Farmers’ Regional Trade Agenda: Farmers’ Collective Voice on Trade in the ASEAN Region
AFA Issue Paper, Volume 2 Number 3, October 2009
DOWNLOAD: Farmers’ Regional Trade Agenda: Farmers’ Collective Voice on Trade in the ASEAN Region
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying hard to go into free trade agreements (FTAs) with different countries. It believes that this will increase trade and help members sell their export products to more markets in other countries. It also wants to make ASEAN the world’s center of agricultural production. But in opening up markets and increasing trade, more imported goods from other countries can also come in.
These FTAs were supposed to be good for farmers, but actually, farmers have not been benefitting from these opportunities. From the experience of some countries, farmers benefit from FTAs only if they can compete in the international market and if they own land
and other resources for production so that they can have the power to decide on what to plant on the land and how to use the
resources.
Policies like FTAs have big impacts on farmers and agriculture, so it is important that farmers are able to voice their concerns and suggest ways to protect their sector and make sure that agriculture is developing.
This issue paper presents a regional trade agenda agreed on by several farmers’ organizations from the ASEAN region. This trade agenda includes recommendations that will help make small farmers more competitive. It also suggests ways of ensuring that farmers and the agricultural sector are protected from the harmful effects of opening up markets to international trade.
DOWNLOAD: Farmers’ Regional Trade Agenda: Farmers’ Collective Voice on Trade in the ASEAN Region
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