Issue #24

This past week, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) summit on food security turned the attention of world leaders, and the world media, towards small-scale farmers. Occurring in the wake of a massive hike in staple food prices that many refer to as a “food crisis,” the meeting became a place to discuss how more food could be produced globally, especially in countries where food has become unaffordable to many people.

Farm Radio Weekly staff followed the conference through audio files on the FAO website and coverage in alternative media such as World Social Forum TV. We were looking for the voice of the African farmer but found that, although farmer representatives were present, their perspective was lost when it came to the final summit declaration. Leaders from groups representing small-scale producers in West and East Africa suggested that African countries must move away from market liberalization and use farmer subsidies and import barriers to protect their markets and ensure local food supplies. We have a story from our newest correspondent, Joshua Kyalimpa, in Kampala, Uganda, that offers an example of how a protectionist agricultural policy – one that rejects the principles of market liberalization – has led to a rapid rise in Ugandan rice production in the past few years.

Trade policies and their impact on farmers are always rich topics for discussion and debate. We invite you to use materials from this week’s FRW to generate discussion on your airwaves and to visit the FRW website (http://weekly.farmradio.org/) to post comments and share insights with other FRW readers.

Finally we would like to welcome the newest members to the FRW community – new subscribers, John Yvon Mutombo, from Jeunesse en Mission pour Christ, in South, Africa, Pungu Lukombe, from Radio Télévision Amani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as 10 new subscribers from Uganda! Please remember to share FRW with any colleagues who may enjoy it, by e-mailing articles or inviting them to subscribe at: http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/fr_weekly_subscribe.asp.

Happy reading!

-The Farm Radio Weekly Team

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African Farm News in Review

1. Uganda: Imported rice levies encourage local production (by Joshua Kyalimpa, for Farm Radio Weekly, in Kampala, Uganda)

2. Italy: World leaders look to small-scale farmers, but are they listening to them? (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Social Forum TV)

Upcoming Events

-June 30th, 2008: Deadline to apply for Lorenzo Natali Prize

Radio Resource Bank

-Audacity: Free and open source audio editing software

Farm Radio Action

-Community Radio Start-Up Information Guide now online

Farm Radio Script of the Week

-Forming an effective farmers’ cooperative

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On his single acre of land, Ugandan farmer Geoffrey Bisubirwa can grow enough rice each season to earn 150,000 Ugandan shillings – the equivalent of 100 American dollars, or 60 Euros. This is a pretty good return, given that a farmer would get less than 75,000 Ugandan shillings – about 50 American dollars or 30 Euros – for growing maize, one of the most common crops grown in Uganda.

Up until a few years ago, Geoffrey Bisubirwa would not have been able to sell his rice, because the local market was flooded with cheaper rice from countries such as India, Vietnam, and Pakistan. Governments in these Asian countries subsidize rice production. Meanwhile, rice production in Uganda was on a downward trend in the 1990s after the government, like many African governments, sharply reduced or eliminated duties on imported rice, as part of a global push towards market liberalization.

But in 2004, the East African community – a loose grouping of five countries including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi – decided to re-instate duties on imported rice. The import duties are putting a smile on the faces of Ugandan farmers, and giving them a reason to grow rice again.

In fact, Ugandan farmers are growing much more rice. The Ugandan Ministry of Trade projects that rice production will hit the 180,000 metric ton mark this year, up from 135,000 in 2006, and 100,000 in 2005.

Okasi Opolot is Uganda’s Commissioner for Crop Production and Marketing. He expects that rice imports will soon come to a halt. The Ugandan government further expects to boost its rice exports to areas such as southern Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, becoming the food basket of the region.

Mr. Opolot acknowledges that levies on imported rice are against the policies and advice of the World Bank and World Trade Organization. But he is quick to add that the same organizations have failed to rein in other countries’ subsidies.

Nevertheless, the Ugandan government is preparing for the day when it may be pressured by the World Trade Organization and World Bank to re-open its markets to imported rice. The government is investing in research of new rice varieties that could out-compete imported rice on the basis of quality.

Dr. Ram Chaudhary is the project manager for New Rice for Africa, known as NERICA. He says that a new rice variety called NERICA 10 will give imported rice a run for its money. According to Dr. Chaudhary, the new rice re-introduces a scent and taste preferred by Ugandans, which is not found in any imported variety. He says NERICA 10 should be able to edge imported rice out of the market, even if import duties are removed in the future.

