Posts tagged agriculture

Have you seen the If campaign? If you live in the UK you likely have, as we are hosting the G8 Summit in June. The IF campaign has received a lot of press from the Guardian lately, and I’m slowly getting more and more into it. As a agricultural political economist, what I really like about If is that it combines the issue of global hunger (1 billion hungry) with the issue of factory farming and animal welfare. The photo above is from this Guardian piece today, “If Obama and Cameron listen, there will be enough food for everyone”, and the caption sums up a large portion of If well. Small farms [such as this one in Kenya] account for 90% of agricultural production in Africa, but aid is not reaching them, and they struggle to get a fair price for their food. Do me, the world, and yourself a favour and learn a little about the If campaign today. If has the potential to solve/contribute positively to multiple food-related issues (obesity, food-related illnesses, hunger, malnutrition, development, fair trade, animal health and welfare, GMOs, the North/South divide, global inequality, GDP, etc) all under one umbrella. There’s a short film if you don’t fancy reading multiple articles or if you’re in education (students LOVE youtube clips!) This is the difference between talking about global issues and DOING SOMETHING - becoming aware of what can make a difference and spreading the word.

Have you seen the If campaign?

If you live in the UK you likely have, as we are hosting the G8 Summit in June. The IF campaign has received a lot of press from the Guardian lately, and I’m slowly getting more and more into it.

As a agricultural political economist, what I really like about If is that it combines the issue of global hunger (1 billion hungry) with the issue of factory farming and animal welfare.

The photo above is from this Guardian piece today, “If Obama and Cameron listen, there will be enough food for everyone”, and the caption sums up a large portion of If well.

Small farms [such as this one in Kenya] account for 90% of agricultural production in Africa, but aid is not reaching them, and they struggle to get a fair price for their food.

Do me, the world, and yourself a favour and learn a little about the If campaign today. If has the potential to solve/contribute positively to multiple food-related issues (obesity, food-related illnesses, hunger, malnutrition, development, fair trade, animal health and welfare, GMOs, the North/South divide, global inequality, GDP, etc) all under one umbrella. There’s a short film if you don’t fancy reading multiple articles or if you’re in education (students LOVE youtube clips!)

This is the difference between talking about global issues and DOING SOMETHING - becoming aware of what can make a difference and spreading the word.

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As drought hits corn, biotech firms see lush field in GMO crops Monsanto has received regulatory approval for DroughtGard, a corn variety that contains the first genetically modified trait for drought resistance.

climateadaptation:

GMOs are a controversial climate adaptation measure. But, drought resistant crops are necessary.

Agricultural biotechnology companies have been pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into developing plants that can withstand the effects of a prolonged dry spell. Monsanto Co., based in St. Louis, has received regulatory approval for DroughtGard, a corn variety that contains the first genetically modified trait for drought resistance.

Seed makers, such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. of Johnston, Iowa, and Swiss company Syngenta, are already selling drought-tolerant corn varieties, conceived through conventional breeding.

At stake: a $12-billion U.S. seed market, with corn comprising the bulk of sales. The grain is used in such things as animal feed, ethanol and food. The push is also on to develop soybean, cotton and wheat that can thrive in a world that’s getting hotter and drier.

“Drought is definitely going to be one of the biggest challenges for our growers,” said Jeff Schussler, senior research manager for Pioneer, the agribusiness arm of DuPont. “We are trying to create products for farmers to be prepared for that.”

Their efforts come amid concerns about genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and the unforeseen consequences of this genetic tinkering. Californians in November will vote on Proposition 37, which would require foods to carry labels if they were genetically modified. The majority of corn seed sold is modified to resist pests and reap higher yields.

Opponents say the label would unnecessarily dampen further development that is intended to feed a growing global population dependent on the U.S., the largest exporter of corn and soybean.

