Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Author(s): A. R. Vasavi
Source: Georgetown Journal of International Affairs , Winter/Spring 2013, Vol. 14, No.
1 (Winter/Spring 2013), pp. 133-141
Published by: Georgetown University Press
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Winter/Spring 2013 [ 1 3 3 ]
tivators,
laws and regulations- promulgated by are overlooked. Claims made
national and international agencies
by the WTO - regime stating that agri-
value market rights, dominant cultural
states' trade liberalization will benefit
interests, corporate competitiveness,
developing countries are contested by
and investor profitability overcritics
agricul- and farmers' organizations, such
as Via Campesina.2
turists' rights. Policies pertaining to OECD demands
agricultural production, marketing,
for increased access to developing mar-
trade, and patents should accord ketsagri-
have caused prolonged delays in the
culturists their rightful voice. GATT. Developing countries' challeng-
This essay provides a sketch esofare
the only more evidence of continued
various ways in which policiesfailure
regard- to consider the sustainability of
agricultural
ing trade, development, expansion, and operations.3
international philanthropy related The torelegation of the agricultural
sector
agriculture bypass agriculturists. Such in international development
neglect accounts for continued regimes
crises in is evident in policy documents
various parts of the world anddisseminated
renders by institutions such as the
international aid redundant. World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank. Reports such as the World Develop-
Anti-Agrarianism: Trade and
ment Report 2008: Agriculture for Development
Development Policies. Despite
consider agriculture a laggard in need
of reengineering and replacement with
evidence of the resilience, viability, sus-
other vibrant economic activities.4 Such
tainability, and productivity of small
cultivators, current international trade
plans include opening agriculture to
and market-led regimes intentionally private sector players, encouraging con-
or unintentionally seek their demise. tract farming, and integrating the agri-
Policy priorities, such as providing
cultural economy into the larger global
high -technology and know-how, repro-markets.5 Policy pronouncements see
globalization of agriculture with in-
duce biases against agriculture and draw
on a range of perspectives to retool creased
ag- inputs of private capital and
riculture to fit into the new regimehigh-technology
of as the only solution
to problems of low productivity, food
global trade. Absent in these measures
are the more appropriate and requiredscarcity, and poverty in most rural areas.
Over the years, national agricultural
strategies of decentralizing agricultural
research, enhancing local innovation policy documents have begun to reflect
capacities, and ensuring political guidelines
ac- from international aid and
development agencies. This includes
countability of production systems.
recommendations which inevitably lead
Such measures could help address local,
ecology-specific problems and enable the economy to shift surplus rural pop-
ulations into urban areas, and for small-
agriculturists to retain their agency and
abilities. scale and subsistence farming to col-
Instead, a range of new trade and de-lapse. These statements set the tone for
velopment policies constitute an ori-the reproduction of 'agro -skepticism,'
entation in which the interests of the
in which the rural and the agricultural
are seen as lacking any worth.6 This is
majority, especially the marginal cul-
statements by leading policy makers, fold agricultural growth and the rural
think-tank members, and administra- economy in general. Several govern-
tors that agriculture cannot cater to the ments, however, place these on the back
overpopulated rural regions, that the burner; as such, the policies remain far
poor human-to-land ratio accounts from implementation.
for the failure of agriculture to sustain On the second track are policies, leg-
people, and that an overhaul in the very islation, and programs formulated with-
working of the land is non-negotiable. out due process or public input. These
While each of these have legitimized the policies seek to integrate land and agri-
increasing externalization, financializa- culture into the larger global, neolib-
tion, and corporatization of agricul- eral economy. Scholars and representa-
ture - increasingly basing the sector on tives of public and private think-tanks
external inputs and integration into the are also members of such initiatives and
market- the larger structural issues and draw their perspectives from overarch-
problems of poor soil fertility and in- ing neoliberal economics which justifies
equitable access to land, resources, and increasing financialization and liberal-
capital remain unaddressed. ization of all economic activities. While
Attendant with these structural is- policies of the first track remain largely
sues is the dissemination of dominant rhetorical and rarely employed in actual
images of agriculturists all overprograms,
the the second track of policies
world: the starving peasants of Africa;
and programs are finalized by a chosen
the suicidal peasant of India; the left-
few and subsequently granted legitimacy
through implementation.
