Zizek moment

I'm reading (with difficulty) Slavoj Zizek's latest book: In Defense of Lost Causes for which I did not thank enough akhuy fil mahjar. From the introduction:

"... after one fails, one can go on and fail better, while indifference drowns us deeper and deeper into the morass of imbecilic Being."

Which I dedicate to all those who have abdicated the Cause.

Shaken

I saw a movie today about how corporations used corporate mercenaries to overthrow the regime in Haiti because the Haitian president decreed an increase in the minimum wages from 30 cents to $1 a day, which increased the company's production costs. It also features a conspiracy by a mysterious organization of very rich people to control the water resources of Bolivia by helping a bloody dictator stage a coup with the CIA's blessings (in exchange for US control over oil). The film also exposes the image of the millionaire businessman philanthropist environmentalist who in reality is only trying to increase his and his organization's wealth through controlling vast expanses of land as "nature reserves".

And there was not a single Arab or Muslim bad guy, and one of the bad guys was ex-Mossad.

I got out of the movie shaken, but not stirred.

Financial crisis worsens food crisis

"The problem is playing out across the globe: food prices rose by 24 percent in 2007, pushing 75 million more people into chronic hunger, estimates the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). In 2008, food prices surged again by 51 percent, meaning that millions more are likely to join the 923 million people already suffering from malnutrition. World food prices have come down by a modest 6 percent since September, the FAO estimates, but that can't reverse the damage already wreaking its way across the globe.
...

The financial crisis is now adding its own plague of threats.

Here in Cambodia, rice millers tend to borrow money from banks to pay farmers and to mill their rice. As banks seize up credit due to global recession fears, some mills are having trouble paying farmers, explains Mr. Koma.

Farmers in turn, after borrowing heavily for fertilizer, are operating at a loss.

For farmers elsewhere in the world, the financial crisis is creating a similarly sobering equation: it costs more money for them to grow, but they receive a lower price for their products at market – making growing food a risky venture." (Thanks D.)

Thou shalt not steal

Marcy always sends me fabulous links. What would I do without Marcy????

Tough choice

"On Aug. 11 - Independence Day - the government was so happy to show off its war vehicles," said Mekombe, speaking at a conference on the EIB's activities held in the Belgian Senate Dec. 2. "This is not what the population expected from the exploitation of oil. They wanted the revenue to be invested in development projects and to help the Chadian population get out of extreme poverty." (Thanks Rania)

Letter to Obama

“From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for: recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.” (Thanks D.)

Buy Zaytoun

I have taken this from the Big campaign site. Click on Holyland to link.

HOLYLAND

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Consumer boycott

As the annual season of goodwill approaches, many thoughtful people will look to Good Gifts from the Charities Advisory Trust (CAT) as a source of ethical gifts for family and friends.

As we did this time last year, we are obliged to point out that one of the products promoted by CAT sits oddly among the many items it sells on behalf of disadvantaged people around the world. We refer to Peace Oil – an Israeli product marketed with the claim that it helps peace and reconciliation in the Middle East. The conflict in Israel/Palestine has a particular resonance for most caring people at Christmas time, and the desire to contribute to a peaceful solution is extremely powerful. However, the conflict will only be resolved by Israel ending its occupation and settlement of Palestinian land, and ending the economic strangulation of Palestinians which results from its occupation policies.

Unfortunately, Peace Oil will not advance either goal. The three types of Peace Oil come from an Israeli Jewish-owned farm, whose olives are pressed by a Druze Sheikh, and whose workforce is Palestinian and Bedouin. The cooking blend contains 50% Palestinian content from the West Bank. While we welcome the employment of Palestinian and Bedouin citizens of Israel, and the inclusion of some Palestinian oil, Peace Oil is hardly the collaboration of equals that those who purchase the oil might assume it to be.