“Trying to create drought-tolerant crops is not going to be easy to do,” said Kent Bradford, director of the Seed Biotechnology Center at UC Davis. “We certainly need all the tools [available] to do that, and that includes conventional breeding and adding transgenic traits. We don’t need to stigmatize these approaches.”

Great read via LATimes

Cards on the table, I’m still sick and didn’t read the whole article. But there’s a basically obvious point that isn’t made here that agricultural political economists have been trying to communicate for years.

Drought resistant crops are not a necessary evil.

Yes, they are evil, but they are not necessary. What is necessary is a more diverse international market for corn (for food production, not ethanol). DOES NO ONE REMEMBER NAFTA?! … probably not. If you’re old enough to remember one power politic move of NAFTA was to take away corn growing power from Mexico (and other Central American states). Mexico was told to clear their corn fields and plant agave; agave was to be their cash crop now, despite the fact that the majority of the Mexican diet is based on corn grown locally and cheaply (not an import product).

…I know I’m angsty because of this flu, but this is what I’m talking about when I go on about how we MUST remember history! This is even recent history! If we accept that GMOs/drought resistant crops are a necessary evil we 1) allow USAg, the USDA, and the people who came up with the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) to tell us it is GMOs or nothing and 2) we accept the injustices that come along with bully-pulpit agricultural political economy/international politics.

Look, all I am saying, is that if NAFTA hadn’t taken away corn growing power from Mexico, you’d all still have cheap corn at your Fourth of July bbqs. …this isn’t complicated intelligence, (shee)people; it’s using historical knowledge to think critically about our governments tell us we must accept.

just in case it wasn’t clear, FUCK MONSANTO.

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I think we are in for a very serious situation worldwide.

Robert Thompson, a food security expert at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs from the Guardian on the ‘corn crisis’ and respective drought effects on US agriculture.

  1. I predicted this; for agricultural political scientists, this was as plain as day. High market percentage + unstable weather patterns/repetitive history (Dust Bowl) = global vulnerability.
  2. Say what you will about USAG(riculture) - and SAY PLENTY - but this will be devastating for world (wide) hunger.
  3. This experience will (hopefully) inform our knowledge of artificially deflated agricultural markets (corn, US subsidies) and ‘comparative advantage’ … and HOPEFULLY NAFTA.
  4. If you have questions about this situation, global agricultural markets, technicalities (subsidies, comparative advantage, etc), or agricultural trade, ask.

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The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) - the people who ran the (WTO) MC8 Parallel Symposium on trade and development I attended in Geneva in December - has produced a new ebook, The Future and the WTO: Confronting the Challenges, A Collection of Short Essays, with some BIG, BIG names contributing: Roderick Abbott - The Future of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO Andrew Stoler - Addressing 20th Century ‘WTO-Plus’ Issues in the Multilateral Trading System Debra Steger (see December link above) - Strengthening the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Establishing a Dispute Tribunal Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck - The Future of the WTO: Governing Trade for a Fairer, More Sustainable Future Rorden Wilkinson (see December link above) - What Needs to Be Done Before We Can Reform the WTO Pradeep S Mehta and Natasha Nayak - Global Problems Need Global Solutions: The Need for a Multilateral Framework on Competition TU Xinquan and LIN Guijun (see Geneva link for EPIC snippet of his paper talk) - The Revival of the Industrial Policy: How Should the WTO Address It? Peter Allgeier - The Trade Toolbox and Environmental Sustainability: The Case for Fisheries Christophe Bellman and Marie Wilke - Trade Policies for Resource Security: Rethinking Export Restrictions And this is just a sampling of the people I know! There are 30 contributions in this epic ebook that address the scope and difficulties in governing international trade. When I began my long labour of love to becoming a WTO scholar, I wish I had known things like this were out there. If you’re interested in more information on the 30 essays (topic, contributor, etc), send a message, and I’ll pass along the good word. THIS IS A NOT-TO-BE-MISSED FOR TRADE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY SCHOLARS!

