Monitoring dimensions of the impact of International Trade on National Food and Nutritional Security

1
Monitoring dimensions of the impact of
International Trade on National Food and
Nutritional Security

• Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente MD MPH
• National Rapporteur for the Human Rights to
  Adequate Food, Water and Rural Land
• Plataform ESCHR/ (ABRANDH)
• UN Standing Committee on Nutrition Member
• 2005

2
Paradigm dispute

• Lang and Food Wars
• The productive paradigm is being questioned by
  two "new" paradigms
• Biotechnological
• Agro ecological
• The true struggle is between
• The market supremacy paradigm and
• Paradigm of political and social market
  regulation, in the context of the human rights
  promotion.
• Development centered on the human being and on
  the social relationships - equity promotion.

3
Historical Context

• XIXth and XXth Century
• Capitalism and imperialism advance vs socialist
  and labor counterpoint
• Social gains
• Such as the welfare state, UN, Universal
  Declaration on Human rights
• Are outcomes of labour and National liberation
  struggles.
• Progressive strengthening of the Bretton Woods
  institutions
• The debacle of the Soviet socialist central
  planning 1980s

4
The new offensive of capital

• Investments in developing countries 1960s and
  1970s
• The international debt crisis- 1970s and 1980s
• Structural adjustment 1980s and 1990s
• GATT agreement revision 1984 - 1994
• Peoples food sovereignty limitation - 1994
  Uruguay Round
• The creation of WTO - 1995
• NAFTA Implementation
• Questioning about UN and its role

5
After Soviet socialist debacle

• Strengthening of International Capital
• The weakening of the
• European and US Welfare State
• Economic, social and cultural rights promotion in
  the former socialist countries
• Primitive accumulation privatization of
  collective property at very low price
• National liberation movement with alternative
  models
• Space is opened to the neo-liberal model
  expansion - England, USA, Europe

6
The reorganization of the resistance

• Retaking the indivisbility of the HR paradigm -
  Vienna 1993,
• Struggles for ESCHR implementation
• Social Conferences Agenda
• The creation of the Via Campesina - 1994
• The globalization of Social Struggle
• Struggles against MAI
• Seattle,1999 .
• World Social Forum

7
International trade liberalization - new phase of
the capitalist expansion

• Market expansion for products
• Replication of the production model
• Destruction of traditional livelihoods
• Biopiracy and patenting of traditional knowledge
  (TRIPS)
• Market expansion for capital
• Productive
• Financial
• Services
• Natural resources exploitation
• Exploitation of labour.

8
Structural Adjustment and the Washington
consensus preparing the way

• Priority to debt renegotiation and payment
• Fiscal responsibility and the control of
  inflation
• The reduction of the State
• Privatization of national companies TNC
  strengthening
• Social expenses reduction - loss of rights
• Reduction with Personnel expenses in the public
  sector
• Reduction of Measures of protection of national
  agriculture and industry - exclusion and
  unemployment
• Opening of national markets
• Incentive for exportation social exclusion and
  environmental predatory practices.

9
The creation of WTO and deepening of inequalities

• WTO appears in a moment of political fragility of
  developing and poor countries
• Non-democratic decision making mechanisms
• New trade rules deepen inequality
• Structural Adjustment Impositions
• Human rights and traditional livelihoods
  conditions are seen as " trade barriers
• Rich countries maintain subsidies ,
• Dumping
• Unfair competition

10
Private interests gain ground

• Technological packages
• Genetically modified (GMO) food
• Pesticides
• Mechanization
• Biopiracy
• Patents (TRIPS)
• Oligopoly
• Seeds
• Agro - Food system (supermarkets, etc.)
• Liberalization - services, investments, etc

11
The myths of international trade liberalization

• Increased exports from poor countries
• Increased imports reduce production costs
• Attraction of foreign investments
• Improved input quality
• Increased production at national level
• Improved household food and nutritional security
  more employment, lower price and more food
  diversity.