inclined and ready to bear arms peasants
Early results of the imposition of
of South America; the resilient peasant
turned factory worker of Southeast Asia ;
transnational agribusiness interests over
the peasant turned migrant worker those
of of regional and national food
China; and the increasingly uncompet-security were 'banana republics.' The
itive and exhausted farmers of Europe'banana republics' produced not only
exotic food crops for Western mar-
and the United States. Such stereotypes
support the 'advanced marginality' of but also tyrants who then wrecked
kets,
agriculturists in which the marginal the
are local economies of these regions.
further neglected and their needs delib-
Failure to address regional agricultural
erately overlooked.7 politics or provide appropriate policies
has led to conditions and events of ex-
Especially since I991» national-level
agricultural and rural policies seem treme
to violence in which the most mar-
be on three parallel tracks. One track
ginal and vulnerable are victims. Over
consists of a body of policies, missions,
the past two decades, several economic
committee reports, and position papers
programs have been undertaken with-
Winter/Spring 2013 [ I 3 5 1
ment itself. The end result has been a subsequently displaced local agricultur-
series of fallouts- economic, social, ists.10 In some cases, a single company
and ecological- encapsulated in currentis allocated up to a million hectares.
world-wide crises of food, energy, and Similarly, China's expansion into Af-
rica's agricultural belts has become a
livelihoods. Large parts of Africa, once
exporters of food grains and crops causeto for concern. Brazil's success in
the West, are now devastated by nearly export agriculture has led the country to
expand to various other South Ameri-
thirty-five years of corporate globaliza-
can nations, causing the collapse of
tion, free trade, and anti-peasant poli-
cies, all of which were imposed by the small cultivating units and creating large
World Bank, IMF, WTO, United States, pools of displaced peasantries. Such
and EU.9 Free trade agreements have agri-expansionism will only exacerbate
enabled private traders and companies land inequities, loss of livelihoods, and
to import subsidized food grains from the problems of ecological degrada-
these regions, rather than negotiate tion. Subsequently, already vulnerable
with local farmers. Subsequent 'dump- populations will become more prone
ing' drives local farm prices below costs to food scarcities and inevitably suffer
of production and local farmers out of from famines and war. Dispelling agri-
business. This process is singularly re- culturists from the worlds of agriculture
sponsible for destroying various viable and rendering agriculture into techno-
Winter/Spring 2013 [ 1 3 7 1
are not given a voice in the determina- recognize the specificities of small-scale
tion of the policies affecting their lives agriculture and the constraints and dis-
and their future."13 advantages faced by the average, mar-
ginal African peasant. FLAN seeks to
Promising Alternatives. The
initiate a regime of fair trade with these
possibility and strengths of including agriculturists.16
agriculturists' voices is demonstrated Recent political mobilization in
in a select number of reports. The In- South America, as in Venezuela, that
ternational Assessment of Agricultural Knowledgeseeks
, to address the centuries-long land
denial
Science and Technology for Development (IAAS- to indigenous groups and the
TD) was one of the first to highlight thepromulgation of new civic and political
need for a rights-based approach to is- rights that recognize various livelihoods
is another big step in the direction of
sues of food security, agricultural devel-
opment, and science and technology for according rights to cultivators. In Asia,
agriculture.14 Focusing on smallhold-civil society organizations are now spear-
ings and their owners and workers, the heading coalition movements in which
UN -led study calls for the recognition
rights to land and natural resources are
of small cultivators and the moral basis
gaining currency. For example, in In-
of their livelihood, rather than market-
dia, Ekta Parishad, a Gandhian move-
oriented globalization. ment, has spearheaded the demand for
The "Democratizing Agricultural
land rights and recently signed a memo-
Research" workshops and farmer juries
randum with the Government seeking
held in West Africa and India are other address of land related issues. Women
positive examples.15 They have not onlyas key cultivators, especially in regions
represented the voices and ideas of ag-like Africa, are now being recognized
riculturists, but also placed them at by
the some governments and their legiti-
center of policy reconstruction and macy,
ef- rights, and knowledge are being
reinforced through new policy initia-
forts to forge new agricultural agendas.
