Agriculture, Genetically Modified Crops, Farmers Suicides

The prominent, issue at the protest surrounding the 6th ministerial WTO conference in Hong Kong, was that of Agriculture.  The panel addressing these concerns, put on mid-week, drew a substantial crowd seriously concerned with sustainable agriculture.   The panelists included Dr. Krishan Bir Chaudhary of India, executive chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, Dr. Ursula Oswald Spring of Mexico (recent recipient of the Mexico Award of Ecology) working for United Nations University EHS (Environment and Human Security), India’s own Dr. Vandana Shiva founder of RSTE, Navdanya, Bija Vidyapeeth, and Dale Wen former neurophysicist, current activist from China.

Initiating the panel, Dale Wen from China drew attention to the “Sugar Cane case”: 26 million Chinese farmers depend on sugar cane crop income, within 6 months of China joining the WTO there was a 35% decline in farmer’s profits. 

Krishan Bir Chaudhary was visibly stirred while talking about agriculture in India, which makes up the livelihood of 75mil of the population.   Particularly infuriating was his discussion on the US multinational corporation Monsanto, who forced the genetically modified Bt Cotton crop on Indian farmers.  The crops failed and when insurance companies could not cover the damage to farmers, Monsanto did not offer any compensation.  His facts suggested that in 2002 over 90% of the crops failed. 

Joel Wainwright from the Dept. of Geography, Ohio State University, USA has been researching the failure of genetically modified (GM) crops.  He was one of the active audience members and inserted his knowledge that these companies (i.e. Monsanto) do not engineer their crops to be conducive to foreign soil, weather, farming patterns; therefore he attributes Indian crop failure to this.  Wainwright is completing a study on the cross-contamination of GM and non-GM corn crops in Mexico; it is due to be published in March.

The industrial agriculture companies, such as Monsanto, can easily gain foreign access through trade agreements potentially installed under the WTO.

On an even more emotional note, Krishan Bir shared that in 1 district in India, in 1 month, 76 farmers committed suicide due to indebt ness.  This is reflective of the larger problem: hundreds more farmers had the same fate.  He ended by saying that, “every country has the responsibility to protect their food security-- it is a basic right.  The multi-nationals have captured nature, the rights and the security (of people)”.

There’s no doubt that the hundreds and hundreds of international farmers pounding the streets this week in Hong Kong to protest the WTO agree.

Dr. Ursula Oswald Spring from Mexico also agreed and she represented the activist group Via Campesina an indigenous peasant movement from SE Mexico, which was born the same day as the NAFTA (free trade agreement) between the United States and Mexico.  After a decade of NAFTA, the price of corn has dropped 64%, beans 46%.  She noted, “peasants have to sell 5 times the amount of product to generate the same income, it’s not possible”.  The rural poverty problem is resulting in migration to the cities and illegal migration to the US.  Poverty and lack of employment oppurtunites on the rise also means young people leave.

A startling figure was that 0.07% of the population in Mexico owns two-thirds of all financial savings of the country; 3 out of 5 of the richest men in the world are Mexican.  Although the people of Mexico don’t see any money, Mexico spends 78 billion importing food—this is a country that is the fourth most bio-diverse country in the world (a country where corn, beans, tomatoes originated). 

When the US overproduced genetically modified corn, the country forced it on Mexico using the rights of the NAFTA (free trade agreement).  This is a sad irony since Mexico has over 1000 indigenous types of corn (180 biological types).  Dr. Oswald Spring suggests that the 78 billion spent on importing food be spent instead on “jobs, infrastructure, livelihoods” in Mexico. 

Lastly, Dr. Vandana Shiva stated that accessing the agricultural sector of trade is the United States prime concern, and is being driven by insatiable agribusiness US corporations such as: Cargill, Monsanto, ConAgra.  These huge multinational corporations are driving the liberalization of trade but the blind greed is transparent. Dr. Vandana Shiva posed the question, “Will it be food sovereignty or free trade for Cargill?”  Agriculture and free trade cannot co-exist.

She also highlighted the in-efficiencies of industrial agriculture.  Among facts shared was that 10 cal of energy are spent to make 1 cal of food in industrial agriculture.  She went on to say that, “There are more inputs, more chemicals, and $400 billion in subsidies.  It (industrial agriculture) takes more than it gives”.  Indeed, it took the lives of many farmers.