12
Trade liberalization impacts in the structural
adjustment context

• Inequalities increasing
• Increasing in the income concentration, wealth
  and land property
• Local ways of production destruction
• land exclusion (agribusiness expansion or
  competing incapacity)
• Migration
• Poverty
• Soil and water contamination
• Reduction in biodiversity and alimentary
  diversity
• Genetic patrimony undue appropriation

13
Trade liberalization impact in the context of
structural adjustment

• Increased inequalities
• Landlessness and urban rural migration
• Social un-structuring of the family
• Slave labour
• Women overexploitation
• Child labour, sexual exploitation, etc
• Violence
• Destruction of small companies
• Unemployment and underemployment

14
Trade liberalization impact in the context
structural adjustment

• Inadequate State protection and promotion of the
  national production
• Lack of protection against dumping (economic and
  social) and unfair international competition
• Reduction of technical support, credit, etc .
• Reduction of import tariffs
• Reduction or inexistence of land tenure policy
• Increased support to Agribusiness
• Expansion of exports

15
Trade liberalization impact in the context of
structural adjustment

• Reduction of the social and infrastructure
  investments
• Housing, sanitation, health, child care,
  education, highways, etc
• Labor legislation and social security reforms,
  etc
• Increase of the Public services fees and
  privatization
• Water, sanitation, telephone, electric power,
  etc.

16
Trade liberalization impact in the context of
structural adjustment

• Ecological imbalance and depletion of natural
  resources
• Deforestation, soil fertility reduction, soil and
  water contamination
• Destruction of traditional livelihoods.
• Impact on human health (producer and consumer),
  food safety and diversity

17
Trade liberalization impacts in the structural
adjustment context

• Food and Nutrition
• Unhealthy eating patterns
• Malnutrition
• Negative impact on human development
• Micronutrient deficiencies
• Overweight and obesity
• Health
• Morbidity and mortality
• Child, maternal and adult health

18
Monitoring dimensions
19
International trade liberalization, unequal
exchanges and national productive structure

• This dimension specifically treats about
• Entrance and exit flow tendencies of financial
  resources about food trade and correlates themes
  (import export external investments in the
  sector profits remittances food help
  development assistance)
• And its relationship with the evolution of the
  national production system profile, distribution
  and food trade (movement property concentration
  main actors land occupation production profile
  employment etc.)

20
In this context it should be captured

• Dumping impact, food help, protection (tariffs
  and quotas) and introduction of new technologies
  (MGOs) on
• Alimentary system of different sectors property
  profile (land, inputs transformation
  distribution, etc). Participation of
  transnational interests .
• Sector occupation and income for different groups
  (small agriculture, agribusiness, etc)
• Concentration, unemployment, underemployment,
  landless, etc .
• Urban rural migration

21
International trade and the state obligations of
respecting, protecting, facilitating and
providing HR legal framework

• This dimension is specifically about the trade
  liberalization impact in the structural
  adjustment context, in the State capacity to
  accomplish their international commitments of
  respecting, protecting, facilitating and
  providing HR to its population in front of the
  possible negative impacts and of promoting the
  equal distribution of the eventual benefits of
  the same ones.

22
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• Did the national state firm and ratified the HR
  international Pacts ?
• What is the incorporation level of the same ones
  in the public policies ?
• Is there an agreement with IMF and World Bank?
• Which is the relationship among the agreement
  goals execution monitoring with IMF/WB and the HR
  international treaties ?
• Existence of participation mechanisms,
  governance, FNS and HR policies monitoring.

23
International trade liberalization and the public
expenses profile

• This dimension should capture the public expenses
  share evolution among public debt payment
  (intern and extern) social investments basic
  public services investments infrastructure
  investments investments in agriculture for
  export support to small agriculture budget
  cuts.

24
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• The Washington Consensus demands impact on the
  evolution of the public expenses profile and its
  repercussion in
• Support to small/paysant agriculture
• Land property concentration
• Small and medium size rural and urban company
  linked to food production
• The urban and rural occupation level
• Rural-urban migration
• Income of different occupational groups

25
International trade liberalization, privatization
and denationalization of the agricultural and
food sector

• This dimension specifically treats about the
  relationships between the structural adjustment
  and the liberalization of the international trade
  over the property concentration in different
  sections related to the production, distribution
  and commercialization of foods, with the
  exclusion of the urban and rural national
  sections without capacity nor support to compete
  in equal conditions with international companies,
  generating more inequality, unemployment and
  poverty .

26
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• Different food products dumping impact over the
  producers whose similar production is affected
  (examples of productive chains)
• Introduction impact of transgenic products and
  its repercussion on the social and economical
  sustainability (seeds)
• Impacto da oligopolização das cadeias de comércio
  varejista sobre a capacidade de comercialização
  do pequeno produtor
• Tendency in the concentration control on
  different sectors seeds, inputs, maquinário,
  credit, retail (varejo), etc

27
International trade liberalization, access to
productive resources and environmental impact

• Esta dimensão trata das conseqüências da expansão
  de terras em monocultura para exportação, com a
  utilização de tecnologias capital intensivas,
  incluindo novas tecnologias como alimentos
  transgênicos, sobre a expulsão de famílias da
  área rural, contaminação do solo e das águas,
  agravos à saúde dos produtores e trabalhadores
  rurais, com intensificação de conflitos rurais e
  da violência urbana associada a aglomerados
  urbanos com infraestrutura inadequada.

