TNCs trying to hijack our food supplies - Editorial

The Daily Mirror in its editorial yesterday spotlighted the plight of tens of thousands of families in the fishing community who were facing danger on one side, and destitution, despair and degradation on the other. Today we focus attention on the plight of the millions in the farmer community who once formed part, if not the very heart, of Sri Lanka’s civilisation for thousands of years, but have now been dragged into the mudholes of poverty and pain.

Representatives of farmer associations say that in recent times their status and the facilities or subsidies given to them have been ploughed, with the lack of a stable guaranteed price, marketing facilities, uncertainty over their pensions and the fertiliser subsidy scheme being the main weeds among the seeds. In addition, the farmers have been forced or encouraged to use excessive amounts of imported cheuical fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides. This may have in certain cases increased the harvest but nature-friendly agriculture specialists say it has caused pollution or poisoning of rice, vegetables, fruits and other items. As a result the people of Sri Lanka are known to be eating more than a little bit of poison with every meal. This has lead to a situation where more people are falling sick more often with the private health sector especially, becoming big business.

Agriculture experts say a possible death blow to the farmers could come if the proposed Seed Act is passed. World financial institutions are known to be supporting transnational agribusiness corporations which want the farmers mainly in third world countries to buy their so,called high-yielding genetically modified seeds.  India has rejected this move with activists such as Dr. Vandana Shiva warning about the possibility of the harvest being stolen and global food supply being hijacked if the TNC proposals are accepted. Unfortunately Sri Lanka has few such activists and activism. Therefore it would not be a surprise if the proposed Seed Act is quietly pushed through and our farmers are forced to buy seed paddy from the TNCs. Without a normal germination process and the terminator technology being enforced, the farmers will have to buy fresh seeds for every cultivation and are likely to end up as slaves of the TNCs in one of the most brazen acts of economic neocolonialism.
Nature-friendly and farmer-friendly agriculturists say that instead of selling our country to the TNCs the wiser path would be to give incentives, subsidies and other facilities for farmers to switch to organic or bio-farming where imported agro-chemicals would not be used and therefore the food would not be polluted.


Instead of selling our country to the TNCs the wiser path would be to give incentives, subsidies and other facilities for farmers to switch to organic or bio-farming where imported agro-chemicals would not be used


Among the major political parties it is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna that has come up with some practical proposals in its recent vision statement. It says agriculture will be considered a priority sector and it will be developed to ensure food security in the country and to target the export market. The rights to seeds will be vested with the farmers. Seed research institutes, seed farms and a farming network that produces seeds will be established. A State mechanism will be put in place to improve the quality of agricultural components and to control prices.

The Rajapaksa Government, while rallying the people against moves by the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to violate Sri Lanka's sovereignty, appears to be freely allowing TNCs to do this mainly in the farming and food sectors. We urge immediate and effective action to protect or restore the rights of Sri Lanka’s farmers and consumers.