Debate
Globalization
The rest of the world seems to be waking up to what those involved in agriculture have known for a hundred years or more - that the world is one large trading floor and that the beating of a pest insect's wing on one continent can cause chaos on the market in another. What has changed is the speed of access to information, the ability of people to move around the world, and the concentration of economic power in the hands of a relatively small number of giant transnational companies.
The speed with which commercial operations and capital can be moved around the world is phenomonally fast and getting faster. So is this good or bad? Of course winners are delighted and think their fortune is deserved. Of course losers feel their loss is due to shareholders' greed, and that this should not be yet another hazard for those involved in farming. What, if anything, can new agriculturists do to take advantages of the opportunities offered by globalization and yet protect themselves against its more damaging effects? (See also In Print).
Globalization has thrown up fresh challenges in the development debate, both to developing
countries, and to the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Many of the low-income countries will need
to take - with determination and co-operation - the actions that will allow them to develop their
vast potential and to reduce poverty and improve living standards. This makes the IMF's
fundamental and essential tasks increasingly vital.
Michael Camdessus, IMF Chief, writing in DFID Developments magazine, Issue 4 1998
Globalisation is a powerful contemporary phenomenon - one with increasing cultural, as well
as economic, impacts. Not all these are positive. Research evidence shows a narrowing of
people's future horizons, a growing suspicion of most institutions (including many charities),
and a resultant lessening of interest in what is happening in the world.
Changing the Nature of Tourism. DFID
Globalization is radically changing the world of work. Advocates say it is bringing new
opportunities and prosperity through economic growth. But while world trade is expected to add over
US$200 billion to the global income by the year 2001, one billion people around the world (a third
of world's labour force) cannot find full-time work... While some say globalization is a way
for millions to raise themselves out of poverty, others feel that it is the root cause of their
recent woes.
Labour Day 1999 - Is Globalization Working? - Panos Press Release April 99
While the continuing trend towards trade liberalization gives food producers increased access to
international markets, it also presents new challenges in terms of ensuring the quality and safety
of domestic and exported food supplies. As the volume of food traded increases, there is greater
potential for exposing consumers in one country to the problems that can occur in another country.
Although technological advancements make it possible to ship products from one side of the world to
the other within a few days, abuse of a good-quality food before, during or after transportation
and storage may render it spoiled or unsafe by the time it reaches the consumer. Exporting
countries will need to meet the requirements of their trading partners and to comply with import
rules and procedures.
Mary Kenny writing for FAO Food, Nutrition and Agriculture No 21, 1998
Economic globalization, say many environmental and human rights campaigners, may be the number
one threat to ecosystems, human health and quality of life worldwide. As it enables corporations to
move their operations to wherever costs are lowest, countries begin to compete on wages, social
benefits and environmental standards in order to attract investment.
Oliver Tickell writing in Green Futures Aug/Sept '97
1999 will be the year when pig production becomes a truly globalized industry and not just a
plethora of small national or regional ones... International trading that acted as a safety valve,
such as the sale of Dutch weaners to Spain, will cease and markets will have to operate without
safety valves. Thus producers will have to be more efficient and, more importantly, more accurate
with their planning... In the future, efficiency will depend upon raising pigs near to their food
sources and also processing them there. It will be more cost effective to ship meat than grain...
We are about to enter a whole new era in pig meat production. Those who are best able to respond to
the challenges that will come with this will be the pig producers that survive.
International Pig Topics, Vol. 14, No 2, 1999
In a few years, farmers' production will strictly be limited to what they can eat, since
nobody will buy their surplus production. To sell in town, they'll face serious competition
from imported goods. It will be very difficult for them to stand that competition.... Worse still,
through this heavy importation, city dwellers are getting used to these new foods, are growing to
like them, consequently changing their eating habits, and reinforcing their dependence on these
foods to the detriment of that which is produced locally.
Editorial for Globalisation: What implication for farmers?, The Farmers Voice, Cameroon, March
'99
There is no better example of the pros and cons of globalization than its impact on women across
the world. The 'feminization of employment' of the past two decades - the move by large
numbers of women to paid employment from traditional, 'invisible' work - has taken place
against the background of globalization, and women have experienced both its opportunities (e.g.
greater economic freedom) and its threats (e.g. greater exploitation).
Panos Briefing: Globalization and Employment, May '99
Globalization is acquiring a connotation akin to old-age terms like karma or kismet (or fate)
used by people to explain their current difficult situation... Even 'rational' people who
otherwise believe that science and technology can solve or cure anything (including economists who
insist that their discipline is scientific and logical) use the term 'globalization' in
such a way as to appear to attribute (and blame) everything that happens in the broad social and
economic sectors, on this phenomenon. Governments and governmental institutions, and a host of
national and international elites, use the term to disown their own responsibilities for certain
unwelcome developments.
The World Guide 1999-2000 (see In print 99-2)
Globalization hastens the process of industrialization in many countries. But industrialization
can be a threat to natural resources if not managed properly, and arable and forest covered lands
are most susceptible. For example, the best farm land is often situated in valleys and along
waterways, which are also locations best suited for industries due to available water, easier
transportation and space for housing… The competitive pressures of world trade have pushed
farmers to increase production while lowering costs of production, something that has been
accomplished in large part by using greater amounts of fertilizers, pesticides and other types of
technology such as irrigation. The incapacity of countries due to globalization to control prices
so that farmers can earn a decent and stable living has a direct effect on the ability to implement
sustainable agricultural practices
Agromedia
website on Globalization
Economic globalization poses significant implications for global climate change. Long distance
transport is increasing, unsustainable technologies are spreading, industrial agriculture is
replacing small-scale domestic production, and on top of it all, nations and local communities are
increasingly unable to determine their own fate through regulatory protections. In order to achieve
effective solutions to the climate change problem, we must first challenge the economic framework
driving greenhouse gas emissions.
Globalization's Implications for Climate Change, International Forum for Globalization.
There are two main opposing standpoints in the globalization debate. The first disputes
globalization and argues that - whatever its benefits - the global economy isn't any different
from previous periods. The second standpoint is very different. According to this view, not only is
globalization very real, it is nearly complete. The global marketplace is more developed than ever
before and is indifferent to national borders. Nations have lost most of the sovereignty they once
had and politicians have lost their capability to influence events. The era of the nation state is
over. Globalization isn't developing in an even-handed way, and is not wholly benign in its
consequences. A pessimistic view would consider it largely an affair of the industrial North.
Globalization, some argue, creates a world of winners and losers, the majority condemned to a life
of misery and despair. Of course, Western nations, and more generally the industrialized countries,
have more influence over world affairs than poorer states. But globalization is not under the
control of any group of nations, and still less large corporations. Its effects are felt all over
the world.
Professor Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics speaking for the 1999
Reith Lectures on Globalization.
Related conferences
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE CHALLENGES OF GLOBALIZATION organized by the Faculty of Economics, Thammasat University at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, October 21-22, 1999
GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS - Conference July 23,24 1999
