Devastating develping countries

Hunger is a global emergency: as many as two billion people live in poverty and approximately one billion live in ‘utter poverty’ with daily hunger and deprivation. Around 50 per cent of the world’s poor and hungry are actually farmers.

However, in its aim to ‘make poverty history’ the international development community, which has traditionally promoted intensive farming as a way of relieving poverty, has shown little awareness of the true impact that it has on the lives of many of the world’s poor.

Around 75 per cent of the world's poor live in rural areas. Tackling poverty means addressing the problems that these poor rural populations face. The majority of these people are farmers, or depend on agriculture-related activities for their incomes, yet they do not produce or earn enough to meet their basic needs.

However, intensive farming is increasing at an alarming rate in developing countries. Low production costs are attracting investors, particularly from North America and Europe. These low costs result not only from cheaper labour but also from lower ‘compliance costs’: animal welfare and environmental standards are low or non-existent. World Trade Organisation rules prevent governments from initiating measures to protect small, independent farmers.

Regular ‘intensive livestock’ fairs are held with the aim of promoting intensive farming systems in developing countries where these companies, sometimes supported by the governments of the exporting countries, ply their trade in intensive farming systems and products.

But intensive farming has a devastating effect on small-scale farmers and rural communities.

Why does intensive farming have such a devastating effect on developing countries?
• Intensive farming puts small farmers out of business
• Intensive farming destroys rural structures and communities. For more information see ‘Rural to Urban Migration’
• Intensive farming makes food supplies insecure (often import and technology dependent, and concentrated in the hands of a small number of major commercial interests)
• Intensive farming imposes significant environmental and health costs, which are borne by the countries involved, rather than the corporations profiting from the goods. For more information see 'The hidden costs of intensive farming'
• Intensive farming doesn’t make poverty history. For more information see 'Inefficient food systems'.

" It’s ironic," said Kirsten Schwind, author of the 2005 report from Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy. "You would think cheap imported food would help alleviate hunger. But often it doesn’t. It devastates the livelihoods of local farmers, who then face the choice of migrating to cities to work in sweatshops." This migration actually drives down wages in urban areas and adds to the number of poor people in cities who cannot afford even cheap food.