We urge you to consider purchasing Zaytoun olive oil, which is 100% produced by an independent cooperative of Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank. With no funds for marketing, these farmers have worked over the last few years, against the odds, to build up a customer base in Britain. They have to confront major obstacles created by the Israeli occupation and closure policies. They have slowly been making inroads into UKhealth food shops, charity outlets and the occasional supermarket. They depend mainly on groups of committed human rights activists, of all faiths and of none, personally canvassing potential outlets and selling bottles of oil to individual supporters. The list of suppliers can be found on their website (www.zaytoun.org).

Signed, Executive, Jews for Justice for Palestinians Linda Mead, Commitment for Life Stewart Hemsley, Pax Christi Garth Hewitt, Amos Trust Alun Morinan, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) Christian Network Ibrahim Hewitt, Interpal

For further information see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/20/israelandthepalestinians.ethicalshopping www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/dec/07/israel www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/docs/middle-east-quartet-progress-report

Badael/Alternatives

Been at the Food Sovereignty-Free Trade conference all day. Too tired to blog, but not too tired to link to today's Badael in Al Akhbar. My editorial: Farmers to remain neglected until they learn belly dancing. Rana Hayek on why coops, and why not! And Muhammad Muhsin tries to answer my question: why is Lebanese freekeh so much more expensive than freekeh imported from Syria?

Business as usual

Social responsibility and social businesses ought to be really attractive options in poverty alleviation: bending capitalism and using it to right its own wrongs. I have used this approach when I created the Healthy Basket organic business, and I have published about this when the concept was still in its early stages. However, and for reasons I could not understand, I always cringe when the same concept is expressed by other players, especially by large corporations wanting to do good. Like last week, I was at this “Agribusiness Solutions” conference in Cairo, and I couldn't help feeling uncomfortable most of the time, especially when I was hearing representatives of large agribusinesses using the lingo of social development.

Part of the conference was held in the Sekem Farm. The whole Sekem operation is really…unexpected. This is a large scale (2000 employees) biodynamic farm with many other sidelines like consultancies and eco-products. It has everything to comply with social responsibility and it looks really impressive (look here for the Global Compact report here). The founder-owner of this mega organic company according to the Sekem site won the alternative Nobel prize in 2003 (what’s this? Do they give it on alternate years?). It looks like Sekem only produces export organic goods.

There were hundreds of participants from Peru to Sri Lanka, and many came from NGOs. But the big corporations were very much present. The purpose was to exchange knowledge and experiences and solutions to the eternal problem of linking farmers to markets. Everybody was very earnest, in an Obamesque way, and all the keynote speeches used “Yes We Can” at least once.

It was the widespread endorsement of Obama that opened my eyes: the mainstream corporate actors have internalized what was once considered a leftist discourse, and are using it to gain access and establish better hold on the system. The development rhetoric, inspired from countless UN publications, was impeccable: we heard about livelihoods, partnerships and integration. We also heard a lot about innovations and opportunities. But I heard mostly about exports-exports-exports.

It sounded as if development and livelihood amelioration were only contingent on providing the global north with year-round, clean, standardized specialty food from the global south. For example, the opening speech by the deputy head of UNIDO marveled at the infinite possibilities offered by globalization, such as being able to eat watermelon in Vienna in November. We also had the opportunity to be exposed to aberrations such as a project for improving the grapes export from India to Europe, which was hailed as a success. The person who was presenting proudly told the audience how all the products which pass the quality tests are exported, while the rest goes to the local market. Everybody applauded.

Standards and traceability, it appears, are only important if they are applied to export goods. The underlying creed was: the Market wants this, so We shall provide. And We shall also talk about global warming while promoting the shipment of refrigerated goods by air transfer across the globe, so that the Viennese can eat watermelon in the winter.

One of the main items of the agenda was the improvement of the value chain. I’m fully convinced of the need for a systematic analysis to better locate the rate limiting steps. But the “value chain” approach is too restrictive and restricted: it starts with farm operations and ends at the table. In reality, it should start with rural livelihoods (very broadly defined, see here) and end with nutrition and well being. The main interest appeared to be “how to better commodify food”. But food is much more: its production systems are enriched with culture and tradition and environment and resources. The market cannot deal with that.