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Far from the small-scale farms where much of the world’s food is grown, leaders from 181 countries met to seek solutions to the current food crisis. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, hosted a food summit in Rome, Italy, during the first week of June. The meeting turned the world’s attention to these small-scale farms and the people who work them. It closed with a declaration on the importance of supporting small-scale farmers to increase food production. But there was little indication that the summit or its declaration heard the voices of representatives from farmers’ organizations.Participating countries pledged billions of dollars to back the conference declaration and support small-scale farmers by making seeds, fertilizer, and crop markets more accessible. Farmers’ groups at the conference shared this focus on supporting small-scale farmer production and market access. But there was a huge difference of opinion over the kind of support small-scale farmers need.

Philip M. Kiriro is president of the Eastern African Farmers Federation-Kenya. He says that African governments have to invest in small-scale farmers – and they must be able to provide these farmers with subsidies and market protection.

Ndiogou Fall is president of the executive committee for the Réseau des Organisations paysannes de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, a network of small-scale, West African producers. He agrees that clawing back open market policies is key to increasing small-scale farm production and ensuring that farmers profit from their work. Fall says that, for 40 years, African governments were told that trade liberalization was the way to go, but now it’s time to find another way.

The summit declaration, however, supports the path towards open world markets and global trade liberalization. In fact, the declaration stated that reducing trade barriers will give farmers, particularly in developing countries, new opportunities to sell their products and support their efforts to increase production.

Jacques Diouf is Director-General of FAO. Speaking to reporters at the close of the summit, he maintained that food scarcity caused the rapid rise in food prices, and that increased production will be the solution. Mr. Diouf also maintains that food scarcity is the driving force behind food subsidies. He suggested that, when enough food is available, governments will not feel the need to subsidize farmers.

Some delegates may be content with the declaration’s support of open market policies. A vocal group, representing mostly Latin American countries, complained that heavily subsidized food from the United States and Europe floods their markets, and prevents their small-scale farmers from selling crops. True market liberalization would put an end to such subsidies. Mr. Diouf responded to questions about rich country agriculture subsidies by saying it’s up to the World Trade Organization to resolve these disputes.

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This news story provides an example of how agricultural subsidies and tariffs affect a farmer’s ability to sell his or her product locally and, over time, either encourage or discourage national production of a crop. In the 1990s, Ugandan rice farmers found it difficult to earn a living. The local market was satisfied with cheap imported rice (because farmers in the exporting countries were receiving subsidies.) But, since 2004, import duties have raised the price of imported rice, securing a place in the Ugandan market for locally-grown rice.

Dr. Godfrey Asea, a team leader of cereals programs for the National Crops Resources Research Institute, says Ugandan farmers still don’t earn as much as Indian farmers. Ugandan farmers can receive advice on what crops to grow and how to get good yields, through the National Agricultural Advisory Services, but they do not receive subsidies. According to Dr. Asea, an Indian rice farmer can earn about 10,000 rupees – about 230 American dollars or 150 Euros – by cultivating an acre of rice. As we learned in the story, a Ugandan farmer can earn about 150,000 shillings – about 100 American dollars or 60 Euros – for the same amount of work. Still, now that duties are pushing imported rice out of the market, more and more Ugandan farmers have found a financial incentive to grow rice.

While farmers can lobby their governments to change national policies on subsidies or duties, they must also cope with the existing market environment. Even without government support, there are ways that farmers can increase their profit margins. The following Farm Radio International scripts describe how forming a farmers’ co-op and staying current on market prices can help:

-“Forming an effective farmers’ cooperative” (Package 83, Script 7, March 2008)
-“Women set up a marketing and purchasing cooperative” (Episode 3 of the script series “Women and Credit,” Package 57, Script 5, October 2000)
-“Market news from MEGA FM” (Package 83, Script 3, March 2008)
-“Farmers’ helpers – Radio and extension help farmers plan” (Episode 5 of the script series “To Market, To Market,” Package 66, Script 10, March 2003)

You may also wish to raise awareness of how national and international policies affect the production of, and market for, food in your country, by researching questions such as:
-Does your government subsidize agricultural production in your country (for example, by providing inputs like fertilizer at below market rate, or by purchasing food from farmers at above market rate)? When did this subsidy program begin and what was the government’s motivation for implementing it? What impact did this have on the number of farmers growing the subsidized crop and the total amount of the crop grown? What do farmers have to say about the subsidies and the impact they have had on their farming business?

-To what extent does your country rely on imported food? What can you find out about the extent to which this imported food is subsidized by exporting countries’ governments, and how this affects local food prices? Does your government impose duties on any imported foods? Do farmers feel that the sale of imported foods affects their ability to sell crops locally and obtain a good price?

