozen have limited corn exports. Kazakhstan has restricted exports of sunflower seeds. The restrictions are making it harder for impoverished importing countries to afford the food they need. The export limits are forcing some of the most vulnerable people, those who rely on relief agencies, to go hungry.
Food riots
Latin American country Haiti has toppled its Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis through protests when it experienced food riots due to extreme hunger caused by high food costs. Intense protests were also held in Egypt as the global anxiety over the upsurge of rice and other staple food prices continue.
In Bangladesh, 10,000 workers rioted close to the Dhaka city smashing cars and buses and vandalizing factories in anger at high food prices and low wages. Dozens of people, including at least 20 police officials, were injured in the violence. Ironically, the country achieved food self-sufficiency in 2002, but food prices increased drastically due to the reliance of agriculture on oil and fossil fuels. Economists estimate 30 million of the country's 150 million people could go hungry.
In West Bengal, India food riots were reported in 2007 over shortage of food. India has banned the export of rice except for Basmati types of rice which attract a premium price. In Indonesia, street protests over the price of food took place when food staples and gasoline have nearly doubled in price since January 2008.
To avert the people from food riots the Arroyo regime in the Philippines resorted to the sale of cheap rice by rice stubs to be given to the "poorest of the poor" per barangay (smallest unit in community) which the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will identify. This government measure will furthermore use rice as a political tool.
Actions by governments
IFAD is making up to US$200 million available to support poor farmers boost food production in face of the global food crisis. On 2 May 2008, U.S. President George W. Bush announced an extra $770 million funding for international food aid. The release of Japan's rice reserves onto the market may bring the rice price down significantly. As of 16 May, anticipation of the move had already lowered prices by 14% in a single week. On 30 April 2008, Thailand announced the creation of the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC) with the potential to develop a price-fixing cartel for rice. But this action would worsen the crisis and is capitalizing it. In June 2008 the FAO hosted a High-Level Conference on World Food Security in which $1.2 billion in food aid was committed for the 75 million people in 60 countries hardest hit by rising food prices. In June 2008, G-8 has been required a sustained commitment by some humanitarian organizations.
To make mattersworse, the World Bank (WB) andthe International Monetary Fund (IMF) frequently pressured poor countries in the 1980s and 1990s to lower tariffs and to cut farm support programs, mostly to reduce budget deficits. Indeed, the WB concluded in 2006 that not enough attention had been paid to the negative effects of its policy prescriptions on farmers in developing countries.
Landlessness and Neo-liberal policies
"Landlessness coupled with neo-liberal policy changes like reduction in subsidies in food, agriculture and social sectors as part of SAPs; TRIPS and IPR policies in favor of TNCs; increasing integration of agriculture under the World Trade Organization's (WTO)/Agreement on Agriculture (AOA); large-scale corporatization of agriculture; and other neo-liberal conditions have worsened the sufferings of the poor peasants in Asia. The agrarian reform agenda has taken a back seat. Worst, land grabbing and land conversions were rampant in the name of 'development' and 'industrialization'. Special Economic Zones (SEZs), due to their high demand for land, has emerged as the single largest threat to the livelihoods of peasants in Asia.
The institutions of imperialist globalization like the IMF, the World Bank, regional banks like the ADB, are openly conniving as they share the same interests. The imperialist camp headed by the United States also utilizes regional trade formations like APEC, NAFTA and CAFTA to ensure and continue their dominance over the world's economy for super profits at the expense of exploited peasants, farm workers, peasant women, fisher folk and other rural producers across the globe. The failure of the Doha Round and the stalled 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in 2005 prompted US and other centers of world capitalism to pursue bilateral talks in the form of free trade agreements (FTAs) as well as the 'Aid for Trade' which was meant to be a complement to the Doha Agenda. WTO's Pascal Lamy even claims that the Doha is a "solution" to the food and financial crisis, when in fact it will exacerbate these crises," added Ramos.
Genuine agrarian reform and peoples' food sovereignty
"Development policies in Asia should be based on democratic principles aimed at reducing inequality and ensuring peoples' access to productive resources and employment opportunities so as to enable them to enjoy an adequate standard of living. However, these aims can only be achieved if a qualitative change can occur in the existing socio-political and economic structure at the national, regional and global levels. Policies of the World Bank, the WTO, IMF and Northern countries for the promotion of neo-liberal programs should be critically analyzed, understood and eventually rejected," ended Halim.
"Moreover, the struggle of the peasants for genuine agrarian reform should be strongly related to the struggle for genuine freedom and peoples' food sovereignty. It is necessary and important for peasants to actively participate in the vibrant, expanding and surging local mass struggles and relate it to the struggle of the world against imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. These are the only solutions to the problem of the peasantry worldwide. Further, the alliance of the working class and the peasantry need to strengthen as the foundation of a broader alliance to unite and mobilize the people of the world," Ramos ended.
Assert our Right to Land and Livelihood!
Struggle for Genuine Agrarian Reform and Peoples' Food Sovereignty!
Resist WTO and Imperialist Globalization!
References:
Biplab Halim, APC Chairperson
Danilo Ramos, APC and KMP Secretary General
E-mail:
Tel. no.: +632-9284184 (APC secretariat)
|
