EJN’s Simon Vilikazi made an input in the development of issues that were raised to Pascal Lamy, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  Lamy had come to address the delegates of the Confronting the Global Food Challenge Conference in Geneva in November 2008. The theme of this conference was “Finding new approaches to trade and investment that support the right to food”.

 The conference was organised by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) and the World Council of Churches (WCC). The delegates included representatives of organisations such as FIAN International, BfdW, WEED, SwissAid, UNHCHR, MSF, NCA, EJN, NCA, Oxfam, WFFP, SEATINI, Action Aid and others. 

Vilkizi highlighted that there is a need for the WTO Director-General to convey concerns of poor people from least developed countries (LDCs). These concerns would be voiced by Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) to the European Union (EU), the United of America (USA) and other developed countries involved in WTO negotiations. These issues include a request to the EU, USA and other developed countries to stop enticing LDCs’ governments to allow trans-national corporations (TNCs) to:

1.      Privatise water resource in LDCs

2.      Sell, distribute and market genetically modified (GM) seeds in LDCs.

3.      Purchase large tracks of agricultural land in LDCs for purposes of agri-fuels production. 

4.      Entice LDCs small scale and big commercial farmers to switch from producing food crops to producing crops for agri-fuels production.  These practices of developed countries TNCs contribute to a lack of water which poor people need for producing their own food. It further leads to the destruction of soil fertility capabilities, which in turn worsens food security problems in least developed countries. They deplete LDCs’ food stocks and lead to the dramatic increase in food prices, and as result food becomes unaffordable for poor people.

Other issues that the conference delegates raised to Mr. Lamy included the following:

1.      The EU, USA and other developed countries’ practice of dumping of cheap agricultural products into least developed countries markets has destroyed small farmers’ abilities to sell their products.

2.      A need for food security to be regarded as a human rights issue that must be protected.

3.      Trade distorting subsidies that developed countries pay to their farmers to enable them to sell their agricultural products at cheap prices in LDCs.  

4.      The dangers of speculative trade in food commodities and its impact in making food prices un-affordable to many poor people.

5.       The WTO organisation’s support of free trade in agricultural products has destroyed LDCs’ food productivity capabilities, thus turning them into importers of food.   

In response, Mr. Lamy said:

1.      The WTO does not force LDCs to open their markets to dumping of cheap agricultural products from developed countries. There are instruments that enable LDCs to increase their import tariffs to counter the dumping of cheap agricultural products. It is a fault on the LDCs’ part that they do not use protective measures to protect their farmers. It seems that LDCs do this for their own reasons.

2.      The WTO can not dictate the issue on human rights to its member states. He stated that it is a role of the other international institutions to do this. Governments should be pressurised by their citizens to make a right to food to be part of human rights.