overconsumption--2009

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Subsidised European milk floodingthe market in Burkina Faso 24In the West African country of Burkina Faso cattle breedingis the second most important economic sector.Small-scale farmers constitute the bulk of the sector.However, farmers in Burkina Faso cannot compete withthe low prices of imported powdered milk. For decades,Burkina Faso has been importing milk from abroad. In part,this was a deliberate government strategy: these importsgave the urban population cheap food. These importshave frequently been subsidised, and are dumped belowcost price on local markets in developing countries suchas Burkina Faso. The main source of these cheap milk importsis France, followed by Ireland and the Netherlands.When the local currency depreciated (increasing the priceof these imports), the Burkina dairy sector displayed signsof a modest comeback. This, however, proved short-livedwhen a regional partnership of West African countriesinstituted a very low import tariff on milk.It is not only Burkina Faso where dairy farmers are suffering- Senegal and Cameroon are also being in undatedwith subsidised powdered milk from Europe. Before,countries could fairly easily close off their markets bylevying import tariffs. This, however, has become increasinglydifficult under the influence of current mainstreameconomic ideology that argues that liberalisationis always beneficial to the economic development of acountry. As a result, dairy farmers in developing countrieshave to compete with products from countries whichhave yet to dismantle their own state support and subsidysystems, with no recourse to subsidies or any other formof government intervention of their own.In June 2007 the European Union decided to stop exportsubsidies for dairy products due to the high world marketprice, aiming to make EU dairy exports less attractivefor producers and thereby ensure adequate domesticsupply. In the summer of the following year the pricestarted to fall again leading to a reintroduction of theexport subsidies for dairy products in January <strong>2009</strong>. 2518 | OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources
Export of Fair Trade organic HomMali (Jasmine rice) from Thailand 26In Thailand, rice is the most important staple food andexport product. Thailand is the sixth biggest rice producingcountry in the world and produces 18.6 million tonnesrice per year. In comparison to other rice producing countriessuch as China, India or Vietnam, Thailand uses lessrice for its own markets and exports more, around 9.6million tonnes per year, which is about one third of therice exported worldwide.Isaan is a poor region of Thailand, and agriculture is thelargest sector of the economy. In this region, it was mainlythe merchants and processors that made a profit from therice exports, rather than the farmers. That is why, in theearly 1990s, the Green Net Cooperative was founded bysmall scale farmers. It produces organic rice for domesticuse and for export, if the domestic use is satisfied. In thepast farmers had sold their rice to other cooperatives orto independent buyers, but they suffered from rapidlychanging market prices, sometimes falling significantlyfrom one day to the other. The Green Net Cooperative takesa fair trade approach, with the farmers receiving prices20% above the market price. Green Net has also givenfarmers a stronger position in the market, and has helpedfarmers move from conventional to organic farming. Thissaves money, as none has to be spent on expensive conventionalpesticides and fertilisers. Furthermore, farmersno longer get sick from handling toxic pesticides.Local farmers also produce rice, water melons, bananasand other fruits and vegetables for the local market. Thecombination of selling these products on the local marketand selling rice with Green Net to foreign markets guaranteesa stable income and prevents farmers from beingentirely dependent on exporting rice.The organic fair trade rice from the Green Net producersis grown and processed entirely in the region. Once therice is planted it takes between 90 and 120 days for it tobe ready to harvest. The rice is flailed and dried on thefield. Dehusking, cleaning and sorting takes place in thefarmer-owned rice mill, and it is then packed in Green Net’spacking complex. This ensures that more of the addedvalue from the exported rice stays within the country.OVERCONSUMPTION? Our use of the world’s natural resources | 19
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Page 3: Executive summaryNatural resources,
Page 8 and 9: limited amount of wood each year, t
Page 11 and 12: Figure 4: Extraction of resources p
Page 13 and 14: Copper mining and smeltingin Peru 1
Page 15 and 16: 4. Trade in resourcesInternational
Page 17: Trade reinforces inequalities in re
Page 21 and 22: larger houses, eat more meat and dr
Page 23 and 24: 6. Resource efficiencyIn Europe, as
Page 25 and 26: Mobile phones: relativeimprovements
Page 27 and 28: Figure 14: “Business-as-usual”
Page 29 and 30: 8. Towards sustainable resource use
Page 31 and 32: continued growth of our economies i
Page 33 and 34: Sources for figures(i)Calculations
Page 35 and 36: 24ICCO. 2007. Food under threat! Th

overconsumption--2009

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