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December 17, 2004
Free trade isn't always fair trade
Unbalanced agreements hurt local agriculture
Workshop explores ways to protect small farmers and promote 'food sovereignty'
By Jessy Chahine
BEIRUT: At the invitation of the Green Line Association, and with funding from the Heinrich Boell Foundation, a three-day meeting was held to discuss the impact of free trade agreements on agriculture and produce in the region.
Discussions convened Thursday focused on the scope of international free trade agreements and the potential impacts on agriculture, in order to come up with a framework for a regional action program that will be implemented in cooperation with national programs.
" Lebanon 's agricultural sector is suffering from high production costs and the unfair competition of similar products from neighboring countries," said Ali Darwich, Green Line's treasurer and one of the five regional chairs of the international NGO/CSO (non-governmental and civil society organizations) planning committee on food sovereignty.
"The competition is unfair as a result of open borders without a single agreement in force," Darwich said. "This indicates clearly what the future situation would be once some agreements come into play and enter into force."
The Unites States Agency for International Development, Darwich said, is currently assisting the government in its efforts to join the World Trade Organization with a major slogan of specialization in agricultural production and economic efficiency of production.
"Fair trade is requested and sought instead of free trade," Darwich said.
The three-day workshop, held at the White House Hotel in Beirut, gathered experts from all over the world and was officially declared as the "civil society workshop on addressing the impacts of free trade agreements and GMOs (genetically modified organisms) on food sovereignty and agriculture in West and Central Asia and North Africa."
"Around 90 percent of the world's agricultural products are consumed in local markets, while only 10 percent are traded internationally," said Devlin Kuyek, a workshop participant representing the Genetic Resources Action International.
"If the governments are serious about addressing the needs of small farmers," Kuyek said, "they need to look elsewhere - at land distribution, market constraints and affordable technologies and practices that work with on-farm resources, such as soil and water management, biodiversity conservation strategies and mixed cropping."
As an example, Kuyek said that African farmers, who are skilled and knowledgeable about the local terrain, are responsible for the vast majority of agricultural innovation that has succeeded in Africa .
"The low levels of productivity that are often cited in reference to African agriculture are the result of poverty, displacement, war, colonialism and environmental challenges," he said.
According to Darwich, while rich countries were more able to subsidize their production, either directly or indirectly, developing countries were not capable of providing this privilege, especially under the force of trade agreements which are "much more tailored" for northern countries.