Guardian op-ed: How trade rules agravate the problems of high agricultural commodity prices

[JohnyCanuck]

A man-made famine
by Raj Patel

The Guardian April 15, 2008 8:30 AM

For anyone who understands the current food crisis, it is hard to listen to the head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, without gagging.

Earlier this week, Zoellick waxed apocalyptic about the consequences of the global surge in prices, arguing that free trade had become a humanitarian necessity, to ensure that poor people had enough to eat. The current wave of food riots has already claimed the prime minister of Haiti, and there have been protests around the world, from Mexico, to Egypt, to India.

SNIP

Before he replaced Paul Wolfowitz at the World Bank, Zoellick was the US trade representative, their man at the World Trade Organisation. While there, he won a reputation as a tough and guileful negotiator, savvy with details and pushy with the neoconservative economic agenda: a technocrat with a knuckleduster.

His mission was to accelerate two decades of trade liberalisation in key strategic commodities for the United States, among them agriculture. Practically, this meant the removal of developing countries' ability to stockpile grain (food mountains interfere with the market), to create tariff barriers (ditto), and to support farmers (they ought to be able to compete on their own). This Zoellick did often, and enthusiastically.

Without agricultural support policies, though, there's no buffer between the price shocks and the bellies of the poorest people on earth. No option to support sustainable smaller-scale farmers, because they've been driven off their land by cheap EU and US imports. No option to dip into grain reserves because they've been sold off to service debt. No way of increasing the income of the poorest, because social programmes have been cut to the bone.

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/raj_patel/2008/04/a_manmade_famine.html

[Hannah Bell]

1. Finally! Someone in the media mentions WHY world grain stocks are

so low, instead of pretending it's because we're unable to produce enough.

"two decades of trade liberalisation in key strategic commodities for the United States, among them agriculture. Practically, this meant the removal of developing countries' ability to stockpile grain (food mountains interfere with the market), to create tariff barriers (ditto), and to support farmers (they ought to be able to compete on their own)."


Today's grain "shortage" is remarkably similar to California's electricity "shortage" during the reign of Enron.

That is, it's manufactured, to create bigger profits for a few big players.

It's disgusting, deliberate murder in the interest of profit. It's disgusting also that most of the media participates in this exercise, fear-mongering about the "lowest food stocks in 30 years!!!!" without mentioning that it's been deliberate policy to create marginal food stocks for 30 years.

Also disgusting to see people, like sheep, start talking about stocking up for the inevitable breakdown of civilization, guns & bullets, over-population, blah-blah. Just the kind of reaction that makes folks easy to divide & control, just the sort of isolated individualist reaction fear-mongering is calculated to inspire.

[Hannah Bell]

2. kick