The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) - the people who ran the (WTO) MC8 Parallel Symposium on trade and development I attended in Geneva in December - has produced a new ebook, The Future and the WTO: Confronting the Challenges, A Collection of Short Essays, with some BIG, BIG names contributing:

  • Roderick Abbott - The Future of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO
  • Andrew Stoler - Addressing 20th Century ‘WTO-Plus’ Issues in the Multilateral Trading System
  • Debra Steger (see December link above) - Strengthening the WTO Dispute Settlement System: Establishing a Dispute Tribunal
  • Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck - The Future of the WTO: Governing Trade for a Fairer, More Sustainable Future
  • Rorden Wilkinson (see December link above) - What Needs to Be Done Before We Can Reform the WTO
  • Pradeep S Mehta and Natasha Nayak - Global Problems Need Global Solutions: The Need for a Multilateral Framework on Competition
  • TU Xinquan and LIN Guijun (see Geneva link for EPIC snippet of his paper talk) - The Revival of the Industrial Policy: How Should the WTO Address It?
  • Peter Allgeier - The Trade Toolbox and Environmental Sustainability: The Case for Fisheries
  • Christophe Bellman and Marie Wilke - Trade Policies for Resource Security: Rethinking Export Restrictions

And this is just a sampling of the people I know! There are 30 contributions in this epic ebook that address the scope and difficulties in governing international trade. When I began my long labour of love to becoming a WTO scholar, I wish I had known things like this were out there. If you’re interested in more information on the 30 essays (topic, contributor, etc), send a message, and I’ll pass along the good word. THIS IS A NOT-TO-BE-MISSED FOR TRADE AND POLITICAL ECONOMY SCHOLARS!

This The choices that are made today in Sub-Saharan Africa regarding the modalities of agricultural financing and where it is directed will shape the form of agricultural development and the nature of the African food system of tomorrow. was my thesis when I came to Manchester. The thesis most top-tier US academic institutions were not willing to supervise. Very technical, very anti-US agricultural subsidy, and very likely to demonstrate findings that have value to the lives of 1 billion hungry. Instead, I’m doing a thesis on elite leadership in international organization. …still some potential that findings will have value to the lives of 1 billion hungry. …but a lot less so. Your PhD thesis is not what you want to research, merely making an argument that you are capable of conducting that research (paraphrased from the future Dr. Si). newanddifferentsun: Letter from African Civil Society Critical of Foreign Investment in African Agriculture at G8 Summit “I would simply like to recall that food security and sovereignty are the basis of our general development, as all of the African governments underline. It is a strategic challenge. This is why we must build our food policy on our own resources as is done in the other regions of the world. The G8 and the G20 can in no way be considered the appropriate fora for decisions of this nature.”

This

The choices that are made today in Sub-Saharan Africa regarding the modalities of agricultural financing and where it is directed will shape the form of agricultural development and the nature of the African food system of tomorrow.

was my thesis when I came to Manchester. The thesis most top-tier US academic institutions were not willing to supervise. Very technical, very anti-US agricultural subsidy, and very likely to demonstrate findings that have value to the lives of 1 billion hungry.

Instead, I’m doing a thesis on elite leadership in international organization. …still some potential that findings will have value to the lives of 1 billion hungry. …but a lot less so.

Your PhD thesis is not what you want to research, merely making an argument that you are capable of conducting that research (paraphrased from the future Dr. Si).

newanddifferentsun:

Letter from African Civil Society Critical of Foreign Investment in African Agriculture at G8 Summit

“I would simply like to recall that food security and sovereignty are the basis of our general development, as all of the African governments underline. It is a strategic challenge. This is why we must build our food policy on our own resources as is done in the other regions of the world. The G8 and the G20 can in no way be considered the appropriate fora for decisions of this nature.”

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Speculative investment in agricultural commodities in 2011 was 20 times the amount spent by all countries on agricultural aid. Goldman Sachs, the largest player in the agricultural commodities market, earned £600m from food speculation in 2009, and Barclays Capital, the world’s third-largest player and largest British bank in this market, earned up to £340m in 2010, according to the report. Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital declined to comment.

