On Eve of WTO Meeting US Family Farmers Speak Out

THE
AGRIBUSINESS
EXAMINER
September 4, 2003, Issue #283
Monitoring Corporate Agribusiness
From a Public Interest Perspective

EDITOR\PUBLISHER; A.V. Krebs
E-MAIL: avkrebs@earthlink.net
WEB SITE: http://www.ea1.com/CARP/
TO RECEIVE: Send name and address

AMERICAN FARM GROUPS DEMAND
REFORM OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL POLICY;
WOULD BENEFIT FARMERS WORLDWIDE

"We stand here united in Washington, D.C., to tell the world's farmers, their governments and their trade negotiators that U.S. farm policy is not working for farmers anywhere in the world. We are all going to Cancún, Mexico next week because it is time to talk realistically about these problems," said John Dittrich, Senior Policy Analyst of the American Corn Growers Association and a farmer from Tilden, Nebraska.

"We urge all those interested in global food production, global family agriculture, and developing countries to read the groundbreaking research report we will carry to Cancún and beyond," said Dittrich. He points to the newly released study, Rethinking U.S. Agriculture Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide, by the Agriculture Policy Analysis Center (APAC), part of the University of Tennessee, a land-grant university. "This report goes comprehensively to the heart of the ever more contentious trade issues of farm subsidies in developed countries, low world commodity prices, and global poverty."

"We ask the world community to thoughtfully review this research. It concludes that even if the difficult task of negotiating the elimination of global farm subsidies is completed, family-based agriculture will continue to spiral downward as a result of continued low commodity prices," added John Hansen, Secretary of National Farmers Union. "Farmer-oriented policies and international cooperation are the real solutions."

Dittrich and Hansen were joined by Katherine Ozer of the National Family Farm Coalition, Lorette Picciano of the Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, Ben Lilliston of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and Bill Christison of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. In addition, other organizations present and supportive of the initiative include the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund, the National Farmers Organization, the Soybean Producers of America, and the American Agriculture Movement. "We are united in our message and will be traveling to the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Cancún to participate in the agriculture policy negotiations scheduled for next week," said Dittrich.

"At that time we will also present an Open Letter to Farmers, Farmworkers and Rural People of the World calling for a dialogue with our counterparts across the globe based on the findings in this research." (ED. NOTE: See below]

Professor Daryll E. Ray, Blasingame Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Policy and APAC Director, was also in attendance and followed the news conference with a detailed presentation of the study. "U.S. policies heavily influence the fate of farmers well beyond our borders. Therefore, policy addressing the needs of U.S. farmers also should recognize our larger global influence," said Ray.

"We have found conclusive evidence through our analysis that international trade policies have indeed led the way for the global downward spiral of farm prices and farm income. However, we can also predict with a significant degree of accuracy that the elimination of U.S. farm subsidies without real price-enhancing reform of U.S. policy will destroy our farm and rural economy, and --- surprisingly --- would perpetuate the problems facing farmers in developing counties rather than alleviate them. We offer a blueprint of one example of how U.S. farm policy could be reformed. This is not a farm bill proposal, but an analysi and discussion of one possible solution to the serious problems facing farm families and their communities worldwide."

APAC's analysis and blueprint for discussion includes acreage diversion through short-term conservation uses and longer-term acreage reserves, a farmer-owned food security reserve, and price supports as a replacement for the current and expensive policy of direct government subsidies. It also explores the use of non-tradable energy crops as a viable alternative to short and long-term acreage diversion options.

A presentation of the study and its background will be presented in Cancún at Casa Maya on Thursday, September 11 at 8:00 p.m. MEX.

For additional information about the study or Dr. Ray's presentation, go to http://agpolicy.org/blueprint.html

A DECLARATION
FOR A NEW DIRECTION
FOR AMERICAN AGRICULTURE
AND AGRICULTURAL TRADE

We stand together at the dawn of the 21st century. We stand together as farmers, workers, religious and development organizations, environmentalists and concerned citizens calling for a comprehensive re-examination of the impact of global trade policy on food security, farmers’ livelihoods, and local, sustainable food production.

We demand trade agreements that put the good of the people before the trade of goods; trade agreements that value social justice over private profits. The outcomes of these agreements in all participating countries must be access by all to safe, affordable food; access to the resources and technology needed to ensure domestic food security and sustainable livelihoods; an end to environmental degradation associated with food production; and democratic participation by citizens in making decisions about domestic food production.

The World Trade Organization’s Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico this month helps to decide who will plant crops and who will be uprooted, and in many cases who will eat and who will starve in the global free trade of food. This is a time to affirm that agricultural trade must support human rights and livelihoods, not overrun or destroy them.

