STARVING THE POOR TO FEED THE CORPORATIONS

There are two paradigms vying for the future of food and farming: one is based on non-sustainable production on large-scale industrial farms with costly hybrid/genetically modified (GM) seed and agrochemical inputs, the other on small farms, ecological /organic internal inputs/systems which are low cost and accessible to poor producers, writes Vandana Shiva, an author and international campaigner for women and the environment. In this article for IPS, the author writes a deceptive productivity calculus has then been used to sell the bogus claim that without industrial agriculture, pesticides, and genetically- modified organisms (GMOs), the world cannot be fed. Quite to the contrary, the solution to hunger and poverty is the promotion of ecological, organic, biodiverse small farms which use less energy and fewer natural resources, reduce the costs of inputs, and produce more nutritional output per unit acre. While the conditionalities imposed by global trade and financial institutions are preventing the government from supporting the poor\'s access to adequate and nutritious food, they are promoting the diversion of subsidies from people to corporations. If we are to build food security upwards and outwards from the household to the community to national and global levels, the principle for trade and distribution must be localisation, not globalisation.

GLOBALISATION

Globalisation is a double-edged tool, writes Jose Maria Figueres, managing director of the World Economic Forum and former president of Costa Rica (1994-1998). We can take advantage of it with sound national strategies designed to increase the well-being of our citizens. Or we can cross our arms and do nothing and allow globalisation to take advantage of us. Thus we have the possibility to decide and build our future, but no one will do it for us. The responsibility is ours. Globalisation is more than a simple process of economic opening and tariff reduction. Taking advantage of it requires clear policies and that at the same time reinforce macro-economic health, strengthen strategic social investment, and promote responsible use of natural resources. Convinced that business has responsibilities to society and can play a positive role in areas relating to development, the WEF supports programmes that work in this direction. Many governments and many grass roots organisations share this understanding. Today it is more important than ever to join forces and move forward. The World Economic Forum and the World Social Forum share the obligation to explore their common goals and work towards them rather than accentuate their differences.

OPEN MARKETS OR OPEN PLUNDER ?

Once upon a time, empires were built through direct conquest. These days the equivalent gains are routinely achieved through different, and more efficient, means, which those in power prefer to call not open theft but \'\'open markets\'\', writes Anuradha Mittal, Co-Director of Food First (Institute for Food and Development Policy). The question is, open for whom, and for what? the author writes in this article for IPS. US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave the clearest possible answer: \'\'Our objective with FTAA is to guarantee North American companies the control of a territory that goes from the Arctic Pole all the way to Antarctica, free access to the whole hemisphere without difficulties or obstacles for our products, services, technology, and capital.\'\' Resistance to such domination is strong and growing stronger. Since January 7, 2003, Mexican farm leaders have been on hunger strike as many demonstrations have been held. These protests are part of a worldwide opposition to free trade in agriculture that will be present at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. It advocates alternatives to corporate agriculture, rallying around the battle cry,\'\'Food sovereignty is a fundamental human right.\'\' To make this vision a reality for farmers around the world, the corporate elites are being put on notice -- the World Trade Organisation, NAFTA, FTAA, and other trade agreements must get out of agriculture; there must be a complete moratorium on GE crops and no patents on living matter.

GLOBALISING JUSTICE

The world has seen the globalisation of capital and communications but not of justice, solidarity, respect, and tolerance because the forces that unilaterally drive globalisation have not permitted it, writes Rigoberta Menchu, recipient of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. In this article for IPS, Menchu writes that these forces have opened up the markets of countries that produce raw materials for their own products while blocking these countries\' access to many of their own markets. They have used security as an excuse to create obstacles to migration. And they have made war into their economic engine. Popular demonstrations against a discredited international system and events like the World Social Forum represent the legitimate endeavour to give globalisation a human face, to transform it into a process that takes into account the interests of the people and not just of giant transnational corporations. Menchu calls for reform that breaks the system of exclusivity that until now has transformed government representatives into servants of the major corporations, corporate mafias, and supranational interests. Such reform must open the way for the participation of social actors that thus far have no representation in the existing institutional systems.

GLOBALISING CONFUSION

In the last few years, globalisation has forced traditional capitalist thinking to reposition itself in relation to both the market and society, writes Michel Ogrizek, director of communications for the World Economic Forum. In this article for IPS, the author asserts that the result has been the proliferation of numerous and often paradoxical interpretations by technocrats which have been hijacked by various popularity-seeking groups. A generally distorted perception of what globalisation is has been aggravated by simplistic behaviour from some political and business leaders, contradictory economic data, social and cultural side-effects, and extreme adverse psycho-sociological reactions. The global smoke screen, generated by the actors on centre stage today, hides not only the real nature of the risk but also the potential positive impact. Should we see globalisation as the Trojan Horse for a new worldwide order? I don\'t think so, for the simple reason that the same communications technologies which are the driving force make it impossible to carry out such a supposedly imperialistic project.

