News brief
 DFID Departmental Report 2002 |
US disregards WTO consensus on farm subsidies
Shock and condemnation have greeted US plans to increase financial support to American farmers by $73.5 billion to $180 billion over the next decade. This will boost spending on US agriculture by 70%, which American farm leaders say is still not enough to meet their costs of production. EU Agriculture Commissioner, Franz Fischler referred to the increase as a backward step that will distort prices and threaten world trade rules, adding, "This marks a blow to the credibility of US policy." He questioned US commitments at the WTO to liberalize markets, and observed, "At a time when all developed countries have accepted the direction of farm support away from trade and production supporting measures, the US is heading in the opposite direction." The view in Canada, equally forthright, is that, "this is a foul and insidious piece of legislation" and that it threatens the already fragile Canadian farm sector. Many Third World agricultural exporters are also very concerned that the US is set to undercut their markets.
Food situation in southern Africa becomes critical
Critical food shortages in southern Africa threaten to put millions of lives
at risk over the coming year.
The
World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an appeal but donations so far have
been slow, and programme staff fear a major crisis could develop if the
response does not improve in the next three months. In Malawi, the government
has declared a state of emergency, and the WFP, which is already feeding
300,000 people, has warned that three or four million people could ultimately
be at risk. Since January it is estimated that hundreds of people have died
from starvation, or succumbed to other diseases because of lack of food.
Already many farmers have been forced to harvest unripe maize from their fields
as their only source of food. The scarcity is also reflected in maize prices,
which have increased six-fold in the last 18 months.
As the Kwacha continues to plummet, the majority of farmers are unable to afford high-yielding hybrid seeds or fertilizers. In addition a programme that had been distributing 'starter packs' of seed and fertilizer to the poorest farmers was curtailed after World Bank funding came to an end. The country has very few reserve stocks of maize, despite surplus harvests in 1999 and 2000. In the short term, the government has arranged to import maize from South Africa, although this will prove very expensive. Longer term solutions are the subject of a combined government/donor 'food security strategy' currently under discussion.
Genetic contamination in Mexican maize
The Mexican government has confirmed that its natural genebank of maize has been seriously contaminated by genetically modified varieties. Mexican scientists have tested over 1800 seedlings from sites in two states, and found contamination in 8% of seeds. 95% of sites had some contamination, and in one site 35% of plants tested exhibited GM proteins. Areas close to roads were the worst affected.
The source of the contamination is thought to be GM maize imported from the US. Mexico has banned the planting of GM varieties since 1998, in order to protect the purity of its natural varieties, whose diversity is crucial for future development of the crop in response to pest, disease and climate challenges. The US maize was imported for food rather than planting use, but farmers may have planted it without realising the implications. The Mexican findings, reported at a bio-diversity convention in The Hague, are the latest twist in a controversy that began in November last year, when a report on the contamination was published in the journal Nature. The validity of the reports findings were widely criticised, and in early April 2002 Nature's editors agreed that the paper should not have been published. However, the latest findings clearly bear out the study.
Hopes and fears in Afghanistan
As a vital first step in the Future Harvest programme to rebuild agriculture in Afghanistan, 3,500 tons of wheat seed has been distributed to more than 60,000 farmers in eleven provinces. The seed, purchased in Pakistan, is of two improved varieties specifically adapted for Afghanistan's conditions. Distribution has been jointly managed by the UN World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation, together with local authorities and a large number of non-government organisations. US based geographical and meteorological agencies have provided detailed information on soil moisture, and as a result distribution has focussed on areas between 1500m and 2500m where moisture levels are sufficient for the seed to grow without irrigation. Despite four years of drought and extensive damage to irrigation systems, there is optimism that the improved seeds, combined with good April rains in the central part of the country, will produce decent harvests in September and October.
In the north of the country, however, farmers face a further threat from locust swarms. Nine provinces are at particular risk, and the danger is so severe that the FAO has set up an emergency monitoring and control programme. Success of the programme hinges largely on the input of local people, and in four of the provinces the approach is working well. Local communities have set up campaigns to sweep locust hoppers into trenches, where they are buried. However, even in these areas, additional chemical control will probably be necessary and, in other provinces, such as Baghlan, few people have been mobilised. In these areas, FAO operatives will have to initiate chemical spray treatments. Current expectations are that the campaign will not have a great impact on this year's locust population, and will need to be resumed next year.
This severe
epidemic, which began during the 1990s has also spread into Kenya, Sudan and
the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and has resulted in the to the
virtual abandonment of cassava cultivation in many areas. The disease has had a
major impact on food security in the region, and caused financial losses
estimated at in excess of US$60 million per year.
Two conditions
are of particular concern. Konzo, from the Zairean word meaning 'tied legs', is
an irreversible paralysis of the legs resulting from acute exposure to cyanide,
a poison present in cassava tissue. The condition affects women and children
and is prevalent in much of East and Central Africa. Long term exposure to
cyanide as a result of predominantly cassava-based diet, can also lead to a
sensory disorder, Tropical Ataxic Neuropathy. Symptoms include blurred vision,
deafness, weakness and difficulties in walking.
Currently some 30%
of cocoa production is lost to pest and disease damage, but Tony Lass, head of
cocoa at Cadbury-Schweppes warned that, without greater investment in research
and replanting, this figure would increase,. A particular concern is that
diseases prevalent in one region are now spreading to others, and this problem
cannot be addressed without long term investment in breeding programmes.
In Indonesia the government has
announced new regulations on the labelling of GM products, and authorities in
The Philippines have approved tighter controls on imports. From July next year,
any company wishing to import a genetically modified product not on an official
list will need to obtain a permit.
The decision was prompted
by a new World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) initiative that aims to protect
tropical forests from expanding edible oil plantations. Global demand for
edible oils is increasing rapidly, and tropical lowland rainforests, one of the
richest ecosystems on the planet, are most at risk from the expansion in palm
oil and soy plantations.
The links
between environmental protection and poverty alleviation are the subject of a
new report published by the UK Department for International Development. The
subject, however, is a controversial one, with some environmental lobbies
accused of trying to impose a developed world agenda on poor countries. The
DFID report challenges what it calls the myth that poor people do not care
about the environment and lack the resources and knowledge to improve it. It
sets out how environmental protection is vital for economic development, food
security, health and basic services, and goes on to explore how local, national
and international policy can be used to reduce poverty through better
environmental management. Options include strengthening the rights of tenure
for poor people to land and resources and development of financial systems that
reflect environmental costs. The relationship between poverty and the
environment will be a major theme at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg this August.
Under a new
trade agreement, India will exchange palm crushing and milling equipment for
Indonesian palm oil, thereby giving oil exporters improved access to an Indian
market that is otherwise protected by 75% import tariffs. Both Indonesia, and
her main rival Malaysia, have been pushing for greater access to the Indian
market for over a year, as over-supply has led to a fall in palm oil prices. In
a bid to raise the price by cutting supply in the short term, Malaysia has
begun a replanting programme, and Indonesia is now set to do the same. 110,000
hectares of unproductive plantation in Sumatra and Kalimantan will be
rehabilitated with new high yielding varieties over the next two years.
The
achievements and key developments of the UK Department for International
Development (DFID) during 2001/2 are outlined in the latest annual departmental
report, which is now available in pdf format on the
