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	Farmers must not be disempowered Labourers on their own land by Olivier De Schutter Special Rapporteur on the right to food   “For too long farmers have been forced to eke out a living from subsistence agriculture or, once they"ve fallen in debt, to cede their land and labour to work in exploitative conditions on plantations.   Our failure to help small-scale farmers to access markets – and to live decently from farming – is a key cause of hunger,” warned the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter.   “We must empower smallholders to negotiate decent terms with buyers, and we must explore the most inclusive business models. Governments must not shirk their responsibility to oversee arrangements between farmers and buyers, and to equip smallholders to rise up the value chain.”   Recent years have seen an upsurge in large-scale land purchases by foreign investors – so-called ‘land-grabbing’ – but less attention has been paid to the parallel rise in contract farming arrangements, whereby farmers commit their output to processing or marketing firms at predetermined prices.   In his address* to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. De Schutter warned that these deals are unlikely to be in the best interests of small-scale farmers unless a series of conditions are met.   “The developing world is a buyer’s market. Even when food prices are high, farmers are struggling to reap the benefits because they lack negotiating power.”   “Entering into a contract is a private choice, but how much choice do farmers really have if their only access to markets is via a single dominant buyer? And how much benefit can this arrangement bring the farmer if the buyer can dictate the terms of that contract? If they are not careful, farmers end up as disempowered labourers on their own land,” he warned.   The Special Rapporteur underscored that a fair contract should include among other things, minimum price guarantees and the possibility to set aside a portion of land for food crops to meet the needs of the family and the community.   Decision-making is also proven to shift to men where cash crops are produced instead of food crops, Mr. De Schutter explained, emphasizing the need to pay greater attention to the gender impacts of contract farming.   “Without checks and balances, the door is left open for produce to be summarily rejected, for farm debt to spiral, for labour to be sub-contracted without regulatory oversight, and for a region’s food security to be undermined by production of export-oriented cash crops at the expense of all else.”   “These are private contractual arrangements that vary from case to case, and the devil is in the details. But it is up to Governments to scrutinize these details and ensure that farmers are not being hoodwinked,” Mr. De Schutter stated. “They must also put greater knowledge, information and services at the fingertips of small-scale farmers.”   “If farmers can access technical know-how, inputs, distribution circuits and markets only via investors, then they become trapped in an unhealthy cycle,” he warned.   More equitable value chains   Meanwhile, other development models can provide the benefits of contract farming without the drawbacks. “Farmers should be encouraged to consider forming cooperatives and joint ventures, where they can club together and access markets,” the Special Rapporteur said.   He cited MaliBiocarburant SA – where farmers are represented on the Board of Trustees and produce jatropha for locally-consumed biodiesel – as an example of a best practice in the area.   The Divine Chocolate brand, a London-based enterprise, is another source of inspiration for more equitable value chains. Jointly owned by 68,000 Ghanaian cocoa farmers and other backers, it has brought farmers the benefits of fixed prices, a fair-trade premium, ownership dividends, and a large support program. Meanwhile the experiences of Belo Horizonte in Brazil and Durban in South Africa have proven the benefits of improving the links between local producers and urban consumers.   “These are clearly development models which can work for small-scale farmers. They are not immune from risks, but we must empower farmers to consider business models allowing them to rise up the value chain,” the independent expert said.   “Above all, we must shed the straitjacket that says that agricultural development can only occur through large-scale, top-down investments. With the right support and encouragement, farmers can drive the change themselves.” Visit the related web page
