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Vandana Shiva on Farmer Suicides, the US-India Nuclear Deal and Wal-Mart
Vandana Shiva, world renowned evironmental leader, describes the dire situation (a result of capitalistic globalisation) facing the Indian farmers, which is causing them to commit suicides out of desparation. Also featured on KPBS as a stalwart spreading awareness of these issues amongst the farmers.To top all that, she warns of the threat posed by the planned opening of 500 Wal-marts in the next few years in India.
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Comments
I will try to put a different perspective here. First of all, this is not specific to Wal-mart but applicable to any large retail enterprise, including the ones planned by Bharti (which is actually a 50% partner of Walmart in India) and Reliance. So the question is whether to allow large scale retails at all? And we face the age-old tradeoff, more employment v/s efficiency. This is the same dilemma faced as in the case of Varanasi weavers facing competition from industrialized handlooms, or even in case of kullad v/s plastic cups. The govt can enforce rules to shift equilibrium in favor of employment, but it cannot last long if its not economical or convenient. If city-dwellers find it convenient to buy their groceries from one mega store than 20 different small shops, and it is economically efficient, it will inevitably happen. The role of the government should perhaps be to facilitate a smooth transition, and providing the existing farmers/weavers/kullad-makers sufficient information and resources to either fit into the new framework or find alternative jobs.
One thing we can do is to raise awareness about the problems that new changes will bring, so that people consciously prefer to buy the old style shops/sarees/kullads. Some people, if not all, may continue to spend a bit more of their time or money and avoid the big retail store, to support the cause of the farmers. This article is a good step in this direction.
Unchecked globalization, can lead to disastrous results in developing countries. Many developing countries are opposed to many of the WTO sanctions. These are not co-incidentally in agricultural goods and textiles. Both agriculture and handlooms form the biggest employers of India (and many other developing countries). One must remember the impact unchecked globalization can have on India and similar developing nations.
I notice that there are two results of globalization in any developing country. One tends to boost the lifestyle of urban middle to high income group Indians, giving options and convenience, many times at a lower cost. There are a lot of job opportunities for sure in urban India as a result as well.
But on the other hand, it has also led to extremely negative effects in the rural and lower-income gropus, be it the farmers, silk weavers etc. Imagine the worst case situation of the perils of globaliztion in India. Walmart opens a store in India and sells Chinese cloth, towels, and other manufactured items. And sells soy oil and palm oil dumped by Monsanto. Vandana says - 70 % of edible oil used in India is dumped on us is soy and palm oil by the likes of Monsanto causing obvious problems for mustard farmers in Rajasthan.
Can we afford suicides amongst farmers and weavers - two of the biggest employers of India?
Whereas the economical "industrialized" products will dominate, a market for "organic"/"handmade","traditiona" can also flourish. It may be smaller than the cheaper products market, but a unique brand which represents "ORGANIC/HANDMADE/TRADITIONAL" should be taken up as a major buisness opportunity by corporates. If the walmarts can join in, so can the Whole Foods and the Henry's. Or better still, maybe a truly Indian brand by the Tatas.
"Whereas the economical "industrialized" products will dominate, a market for "organic"/"handmade","traditional" can also flourish.".. Rahul, I fully agree. These are the kinds of solutions that I think are needed to bridge the cause of farmers with the existing markets.
In private sector, I can think of Dabur doing some work in this direction, but we certainly need more and bigger enterprises.
Also, how can we forget Amul and Mother Dairy!
Recently read book by Kishor Biyani (pantaloon, big bazzar, central fame), called "It happened in india". He emphasized the fact that, in India retail space is big enough for everybody to operate, both large & small retailers, and that he will need to strike win-win partnerships in order to be successful. e.g. Big Bazzar also acts as wholesale distributors to small business owners, which act as capillaries of retail distribution tree. This increases efficiency, access, quality. Just like human blood circulation system, both big veins are needed, as well as small capillaries. If big companies decide to play win-lose game, they can easily wipe out small scale/ traditional sector. Finally sustainability of any enterprise is decided by consumer choice. and consumers are often in conflict about shortterm/ longterm value. People buy at whole foods, despite its being expensive, because they understand long term value it represents. (healthy, local agriculture, environmental sustainability). I think, in building consumer awareness / government intervention strategies to ensure fair markets, NGOs can play very useful part. But banning Walmart indefinitely to enter retail is foolish, as in long term, agricultural productivity has to rise, farms should get consolidated, and urbanization should happen, retail sector will expand.
Film on Vandana Shiva:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/docuwallahs2/message/7076
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