Luckily for me, I happened to stumble on this great essay by Slavoj Žižek called "Nobody Has to be Vile", in which he, in his typical Žižek way, pokes fun and exposes the "liberal communists". It also helped me comprehend better my apparent contradictions. Here are some of the gems of the article:

"Where did the bright stars of Porto Alegre go?

Some of them, at least, moved to Davos. The tone of the Davos meetings is now predominantly set by the group of entrepreneurs who ironically refer to themselves as ‘liberal communists’ and who no longer accept the opposition between Davos and Porto Alegre: their claim is that we can have the global capitalist cake (thrive as entrepreneurs) and eat it (endorse the anti-capitalist causes of social responsibility, ecological concern etc). There is no need for Porto Alegre: instead, Davos can become Porto Davos.

...

There is a chocolate-flavoured laxative available on the shelves of US stores which is publicised with the paradoxical injunction: Do you have constipation? Eat more of this chocolate! – i.e. eat more of something that itself causes constipation. The structure of the chocolate laxative can be discerned throughout today’s ideological landscape..."

Read the rest here, it is really worth it.

Land use and climate change

"The Commission's purpose is to bring international attention to the two main problems caused by changes in land use: loss of biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems.

In their first-ever deliberations, the members of the Commission studied the state of ecosystems and the causes of their degradation.

Mexico, for example, loses some 500,000 hectares of forest annually, and Nicaragua loses about 75,000 hectares. "

Indigenous people

""Indigenous peoples have for centuries adapted to changing environments and would be able to contribute substantially to adaptation strategies the U.N. is trying to include in a new climate change treaty," said Mark Lattimer of the London-based Minority Rights Group International (MRG).

Ahead of the conference on climate change, which started Monday, MRG researchers released a new study concluding that a new climate change deal would be "seriously compromised" if governments continued to shut out the voices of those most affected by global warming." (Thanks Rania)

Will they have Bedouins in Poznan?

Manifesto

I don't think I have blogged the Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security by The international commission on the future of food and agriculture. It was launched at the last Terra Madre event.

Terra Markets

"Zurayk described how in the aftermath of the Israeli bombing of Lebanon in July 2006, the country received an aid package from Italy, some of which was used to rebuild livelihoods. This provided the impetus for setting up the Earth Markets in collaboration with the Tuscan-based non-government organization UCODEP. These markets are important economic multipliers, business incubators, he said, and importantly they also provide meeting places and a neutral space in a strife-riven country. “Not just good, clean and fair, but good, clean, fair and peace.”" (Thanks Myriam)

About my talk in Terra Madre.

Sacrifice

"Qatar has asked Kenya to lease it 40,000 hectares of land to grow crops as part of a proposed package that would also see the Gulf state fund a new £2.4bn port on the popular tourist island of Lamu off the east African country.
...
But the deal is likely to cause concern in Kenya where fertile land is unequally distributed. Several prominent political families own huge tracts of farmland, while millions of people live in densely packed slums.

The country is also experiencing a food crisis, with the government forced to introduce subsidies and price controls on maize this week after poor production and planning caused the price of the staple "ugali" flour to double in less than a year
....
Pastoralists, who regard the land as communal and rear up to 60,000 cattle to graze in the delta each dry season, are also opposed to the plan.

The Kenyan president, Mwai Kibaki, returned from a visit to Qatar on Monday. His spokesman said the request for land in the Tana river delta, south of Lamu, in north-east Kenya was being seriously considered.

"Nothing comes for free," said Isaiah Kabira. "If you want people to invest in your country then you have to make concessions."" (Thanks Anna)

OK so let me get this straight: The poor are hungry, but they will farm the land so that Qatar can eat. And the pastoralists will sacrifice their land so that the rich can make more money. Great plan.