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 The official theme of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) high-level conference on world food security was, “the challenges of climate change and bioenergy.” But, while issues of climate change and bioenergy remained on the agenda, the meeting quickly became known as “the food crisis” summit, with a strong focus on resolving the negative impacts of recent hike in global food prices. There was a lot of talk about the importance of farmers, especially small-scale farmers in developing countries. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said that small-scale farmers must have access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, and animal feed, and called on donors to join the FAO in supporting programs to make this happen – which they did (http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2008/1000858/index.html).

But representatives of the very farmers that the FAO intends to support had a different view. Farmer leaders quoted in this story felt strongly that African governments must be able to subsidize their farmers, thereby supporting farmers’ work to feed their fellow citizens – a position contrary to the resolution signed at the end of the conference. In fact, hundreds of farmer and civil society groups held a parallel conference to the FAO summit in Rome, Italy, called Terra Preta. These groups felt that the voices of small-scale farmers, fishers, herders, indigenous people, and NGOs were not being heard at the summit, and decried the summit resolution as “empty policies for empty plates.”

Many audio and video clips, representing speakers at the FAO summit and the alternative Terra Preta summit, are available online, at the following locations:
-Audio clips from the FAO Newsroom: http://www.fao.org/audiocatalogue/index.jsp?lang=EN
-Audio and video clips from World Social Forum TV: http://www.wsftv.net/

For additional radio resources on the debate over further trade liberalization and its impact on small-scale producers, please see the following:
-“Farmers fear Economic Partnership Agreements with Europe threaten their livelihoods” (FRW Issue 6, January 2008)
-“The trial of the international monetary system” (Package 78, Script 7, July 2006)

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Print and broadcast journalists committed to the fight for human rights and democracy in the developing world are invited to submit one journalistic work printed or aired between January 1, 2007, and June 30, 2008, (in one of the European Commission’s 23 official languages) to this year’s Lorenzo Natali Prize.
The Lorenzo Natali Prize, named after a former European Commission official in charge of cooperation and development, offers awards to journalists working in one of the five following regions: Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, and the Arab World and the Middle East.

For each region, prizes will be awarded to the three best entries. First prize winners will receive 5,000 Euros (US $7,700), second prize winners will get 2,500 Euros (US $3,900), and third prize winners 1,500 Euros (US $2,300). The best overall entry will also receive an additional grand prize of 5,000 Euros (US$ 7,700).
For more information or to apply, contact: info@prixnatali2008.eu. You can also fill out the online entry form at the following address: http://www.nataliprize2008.eu/en/registration/index.php.

For more information on the organizers, partners, and contest rules, and for answers to other Frequently Asked Questions, visit: http://www.nataliprize2008.eu/en/index.htm.

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Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder. Audacity allows you to:

• Record live audio;
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs;
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV, or AIFF sound files;
• Cut, copy, splice, or mix sounds together;
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.

For a complete list of Audacity features, go to this link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/features.

In the help section of the Audacity website (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/), you will find links to a complete user manual and the Audacity Wiki, which provides step-by-step tutorials on how to use audacity. (A wiki is a collection of web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content.)

To download your free copy of Audacity, go to the following website: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/. On this page, you can choose to download Audacity 1.2 (this is a stable version made for all users) or Audacity 1.3 (this is a beta version, which means it is a newer version that’s still being tested. It is only recommended for advanced users of Audacity.)

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Over the years, Farm Radio International has received many requests from groups seeking information on how to start their own community radio station. And while Farm Radio International’s core programming supports existing African radio organizations, we also wanted to assist these aspiring broadcasters. So Farm Radio volunteer Karina Barker developed a Community Radio Start-Up Information Guide, which is now available on the Farm Radio website: http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/resources/radio-start-up.asp.

Even established radio organizations are sure to find useful information in this manual – which discusses how to get started, legal issues, funding options, things to think about when selecting equipment, ideas for managing your community radio station, and broadcasting tips. It also includes links to websites, publications and other resources that may be useful when starting up, and operating, a community radio station.

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When it comes to purchasing inputs at a reasonable price and selling crops for a good profit, small-scale farmers are often at a disadvantage. Recent changes to input and food markets have only made the situation more challenging. But, as millions of small-scale farmers in countries around the world have found out, there is strength in numbers. By forming cooperative groups for purposes such as obtaining loans, buying or making fertilizer, buying or banking seeds, preparing land, processing food, and selling crops, these farmers have discovered ways to increase their profit margins and improve their food security.

This week’s script, taken from the latest script package (Package 83) describes how to start a small-scale farmers’ cooperative. You can also find this script online at:
http://www.farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/83-7script_en.asp.

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