28
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• allocation evolution of the lands designated for
  subsistence production, small agriculture, export
  monoculture, etc .
• Machinery expenses and chemical inputs
  relationship and presence of transnational
  interests with the evolution of
• land property concentration
• agricultural producers exclusion from their
  lands migration
• social, economic, and environmental
  sustainability of the small/paysant agriculture
• deforestation nascentes destruction, burning,
  etc

29
International trade liberalization,
aprofundamento das inequalities and life
conditions worsening

• This dimension is about the relationships among
  the international trade liberalization, in the
  structural adjustment promotion context, and the
  aggravation of the inequalities between
  different groups of social actors in each country
  and their repercussions over the life quality of
  the rural and urban populations affected in a
  negative way by the process, without the State
  capacity (and sovereignty) to protect its
  population by the public resources allocation

30
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• The trade liberalization impact through the
  land, homing, income and job loss, over life
  conditions
• Migration, poverty, exclusion .
• The liberalization/adjustments impact over the
  government capacity to invest in
• Homing, water, sanitation, highways, etc
• Quality public services for all (health,
  education, etc.)

31
international trade liberalization,
aprofundamento of the inequalities and the care
dimension

• This dimension specifically treats about the
  relationships among the loss of the land access,
  to productive occupations and income, due to the
  life conditions destruction by the disloyal
  commercial competition and its impact over the
  families capacity to take care of their
  relatives, especially children, seniors and sick,
  with the women's consequent overload .

32
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• The family units desestruturação consequences by
  the migration and poverty, associated to the life
  conditions worsening over the capacity to take
  care of the family feeding, health and nutrition
  
• Young child work, children out of school lack of
  conditions to prepare and conserve the food
  (stoven, refrigerator, etc)
• The structural adjustment consequences over the
  state capacity to provide services to support
  these families (mother education level, creches,
  adults education, water, sanitation, prenatal,
  breast feeding etc)

33
International trade liberalization and the impact
over the availability and continuous access
quality food

• This dimension treats about the international
  trade liberalization repercussions, in the
  structural adjustment context, over the people
  food quality, taking into account the alterations
  in the access (earth property, job and income),
  in the diversity of available foods, and in the
  nutritional, fitosanitária and cultural quality,
  of the same ones, and in the publicity, due to
  the effects of the production manners changes,
  import and same monopoly in the food sector.

34
Neste contexto deve-se buscar captar

• The tendencies of food expenses modification by
  group of income
• The alimentary consumption profile variation,
  with special attention to the traditional foods
  and the incorporation of new ones, more or less
  healthy
• The introduction of new alimentary practices
  linked to imported products and/or marketed for
  transnational, with smaller quality than the
  traditional feeding
• The evolution of the maternal breast feeding .

35
International trade liberalization and the impact
on the nutritional and sanitary state

• This dimension has the central objective of
  expressing all of the previous dimensions impact
  over the individuals life, nutritional and
  sanitary quality, especially those more
  vulnerable with different inserts in the social
  structure, with special attention to those more
  affected by the international trade
  liberalization process and by the state non
  adoption of the necessary measures of support

36
In this context it should be captured

• The impact of other dimensions on the children
  and adults nutritional state, and its
  repercussions on the health, and human
  development .
• Malnutrition, anemia, hunger hides, etc. .
• In the area of the health it is fundamental to
  discover the morbidity and mortality for several
  diseases, worsened by the bad-nutrition, such as
• Diseases infect contagious (SIDA, malaria,
  tuberculosis, diarrhea, etc.)
• Chronic diseases associated to the obesity
• Maternal mortality
• Infant mortality

37
Identification of indicators

• They should cover the FNS dimensions Food
• Adequated food
• Maintainable supply
• Stable access
• Care
• Familiar
• Public support
• Health
• Life conditions
• Health attention

38
Identification of indicators

• They should be
• Disaggregated by groups social and biologically
  vulnerable
• Capable to capture changes
• Easy construction
• Easy to use
• Relevant for action and mobilization
• Specifics
• Usable in different situations and cultures .

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Panelist

• Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente
• National Rapporteur on the Human Rights to
  Adequate Food, Water, and Rural Land.
• Brazilian ESCHR Platform UNVP
• Brazilian Action for Nutrition and Human Rights
• 55 61 3407032 55 61 2728294
• E-mail flavio.valente_at_abrandh.org.br