Farmers struggle against WTO, IMF

Farmers struggle against WTO, IMF

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Freedom from injustice as a result of political reform in the
country has proven short-lived for Indonesian farmers, who are
now facing tougher challenges in the form of a global regime, an
activist said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Federation (FSPI) Henry
Saragih told a seminar here that unlike in the past when torture
and misappropriation of land were rampant, now international
organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were
impinging on the rights of farmers.

"The international organizations, which pushed ahead for the
creation of free trade regimes, are an axis of evil as they bring
hardship to farmers worldwide, especially those in Indonesia,"
Henry told participants of the Regional Conference on Farmer's
Rights here.

According to Henry, the policies of the WTO, IMF and World
Bank have contributed to the hardships Indonesian farmers are
facing today.

Citing an example, he said the IMF had imposed a structural
adjustment program (SAP) on struggling economies like Indonesia,
Thailand and the Philippines.

"The program might be a medicine to cure the banking crisis,
but it certainly has brought losses to other sectors of the
economy, including the agricultural sector," Henry said.

"Under the SAP program, the governments of those countries are
forced to cut subsidies they used to give to farmers. This
hinders farmers in cultivating their farms and later reduces
their ability to produce crops.

Another speaker in the conference, Riduan Munthe, said under
the free trade regime which was aggressively promoted by the WTO,
the government was forced to lift protection for farmers in the
form of import duty.

"This has brought losses to the Indonesian farmers since they
cannot compete with products from other developed countries," he
said.

Henry called on participants of the conference to fight the
global oppression.

"A global movement, like the World Social Forum in Porto
Allegre, Brazil, to protest the presence of the WTO, should be
promoted. This is important to have our voice heard by the
leaders of the world," he said.

Henry said Indonesian farmers had suffered for so long, dating
back in the era of New Order.

"The New Order government seized lands belonging to the
farmers for what they claimed were development programs.
Intimidation, torture and land misappropriation were common
practice," said Henry.

The regional conference will run until April 5. It is being
held ahead of the International Farmer's Day of Struggle, on
April 17.

Participants are representatives of rural activists from
Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Germany, among other countries.