International Financial Institutions: A Threat to Food Sovereignty

Being homeless, losing livelihood, starvation, poverty etc. are just some everyday realities for many people, even for communities, in developing countries. People are constantly struggling for claiming their rights and sovereignty over food, environment and natural resources. Unfortunately, people are not only deprived of their rights, but their livelihood is threatened by market forces and controlled by market-led economy. Though late, but now it is recognized that multinational companies are mainly making profit and controlling world’s natural resources in the name of creating employment opportunity.

 Land, water and agriculture are considered as key resources for making money and a highly profitable sector for investments to the International Financial Institutions (IFIs). For so called ‘development’, ‘poverty alleviation’, and large infrastructure projects, privatization programs are transforming natural resources into investment opportunities or commodities. Hence, IFIs are mainly undermining people’s access to and control over land, forests, water, biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
Across the globe, people are struggling for the most fundamental right, food. It has been going on for the massive disparities, injustice and inequalities. The current economic system and the so called neo-liberal globalization have worsened the current situation. Neoliberal policies, promoted by multilateral institutions such as IFIs and the WTO are recurrently infringing the capacity of people and their countries for self-sufficient food production.

Under this liberalization and free market policy, the IMF and World Bank reduced the state’s role and ownership in agriculture sector. On the other hand, they are encouraging and promoting commercial-export-commodity agriculture in developing countries. Poor have suffered much by the Neoliberal policies.
IFIs have targeted agriculture and natural resources as a thrust sector for investment. In December 2006, the World Bank committed US$1.64 billion for natural resources, agriculture and water projects in Asia, which is 23 percent of its total lending in the region.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has disbursed almost US$ 1.5 billion, 18 percent of its total lending, for the very projects. Many of these projects mainly promote privatization and encourage private sector involvement. But they claim all of their projects are for poverty alleviation and it would benefit the poor and marginalized group. In fact, many of these projects have even failed to realize their intended objectives of poverty reduction; better service provision and economic growth.
Modern industrial agriculture is one of the big reasons of climate change. Industrial agriculture is heavily dependent on the use of fossil fuels and contributes to the loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere. As stated in the 2002 report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), ‘organic agriculture enables ecosystems to better adjust to the effects of climate change and has major potential for reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.’ The fertilizers and pesticides used in this so called high production farming system have caused water pollution, soil erosion and lowered soil fertility. They have also harmed biodiversity and made farmers dependent upon agribusiness companies for their livelihoods.

The World Bank approved an IDA credit of US$62.6 million to aid the Government of Bangladesh for improving agricultural productivity and farm income by revitalizing the national agricultural technology system. The National Agricultural Technology Project is intended to enhance the effectiveness of the national agricultural technology system. It is clear that this assistance will not go for subsistence farmers, neither would they get any benefit from this money. In the name of agricultural development, it is related to agricultural research and agricultural extension service which will promote GMOs and hybrid instead of local seeds.
For Bangladesh, like many developing countries, agriculture is not only livelihood, but it is also our culture and heritage. But, the new genetically modified products, controlled by big companies, are cutting off the farmer’s ownership and control from their lands and livelihood. Moreover, the corporate takeover of agriculture and food production, the new technologies and ‘modern’ production, mostly promoted in the name of massive food production, are also damaging the environment. We are not against technology. But we do not accept those so called technologies that damages our livelihood, culture, environment and hundreds year-old indigenous knowledge.

Food sovereignty is the right of people, communities and countries to determine their own production systems and associated policies which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally appropriate to their position. IFIs are totally inappropriate institutions to deal with food and agriculture related issues, and they have to be thrown out from this.
People’s food sovereignty is “the right of people and communities to safe, sufficient, healthy and ecologically sustainable means of producing, gathering, eating, storing and distributing food.” This is not possible without people’s access to and control over food. We have to organize and realize food sovereignty at the local, national and global levels.

http://www.foodformainesfuture.org/

The author can be reach at farjanakter@gmail.com

Farjana Akter works with VOICE in Dhaka, Bangladesh. VOICE is a rights based,activist organization working mainlyon the issues of food sovereignty, aideffectiveness, economic justice, and theright to information and communication,both in Bangladesh and on a global scale.By building a broader constituency of alternative voices to the ‘mainstream developmentdiscourse’ through research and publiceducation, VOICE is taking a stand against unjust and undemocratic practices.