Environmentally and economically sustainable agriculture is central to each nation’s ability to feed its citizens today and for generations to come.

The challenge to adequately feed the world’s inhabitants ultimately depends upon recognizing the fundamental connections between food security and food sovereignty, the health and well-being of human societies, and an intact and healthy environment capable of sustaining food production. Indeed, the future of the planet itself depends on how we as a world community meet the global demands for safe, sufficient, sustainable and accessible food for all. We believe that rational and fair trade policies can move our world toward an era of social justice, environmental and economic sustainability, and a generally more peaceful and productive era.

We affirm that international trade agreements must be designed to defend and support these principles:
* Access to safe, affordable food is a universal human right; widespread hunger cannot be acceptable in a world where food is abundant.
* Food production cannot come at the degradation of soil, water, air and biodiversity.
* Family farmers and ranchers around the world must be assured economic justice through fair prices for their production.
* Farm laborers must be assured economic justice through fair wages and contracts.
* All family scale producers, and especially indigenous, minority, immigrant and other excluded farm sectors must be assured access to land and to a system of agriculture that supports, protects and sustains their culture and communities.
* Corporate profits cannot come at the expense of the livelihoods of farmers and workers in the U.S. or other countries, nor at the expense of access to and diversity of the global seed supply. Therefore, the undersigned organizations representing U.S. farm, labor, religious, development, consumer and environmental interests issue the following call for action:

To Our Elected Officials:

We place in you a trust that you will carry out the will of the people for the common good. Therefore, we hold you accountable to:
* Support policies which secure family farmers’ livelihoods by fair prices for their products and increased capacity to influence decision-making about food systems;
* Support measures that safeguard the health of rural communities and the right of farm laborers to fair wages, contracts, and safe working conditions;
* Support policies that safeguard the capacity to produce food without environmental degradation both domestically and abroad;
* Support trade agreements that honor each nation’s right to establish their own food security through food sovereignty;
* Support trade agreements that recognize agriculture as a fundamentally unique industry that requires independent negotiating frameworks emphasizing global cooperation to achieve mutual goals.

To Our Trade Representative Robert Zoellick:

As a world leader, the United States has responsibility to work towards global trade agreements that reflect the basic values of fairness, independence, democracy, and social and economic justice. Therefore, as our trade representative in the global trade negotiations, we urge that you:
* Support trade policies that ensure that family farmers and ranchers around the world receive a fair price for their products;
* Support trade policies that ensure that the wages and working conditions of farm laborers in every nation meet accepted international standards;
* Support trade policies that prioritize the need for long term social, economic and environmental stability and vitality of rural communities over the desire of agribusiness corporations, many based in the Unites States, to dominate world food production and processing;
* End the pricing and dumping of agricultural commodities at below the cost of production, thereby preventing the displacement and destruction of farmers and rural communities in the U.S. and around the world;
* Press for public information to be made available in each country regarding the cost of production for each export crop;
* Support trade policies that address the growing problem of world-wide agricultural marketplace concentration that distorts agricultural markets and prices;
* Support trade policies that reduce the need for taxpayer subsidies by increasing the marketplace value of agricultural products, thereby raising the standards of living and contributing to the stability and economic development of rural communities world-wide;
* Support public sector funding for agriculture that enables all countries to pursue domestic goals of greater social equity, rural development, and environmental protection.

To Our Allies Around the Globe Fighting for Fair and Just Trade Agreements:

The ever-increasing globalization of communication and economic activity offers all of us the increased opportunity and obligation to work together toward a common vision for fair and just global trade that truly serves our mutual interests of a safe, secure food supply. Therefore we pledge:
* To work with you toward fair international trade agreements that secure farmers’ livelihoods and promote rural economic development, environmental protection, and democratic participation in decision-making about food systems;
* To work together as American institutions to educate all Americans about the need to redesign international trade agreements to support and promote rural development, poverty reduction, sustainable agricultural development and food security for all, not only in the United States but across the globe.

Signers [As of September 3, 2003]

FARM AID
AFL-CIO
American Corn Growers Association
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment
Center of Concern
Citizens Trade Campaign
Consumer’s Choice Council
Defenders of Wildlife
Federation of Southern Cooperatives / Land Assistance Fund Friends of the Earth Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture National Catholic Rural Life Conference National Council of Churches of Christ National Farmers Union National Family Farm Coalition Oxfam America
Presbyterian Church USA, Washington Office
Public Citizen
Rural Coalition/Coalicion Rural
Soybean Producers of America
United Auto Workers
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society United Steelworkers of America Western Organization of Resource Councils