Transcript Slide 1
Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos Secretary-General Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) 27 September 2010 HUNGER FOR JUSTICE AND THE STRUGGLE OF PEASANTS FOR LAND AND FREEDOM
HUNGER HOTSPOTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
GHI above 10% Cambodia Lao Timor leste Philippines Vietnam Indonesia Thailand Majority of countries in SEA have more than 25% of their children underweight Cambodia: 35.6% Lao: 40% Timor-Leste: 46% Vietnam: 44.9%
POVERTY
below the $1 a day poverty line: Cambodia (34%), Laos (26%), Philippines (14.6%) Vietnam (17.7%). also live below $2 a day Indonesia (52%) Thailand (32.5%).
POOR HOUSEHOLDS LACK ACCESS TO PRODUCTIVE RESOURCES Land ownership concentrated in the hands of wealthy landlords or corporations Farm inputs monopolized by agri-TNCs Seeds increasingly controlled by TNCs credit/ usury Post-harvest facilities Traders buy and hoard
MONOPOLY CAPITALIST CONTROL OVER AGRI Only ten companies control two-thirds of the global seed market and seed sales. Only ten pesticide companies control 90% of agrochemical sales. And the top six agrochemical manufacturers are also the seed industry giants. Monsanto, DuPont, Syngenta and Groupe Limagrain dominate 44% of the commercial seed market in the world. Nestle has a virtual monopoly over the global dairy market since 2004. Dole Foods and Chiquita, two US companies control almost 50% of the banana market. The top 100 global food retailers account for 35% of all grocery retail sales worldwide Wal-Mart alone accounts for 25% of the revenues earned by those on the top 10. TNCs are also deepening their control over food production and intensifying their exploitation of food producers through contract-growing schemes in crops and livestock.
STATE POLICIES
green revolution, they have encouraged the spread of chemical-intensive monocrop farming dismantled or neglected public and state support for marginalized rural communities have strengthened monopoly control of TNCs over farm technologies and genes in the name of IPR unjust trading system Land-use change; crop conversion; commercial fishing intensity = declining food self-sufficiency more dependence on food imports more vulnerable to volatility in commodity markets and food price inflation.
PEASANT STRUGGLES & VICTORIES
CHALLENGES & TASKS
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Stop landgrabbing!
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Struggle for Genuine Land Reform and National Industrialization!
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Dismantle corporate monopoly over the global food system!
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WTO out of agriculture!
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Stop killing peasants who feed the world!
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Justice for the victims of forced displacement, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances!
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Long live international solidarity!