	World may face Years of Social Unrest as Economies Falter by International Labour Organisation (ILO)   The international economy is on the brink of a deep new economic crisis that could cost millions of jobs around the globe and trigger mass social unrest, the world"s most powerful nations were warned yesterday.   As the leaders of the G20 countries prepare for emergency talks on averting a return to worldwide recession, the United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO) issued a grim forecast of the social effects of the continuing economic crisis.   The UN agency warned that it could take until 2016 for global employment to return to the levels of three years ago – and that anger could erupt on the streets of Europe and other continents as a result.   October 31, 2011   World of Work Report 2011- ILO says world heading for a new and deeper jobs recession, warns of more social unrest. (ILO News)   In a grim analysis issued on the eve of the G20 leaders summit, the International Labour Organization (ILO) says the global economy is on the verge of a new and deeper jobs recession that will further delay the global economic recovery and may ignite more social unrest in scores of countries.   “We have reached the moment of truth. We have a brief window of opportunity to avoid a major double-dip in employment,” said Raymond Torres, Director of the ILO International Institute for Labour Studies that issued the report.   The new “World of Work Report 2011: Making markets work for jobs” says a stalled global economic recovery has begun to dramatically affect labour markets. On current trends, it will take at least five years to return employment in advanced economies to pre-crisis levels, one year later than projected in last year’s report.   Noting that the current labour market is already within the confines of the usual six-month lag between an economic slowdown and its impact on employment, the report indicates that 80 million jobs need to be created over the next two years to return to pre-crisis employment rates. However, the recent slowdown in growth suggests that the world economy is likely to create only half of the jobs needed.   The report also features a new “social unrest” index that shows levels of discontent over the lack of jobs and anger over perceptions that the burden of the crisis is not being shared fairly. It notes that in over 45 of the 119 countries examined, the risk of social unrest is rising. This is especially the case in advanced economies, notably the EU, the Arab region and to a lesser extent Asia. By contrast, there is a stagnant or lower risk of social unrest in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.   The study shows that nearly two-thirds of advanced economies and half of emerging and developing economies with recent available data are once again experiencing a slowdown in employment. This comes on top of an already precarious employment situation in which global unemployment is at its highest point ever, over 200 million worldwide.   The report cites three reasons why the ongoing economic slowdown may have a particularly strong impact on the employment panorama: first, compared to the start of the crisis, enterprises are now in a weaker position to retain workers; second, as pressure to adopt fiscal austerity measures mount, governments are less inclined to maintain or adopt new job- and income-support programmes; and third, countries are left to act in isolation due to lack of international policy coordination.   The report’s other main findings include:   • Approximately 80 million net new jobs will be needed over the next two years to re-attain pre-crisis employment rates (27 million in advanced economies and the remainder in emerging and developing countries).   • Out of 118 countries with available data, 69 countries show an increase in the percentage of people reporting a worsening of living standards in 2010 compared to 2006. Respondents in half of 99 countries surveyed say they do not have confidence in their national governments.   • In 2010, more than 50 per cent of people in developed countries report being dissatisfied with the availability of decent jobs (in countries such as Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain, more than 70 per cent of survey respondents reported dissatisfaction).   • The share of profit in GDP increased in 83 per cent of the countries analyzed between 2000 and 2009. Productive investment, however, stagnated globally during the same period.   • In advanced countries, the growth in corporate profits among non-financial firms was translated into a substantial increase in dividend payouts (from 29 per cent of profits in 2000 to 36 per cent in 2009) and financial investment (from 81.2 per cent of GDP in 1995 to 132.2 per cent in 2007). The crisis reversed slightly these trends, which resumed in 2010.   • Food price volatility doubled during the period 2006-2010 relative to the preceding five years, affecting decent work prospects in developing countries. Financial investors benefit more from price volatility than food producers, especially small ones.   The report calls for maintaining and in some cases strengthening pro-employment programmes, warning that efforts to reduce public debt and deficits have often disproportionately focused on labour market and social measures. For example, it shows that increasing active labour market spending by only half a per cent of GDP would increase employment by between 0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent, depending on the country.   The study also calls for supporting investment in the real economy through financial reform and pro-investment measures.   Finally, it says that the adage that wage moderation leads to job creation is a myth, and calls for a comprehensive income-led recovery strategy. This would also help stimulate investment while reducing excessive income inequalities. Visit the related web page
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