As agriculturists at one of these meet-tives. These cases represent possibili-
ings pointed out, the challenge is to ties
re- of addressing the deficits of existing
tain their food security and also enable
agrarian structures and the exclusion of
them to have access to income. They agriculturists from decision and policy-
had strategies and suggestions to ensure
making.
these; agriculturists now recognize that
Conclusion. National and interna-
markets are not invisibly controlled, but
are instead manipulated and directed. tional crises are being forged as agri-
culturists become rural refugees and
Furthermore, agriculturists realize that
they can also have a say in the pricing
increasingly displaced peoples. Interna-
of their products. Similarly, FoodFirst
tional trade, development, expansion,
Information and Action Network In- and philanthropy agreements, which
ternational (FLAN), a German inter- claim to rescue agriculturists, exacerbate
national human rights organization, the situation. As agriculturists every-
marks a shift in the dominant capitalist where - from post-communist peasant
"West vs. Africa" narrative as it seeks to workers to displaced agrarian refugees
Winter/Spring 2013 [ I 3 9 ]
NOTES
Agriculture,"
I The term agriculturist is used as a blanket term to Economic and Political Weekly 43» no- 4*8: 19-
include both peasants/subsistence cultivators and9 also Ruth Wedgwood and Tiffany Basiano, "The
farmers who cultivate for the market. Right to Food' and Foreign Land Deals in Africa," The
2 Timothy A. Wise, "Promise or Pitfall? The Lim- Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns
ited Gains from Agricultural Trade liberalization for Hopkins University SAISPHERE (2011): 57" 59 •
Developing Countries," Journal of Peasant Studies 36, no. IO See the report by the Government of India
4 (October 2009): 855-870. Monitor, "The Indian Land Grab In Africa," Inter-
3 Faizel Ismail, "Narratives and Myths in the WTO net , http : / / www . counter cur rents . o rg/ goi20I2II. htm .
Doha Round The Way Forward?," Economic and Political II Eric Holt-Gimenez, Miguel A. Altieri, and
Weekly 47, no. 31 (August 20I2): 55~6o. Peter Rosset, Food First Policy Brief No. 12: Ten Reasons Why the
4 World Bank, World Development Report 2008: Agri- Rockefeller and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations' Alliance for
culture for Development (New York: Oxford UniversityAnother Green Revolution Will Not Solve the Problems of Poverty and
Press, 2008). For detailed reviews and critiques ofHunger in Sub- Saharan Africa, (California 2006).
this report from the perspective of various regions and 12 See Hannah Wittman, "Reworking the Meta-
countries see the Journal of Peasant Studies 36» no. 3 (Juty bolic Rift: La Via Campesina, Agrarian Citizenship,
2009): 603-645. and Food Sovereignty Journal of Peasant Studies 36, no.
5 Contract Farming refers to farming practices 4 (October 2009): 805-826.
wherein the initial capital, inputs, and even know-how 13 Frederic Mousseau, Food Aid or Food Sovereignty?
are provided by agri-business agencies; farmers actEnding World Hunger in Our Time, (California, 2005): 6l.
only as cultivators or producers. 14 IAASTD, "Towards Multifunctional Agricul-
6 See the essay by Haroon Akram-Lodhi, "Mod- ture for Social, Environmental and Economic Sus-
ernising Subordination? A South Asian Perspective tainability," Internet, http://iaastd.net.docs/lo505_
on the World Development Report 2008: Agriculturemulti.pdf.
for Development," Journal of Peasant Studies 36, no. 3 15 Two exemplary cases are that of the work con-
(July 2009): 611-619. ducted by the International Institute for Environment
7 Loie Wacquant, "The Rise of Advanced Mar-and Development (IIED) in West Africa (see Michel
ginality: Notes on its Nature and Implications," ActaPimbert, Boukary Barry, Anne Berson, and Khanh
Sociologial 39, no. 2 (2006). Tran -Thanh, Democratising Agricultural Research for Food Sov-
8 The 'Indo -US Knowledge Initiative in Agricul- ereignty in West Africa (London: 2010). Also see the work
tural Research and Education' (KIA) was initiated inby Alliance For Democratising Agricultural Research
2006 under George Bush but did not take-off untilin South Asia, Raitha Theerpu (Farmers' Jury): Report of Jury on
March 20I0 under the Obama regime. Its purportedDemocratising Agricultural Research in Karnataka, (Hyderabad,
focus was on four key areas: Biotechnology, Food2009).
processing and Marketing, Education and Training, 16 FLAN International, Policies to Overcome the Marginalisa-
and Water Management and Precision Agriculture. tion of African Peasant Farmers. Policy implications of project work
The initiative provides a platform for strengthening on African smallholders in focus- a voice in EU trade policy, (Hei-
the role of agri-business giants such as Monsanto, delberg: 2009).
DuPont, Wal-Mart, Teseo, and Cargill in the nation, 17 Woman agriculturist, fieldwork notes in India
many of whose representatives are on its board. For anat the height of the epidemic of suicides, Karnataka,
excellent overview and critique of the KIA see Kavitha India.
Kuruganti's essay, "Targeting regulation in Indian
Winter/Spring 2013 [ 1 4 1 ]