|
COMMENTARY
On
World Food Day and World Rural Women’s Day:
Protect
the Rights of Key Food Producers
The
problem of landlessness has beset the Filipino peasants for so long now,
the simple solution is to give them their own land to till.
By
Abigail Taguba Bengwayan
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
This
year on World Food Day, the United Nations’ (UN) Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) focuses on biodiversity for food security. Food
security however will only be ensured if certain basic requisites are
satisfied.
In
developing countries, the problem of landlessness among peasants and the
impact of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade’s (GATT)) agreement
on agriculture have taken its toll on the struggle for sustainable
agriculture as the backbone of the national economy.
Basic
needs first
While
FAO mentions that farmers are primarily responsible in protecting
biodiversity, governments should likewise take responsibility in
protecting the key forces of production in agriculture – the farmers and
the land.
Agricultural
production is expected to feed the growing world population, which
increases by 2.4 percent yearly. Such rate translates to 56 million
individuals in Asia every year. Most poor countries’ populations are
accompanied by increased poverty incidence. FAO’s latest hunger
estimates show that 50 percent of the hungry live in countries dependent
on rice for nutrition. Over 840 million persons are suffering from hunger
worldwide.
While
biodiversity is an important ally in combating malnutrition, instability
of staple foods in many nations is indicative of a deeper social crisis
that requires a basic solution.
The
problem of landlessness has beset the Filipino peasants for so long now,
the simple solution is to give them their own land to till. This, of
course, is part of a bigger crisis affecting the country in its entirety.
The feudal problem is rooted in the long-standing foreign domination of
the country, which manifests in the social, economic and political affairs
of the state.
In
the Philippines, including other poor countries, the condition of peasants
is largely affected by feudal and patriarchal relations, such as the
landlord-tenant system. Those who struggle against this system and fight
for land rights end up as victims of human rights violations. Vast tracts
of lands have already been converted for commercial and agri-business use,
such as contract growing for big corporations.
The
problem of food accessibility and market is yet another consideration. In
the country, agricultural produce is very much marred by trade
liberalization, which facilitated the entry of foreign goods at cheaper
prices. Local producers find it difficult to compete with the
mass-produced products dumped into the country by other countries.
Institutions
set up to ensure food accessibility and market provides little help, if
none at all, such as the case of the National Food Authority (NFA). The
National Federation of Peasant Women (AMIHAN) reminds us that the NFA was
created to ensure sufficient rice supply in the country through supporting
our own farmers. Now, government is even planning to privatize the NFA.
Also,
rice importation in the country is prevalent. Vietnam tops the list of
countries exporting rice to the Philippines, according to the Bureau of
Agricultural Statistics. With the key requirements of agricultural
stability suffering from such conditions, critics have coined up “World
Foodless Day instead.”
Women
and agriculture
For
centuries, women have played an important part in the world of
agriculture. Rural women, mainly farmers, represent at least 1.6 billion
of the world’s population.
The
International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) recognizes that
women farmers have acquired knowledge on most animal and plant species in
relation to their agricultural activities. Accumulated knowledge has been
passed from generation to generation and is expanded regularly by their
field experience. Women are “at the heart of the implementation of good
agricultural policies when carrying out their daily tasks which focuses on
biodiversity preservation and food security,” says IFAP.
As
such, World Rural Women’s Day, celebrated alongside World Food Day,
should recognize women and their influential role in agriculture.
Globally,
FAO estimates that rural women produce over 50 percent of the food grown
worldwide. This includes about 80 percent of the food in Africa, 60
percent in Asia, and over 40 percent in Latin America.
Women
groups worldwide continue to lobby for the promotion of action in support
of peasant women. With little or no status, Rural Womyn Zone describes
rural women as “lacking the power to secure land rights and access to
vital services in agriculture such as training and education.”
The
same group adds that of the total burden of paid and unpaid work, women
bear an average of 53 percent in developing countries and 51 percent in
industrialized. The difference is actually sparse.
In
the country, women’s group Innabuyog-Gabriela explains that most
ancestral domains and resources of indigenous peoples (IPs) are exploited
by multinational corporations, usually in the form of large-scale mining
and construction of mega dams. Worldwide, IPs depends on land for
survival. But with local and foreign corporations abusing their resources,
they now have to fight for what is inherently theirs.
As
such, peoples across cultures celebrate World Food Day and World Rural
Women’s Day as continuing assertion of rights to land, resources, and
food for the people.
In
the Philippine agricultural sector, the demand to the national government
will remain until it is heeded: land to the peasants and genuine agrarian
reform. Nordis / Bulatlat
BACK TO TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2004 Bulatlat
■ Silang Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified. |