A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

There is promising evidence of a growing consensus among those of us working in international agencies, and leaders in government, business, and civil society, that we can begin to solve the world\'s problems only if we forge a new development path linking economic growth to social and environmental responsibility, writes James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank. In this article for IPS, the author writes that without social equity, economic growth cannot be sustainable. Without enlarging the real opportunities available to all citizens, the markets will work only for the elites. This means providing everyone with access to education, health care, decent work, and -- as the new Brazilian president Lula has pointed out -- with at least 3 meals a day. The events of September 11, 2001, helped drive home the message to people everywhere that there are not two worlds - rich and poor. There is only one. We are linked by finance, trade, migration, communications, environment, communicable diseases, crime, drugs, and certainly by terror. Poverty anywhere is poverty everywhere. Our collective demand is for a global system based on equity, human rights, and social justice. Our collective quest for a more equal world is also the quest for long-term peace and security.

A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM

The World Social Forum (WSF), to be held January 23-28 for the third year in Porto Alegre, Brazil, has become the prime organisational expression of a surging movement against corporate-driven globalisation and, this year, US plans to launch a war on Iraq, writes Walden Bello, professor of sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines and executive director of the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South. This year\'s meeting will be the culmination of an exciting year-long global process, including Porto Alegre-style social forums in a number of cities, including Buenos Aires and Caracas, and regional social forums: the European Social Forum in Florence, Italy, on November 6-9, 2002, and the recently- concluded Asian Social Forum (ASF) in Hyderabad, India. Since Seattle, the anti-corporate globalisation movement has attained critical mass globally, in the sense that its ability to mass forces at significant junctures, such as the December 1999 Seattle WTO ministerial and the July 2001 Genoa meeting of the Group of Eight, enabled it to effect international developments and acquire a high ideological and political profile globally. Not surprisingly, many of those at the WSF will be coming with one question uppermost in their mind: What can the victory of Lula and the PT teach us about coming to power in our countries? And this year\'s WSF will be, in many ways, a celebration of a movement that, by achieving a remarkable measure of political unity amidst diversity, has changed the face of Brazilian politics.

The Droplets of Life: Environment and Development 2002

The World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg Aug 26 to Sep 4, was the environmental event of the year, though many left the event disappointed… Except on the water issue, which will be the star of a United Nations-sponsored International Year in 2003.

Trade: From Doha to Cancún

The negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and of the World Trade Organization continue – and winning more and more criticism from the anti-globalization activists, who denounce the risk of creating more misery and environmental degradation as they prepare for the 3rd World Social Forum to take place in January 2003.

More than 11,000

More than 11,000 species are in danger of extinction. An international meeting in November, aimed at protecting flora and fauna from illegal trade, produced mixed results. And for the animal and plant life of the northern Spanish coast, the end of 2002 was a tragedy, due to the massive oil spill caused by the tanker Prestige.

‘They must see us face to face’

Indigenous peoples want to be treated on the level, Guatemala’s Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú told a Summit of women of the Americas. But there is a long way to go because indigenous peoples were not heard at the Johannesburg Summit and are still waiting for the approval of a United Nations declaration on their rights.

Mesoamerican Biological Corridor to Get 470 Million Dollars

Donors, governments and multilateral agencies are guaranteeing the continuity of the plan aimed at restoring the biodiversity chain through Mesoamerica, a 768,000 square km area that holds eight percent of the world’s biodiversity.

Fly Fishing

Fly fishing is a sport that is quickly gaining followers around the world. But this approach to fishing is unique: although the objective is to catch salmon or trout, the sport is closely linked to nature conservation efforts.

Ecobreves – Plan to Stop Garbage in Gulf

Belize, Guatemala and Honduras are to carry forward a joint program to halt the dumping of garbage and other pollutants in the western Gulf of Honduras, on the Atlantic Ocean.

Ecobreves – COLOMBIA: Sea Turtle Release

Environmental officials in Colombia released some 300 sea turtles -- most of the carey species -- along the country's northern Caribbean coast as part of an effort to boost the turtle population, which is threatened by human activities.

Spirulina 'Miracle' Invades Cuba

Hundreds of products made from this "miracle" algae fill supermarket shelves across the Caribbean island.

Fly-Fishing Fever in Patagonia

“The seed of respect”

Environmental crimes are crimes against humanity, not just against species of flora and fauna, says Helen Mack, a leading human rights activist in Guatemala. "The greatest utopia is a society the lives and feels the sublimity of nature," she said in a conversation with Tierramérica.

Incan Quinua Grain Revived

This millenniums-old food crop is undergoing expansion in agricultural research and commercial production.

A Sporting Promotion for Reforestation

The Peruvian Olympic Committee is promoting the planting of trees at a large rural cooperative where eroded soils have been transformed into forest.

Quinua

Quinua, also spelled quinoa, is often mentioned as the sacred food of ancient Andean cultures, as an element of the indigenous people's diet in the past, long forgotten. But more recent research into its unique qualities has turned this South American plant into a product with great future potential.