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 SAAG and Farmers Right
Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG), a network of civil society organizations and farmer groups, works to address the issues of food and agriculture at broader level. SAAG has serious reservations on various stringent restrictions framed in Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and Agreement On Agriculture (AOA). SAAG- aims to protect and conserve indigenous knowledge and seed varieties and takes a prudent look on issues of seed politics across the region. This network played a marked role in desisting bio-piracy and trying to outlaw the dehumanizing tactics used by multinationals and transnationals in order to safeguard the rights of the poor farming communities of the developing countries.
SAAG organizes farmers’ rallies in various cities of the country in which hundreds of small farmer groups and civil society organizations participate.
SAAG Rally against WTO Unfair Deals
As part of One Week of Action against the unfair deals in WTO and the expected decisions on Doha Development Round at the end of June, SAAG and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI) organized a rally of more than 600 farmers in front of China Chowk, Islamabad on 12 June, 2006. Sungi Development Foundation, Community Development Organization, Swabi, and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, participated in this rally. The participants also included more than 70 women farmers from Lok Sanjh.
The participants with placards, banners were chanting slogans against unfair trade deals in WTO, non-commitment of rich countries, particularly by the EU and US towards Doha Development Round 2001 to slash their farm subsidies and so open up their markets for the agriculture based exports from developing countries. The participants were demanding of the rich nations to change their cruel policy of marginalizing poor and small farmers of developing countries in various WTO negotiations and instead, adopt fair rules of multilateral trading system.
On domestic policy level, the participants demanded of the government to ensure them fair prices for their various agriculture produces and make them available various inputs at cheaper prices and at the right time. They also demanded of the government to protect their local industries mostly dependent on agriculture for raw materials and not compromise on their rights in various WTO negotiations.
Partners from SAAG and Pakistan Kissan Ittehad also addressed the rally. They included Aftab Alam, ActionAid-International, Dr Shahid Zia, Lok Sanjh, Mustafa Talpur, ActionAid-Pakistan, Malik Abdul Majeed Channa and Jan Nisar Khalil, from PKI. The speakers rejected the green rooms meeting of WTO. They said that the so called western democratic governments never acted upon the one-country-one-vote policy in WTO, where developing and poor countries are more than two-third of the total members. Instead, the poor developing countries are being cheated by the rich countries of EU and by the US. The speakers demanded of the government not to compromise on the rights of the small farmers, laborers and consumers in WTO.
The speakers said that rich countries are pressurizing developing countries to open their markets for their industry and services sectors and in returns are increasing their supports to their agriculture sector. Rich countries have not fulfilled their promises that they made at Doha Development Round of WTO in 2001 of slashing their support to agriculture. The rich nations have increased their support to the farm sector from $ 243 billion in 1986-88 to $ 279 billion in 2004, the speakers disclosed. In the EU case domestic support will account for over 80% of its total agriculture expenditure by 2010, one of the speakers revealed.
The speakers also said due to the pressure from the rich countries on the developing poor countries to cut their tariffs on industrial products, the emerging Pakistani industries like footwear, electronics, leather, sports, surgical and other industries will come with open competition with the technologically advanced western industries, leading to their closure and so mass employment in the country. Similarly, liberalization of the service sectors such as education, water, health, banking and insurance etc will lead to privatization in the country, making accessibility almost impossible for the common man to these services.
Please contact Dr. Abid Suleri (suleri@sdpi.org), Assistant Executive Director of SDPI and Shujaat Ali (shujat@sdpi.org) SAAG Secretary for more details.
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