IFAP Farmers at World Bank ESSD Week, Washington D.C., 1-5 March 2004

The rural poor need more than trade liberalization

Paris, 9 March 2004 – Following discussions last week at World Bank ESSD Week on Environment and Socially Sustainable Development, the President of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP), Jack Wilkinson, stated “It is absolutely clear to me that trade liberalization in itself will do little to improve the income of the 1 billion of the world’s poorest people, most of whom are farmers”.

Markets are important for farmers, and for some time IFAP has insisted that export subsidies be phased out, and real market access be improved for price recovery in some commodities. However, it is obvious to IFAP that many agricultural economies need much more. “If you have no road to market, if you have no fertilizer to supply plant nutrients, if you have no water to irrigate, no processing plant and no organisation to help market, you in fact have no market” said Wilkinson. “Thus investment in rural infrastructure is critical, and a serious investment in the capacity of farmers’ organisations is critical if we are ever to see improvement, change and a hope for the future”.

All of the world’s farmers have a contribution to make to address food security and development needs, and now is not the time to pit farmer against farmer”, Wilkinson insisted. “We all need to work together to develop meaningful pre-growth strategies.”

An IFAP farmers’ delegation, led by the IFAP President, attended the annual World Bank event on Environment and Socially Sustainable Development. This ESSD week gathers together all the agriculture and rural development specialists of the WB to discuss rural development priorities and reaching the rural poor. The World Bank is increasingly involved in policy advocacy in favour of trade liberalization.