The importation of 3 million tons of rice in 2024 led to a decrease in rice prices at the local farmer level across various regions. This policy is aligned with WTO principles, prioritizing free trade without considering the welfare of domestic producers.
In a press release issued on 27th February, the European Coordination Via Campesina demanded an obligation at the EU level to ensure prices paid to farmers cover the costs of production, including a decent income for the work of farmers and agricultural workers and their social security contributions. A new trade framework based on food sovereignty should be implemented.
Free trade has already ended. The unequal world order created by free trade has also ended. The WTO ministerial conference, trapped in past glory, should be immediately halted. The Western world is pressuring developing countries to abolish domestic subsidies for agriculture, claiming they distort trade.
La Via Campesina is calling all our members, allied social movements, civil society organizations, and friends in academia and policy spaces – including those in governments – to join us in this effort of building a framework that can help build a fair system of trade, rooted in principles of food sovereignty and social justice.
The 13th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO is set to commence on February 26th, and India has been among the leading advocates on vital issues of domestic support and Public Stock Holding (PSH) programs that developing countries and least developed countries want to undertake.
From 26 to 29 February, the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference will also be held in Abu Dhabi. The WTO bears immense responsibility for the current social and environmental crises. It is time to bring an end to the WTO and build a new trade framework based on food sovereignty and international solidarity.
Data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reveals that Korea’s grain self-sufficiency rate dipped to 19.3 percent in 2020, marking the first time it fell below the 20-percent threshold. Contrastingly, this rate stood at 30.9 percent in 2000, indicating a significant shift towards grain imports, which now constitute 80 percent of domestic consumption.
In this audio excerpt, David Otieno from the Kenyan Peasants’ League, speaking at a seminar on Debt Crises, underscores this link by referencing the several Free Trade Agreements, which now permit cheap imports of pesticides, eggs and sugar. In January 2024, the KPL also became part of the opposition against the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
MONLAR in Sri Lanka has called upon the national government to ensure guaranteed prices. This is particularly relevant in the context of the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization, set to begin in Abu Dhabi next week, where such domestic support measures by developing countries often come under attack.
Indonesia is in a dire situation as it becomes increasingly dependent on food imports. Especially for rice, the import of 3.3 million tons in 2023 was the largest rice import by the government in the last 25 years. Rice imports in 2023 increased by 613.61% compared to 2022.