Turkmene

Lebanon, the country of cultural diversity, where no one cares for minority groups unless they can be used in the sectarian fights. Did you know that there is a small Turkmene population, which has been in Lebanon for a very long time, is tribal and is neglected and marginalized? The Turkmene, who came to Lebanon during the Ottoman rule (ended 1918), are mostly found in `Akkar and in the Bekaa. They are now settled in small villages lacking services, after having been semi-nomadic pastoralists, tending sheep. They are not Bedouins or Roma (many confuse them). They have recently been granted Lebanese citizenship, but it did not come with not respect or recognition or integration or even basic services. In `Akkar, they still teach Turkish in some schools, and I am told they receive visits from the Turkish embassy. Here, a small news item about a visit by the Turkish ambassador to a small Turkmene settlement in the Bekaa. The ambassador apparently promised development aid: a primary school and some basic necessity. If the Lebanese state does not care for the small local ethnic groups of Lebanon, should it be surprised if they take their allegiance elsewhere?

Agro-colonialism

James Petras' article answers my question from a previous post:

"The neo-colonized class structure, especially in largely agricultural economies are evolving into a four tier class system in which the foreign capitalists and their entourage are at the pinnacle of elite status representing less than 1% of the population. In the second tier, representing 10% of the population are the local political elite and their cronies and relatives as well as well placed bureaucrats and military officers, who enrich themselves, through partnerships (‘joint ventures’) with the neo-colonials and via bribes and land grabs. The local middle class represents almost 20% and is in constant danger of falling into poverty in the face of the world economic crises. The dispossessed peasants, rural workers, rural refugees, urban squatters and indebted subsistence peasants and farmers make up the fourth tier of the class structure with close to 70% of the population.

Within the emerging neo-colonial agro-export model, the ‘middle class’ is shrinking and changing in composition. The number of family farmers producing for the domestic market is declining in the face of state-supported foreign-owned farms producing for their own ‘home markets’. As a result market vendors and small retailers in the local markets are falling behind, squeezed out by the large foreign-owned supermarkets. The loss of employment for domestic producers of farm goods and services and the elimination of a host of ‘commercial’ intermediaries between town and country is sharpening the class polarization between top and bottom tiers of the class structure. The new colonial middle class is reconfigured to include a small stratum of lawyers, professionals, publicists and low-level functionaries of the foreign firms and public and private security forces. The auxiliary role of the ‘new middle class’ in servicing the axis of colonial economic and political power will make them less nation-oriented and more colonial in their allegiances and political outlook, more ‘free market’ consumerist in their life style and more prone to approve of repressive (including fascistic) domestic solutions to rural and urban unrest and popular struggles for justice." (Thanks Marcy)

For Christmas

Canaan Fair Trade - a Palestinian producer and supplier of olive oil and other delicacies produced by over 1,700 small farmers in the West Bank - recently hosted a festival marking the end of the harvest season, as well as the grand opening of its recently constructed factory and processing facility nestled on five acres of land in the heart of olive country in the village of Burqin, near Jenin.

Great project: a community seed bank in Nablus. Where is Slow Food when we need it?

Dr. NGO and Mr. Ministry

"Thus civil society associations in authoritarian states may act more as replicators of the existing political order than as promoters of increased democratization. However, this rather logical observation, backed up by Jamal's empirical findings, has far-reaching implications for the efficacy of Western and global democracy initiatives in the Arab world and elsewhere, especially if those initiatives are less informed by critical thought.
...
Indeed, relying on multiple donors and interacting with donor agendas, Palestinian Authority ministries often appear to act as NGOs. In turn, Palestinian NGOs have historically acted in place of the absent state, a practice that has continued to some extent in the interim period, supplying a substantial portion of health services, to cite but one example."

Review of Amaney Jamal's book: Barriers to Democracy: The Other Side of Social Capital in Palestine and the Arab World. (Thanks Daniel)

I have blogged profusely about this issue, but as Daniel said: "more ammunition".

Creativity

"The sand excavated from the hundreds of tunnels snaking beneath the Gaza-Egypt border is being given a second life. The latest construction projects in Gaza are mud and sand stoves powered by firewood." (Thanks Marcy)