Before it was deregulated in the year 2000, the agricultural commodities futures market was used mainly by farmers and food buyers seeking to insure themselves against changes in the prices of products such as wheat, maize and sugar. When George W Bush passed the Commodities Futures Modernization Act 12 years ago, there was an influx, led by Goldman Sachs, of purely financial players who had no interest in ever buying food, but who sought solely to profit from changes in food prices, says Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food.

Grace Livingstone from the Independent (hat tip to somerandomhash).

What fuzzy concepts in agricutlural political economy do readers want/need clarified?

Now accepting questions on global food production, supply chains, agricultural political economy, food security, global governance of food, and history of agricultural trade (anons feel free).

this summer’s famine in the Sahel region of Africa will be far worse than what we saw last summer. (map of Sahel region) A colleague and I are working on a summer paper about US/EU agricultural imperialism. We were looking to examine this imperialism in relation to the BRIC(S), but now I’m thinking Africa may be a much better (and bigger) case study. Thoughts?

this summer’s famine in the Sahel region of Africa will be far worse than what we saw last summer.

(map of Sahel region)

A colleague and I are working on a summer paper about US/EU agricultural imperialism. We were looking to examine this imperialism in relation to the BRIC(S), but now I’m thinking Africa may be a much better (and bigger) case study.

Thoughts?

(Source: africaisdonesuffering)

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On the Administration’s part, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack attempted to cushion the political blow from the cuts, using language that emphasised the record-breaking farm revenue from exports in recent years. High farm incomes have made support for subsidies a political liability, due to the impacts of the ongoing recession.
…
For many observers, its still unclear whether or not there will even be a farm bill in 2012 - estimates have ranged from 15 to 50 percent on chances that any version of the legislation will pass. In the absence of a new Farm Bill, it is likely that Congress will authorise farm expenditures based on current legislation for another year.

See Bridges Weekly (ICTSD) for (HOORAY!) ‘Obama Proposes Billions in Subsidy Cuts as Farm Bills Kicks Off’.

US agricultural subsidies have been distorting the global agricultural market for decades. By supporting the domestic agricultural market (keeping US farmers afloat and US produce costs [artifically] low for the consumer) with subsidies in core crops that the US no longer maintains a competitive edge, global competitors in less developed countries are forced to sell their agricultural products at the same artifically low price in the global marketplace.

At some point, the consumers in the US will feel this; prices on produce will adjust to what US consumers SHOULD have been paying for decades - but due to domestic subsidies and market distortion, they haven’t. I’m very pleased Obama is taking this initiative - as US agricultural subsidies ALONE have been a major reason for the lack of progress on Doha (see previous post) - to rectify the increasing gap between US consumers’ overconsumption and widespread hunger in less developed nations that rely on agricultural exports.

When [69-year-old Raphael] Ngurime had weighed the cotton seed on the village council scales earlier that morning, it had come to 550kg – now it was just 500kg. He says this is common. Being cheated by agents – middlemen who buy farmers’ cotton and sell it on to ginneries, where cotton is processed into lint for export – is one of the many hardships of being a cotton farmer in Tanzania.

nice piece from the Guardian, ‘Why Tanzania’s cotton crop is still bound up with poverty: A new initiative aims to tackle the unscrupulous agents and lack of credit that stop Tanzanian farmers making a good living’.

The work I did between my MA and PhD focused on US domestic subsidy distortion in corn and cotton markets in South Africa, Brazil, and India.

If I am so lucky my post-doc work will be field research on farm-to-market distortion in Latin America and Africa - countries and products not yet identified.

I miss being a agricultural political economist. As a 4th year PhD said in the kitchen yesterday, (phrased) ‘you don’t actually get to DO anything you want to do in a PhD thesis. that’s for after. all you do in a PhD thesis is demonstrate that you can make a solid academic argument.’

some day…

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