East Asia Rice Working Group




							Feature Articles Campaign Statements

Harvest

The East Asia Rice Working Group
( EARWG ) is a loose network of farmer organizations and non-government organizations from developing countries in the region who are diversely involved in community-based interventions and national and regional policy advocacy on development concerns related to RICE.

In October 2002, the EARWG formally banded together and agreed to work on research and advocacy on rice issues, capacity building among small farmers and network members, act as resource and information center, and provide platform for engaging discussion on issues that affect small rice farmers.

Since then, the EARWG has focused its attention on three (3) key issues that currently face the rice sector, namely: trade, food security and intellectual property rights. These 3 areas served as the core issues of the research studies undertaken by some members of the EARWG in 2002, which were presented during the network’s meeting in Thailand and later served as the guiding framework for the plans and activities of the network.

Sometime in July 2003, the EARWG reached a consensus to focus the campaign on Rice Seeds Trade since it essentially captures the common interests of the network partners. The EARWG recognized the imperative of understanding the dynamics of rice trade in order to prevent farmers from different countries in the region being pitted against each other and appreciate more who really benefits from the current trends in rice trade.

New Publication

OVERSEAS
FARMLAND INVESTMENTS IN SELECTED ASIAN COUNTRIES

Raul Montemayor

Foreign investments in agriculture have been taking place in the Southeast Asian region since the colonial period. In the past few years however, there has been a distinct rise in both the number and magnitude of such investments in the region and the world as a whole. While such investments have generally been warmly received and encouraged by host governments, the scale and pace by which they have been pursued and the fact that they involve the ceding of control over large tracts of land to foreigners have raised serious concerns over their longer-term impact. Some have even pejoratively labeled the development as a veritable "land grab" by rich countries and foreign investors.

A major driver of the current overseas farmland investment phenomenon is the aggressive push of governments to secure their longer-term food security in reaction to the food crisis of 2008. This is particularly true for countries with limited production capabilities and related agro-climatic constraints. Additionally, foreign governments look at such investments as a strategy for energy security through biofuel and feedstock production and a means for pursuing their geo-political activities. Foreign ventures are also increasingly seen as a way to reduce reliance on immigrant labor, ensure food quality and safety of imported products, and secure carbon credits that can be used to comply with greenhouse gas emission commitments.

Most of the investments are carried out by private firms, sometimes with indirect support from their governments. These private entities are generally profit-seeking enterprises which see business opportunities arising from rising population and food demand, the liberalization of trade in the region, and the looming scarcity of land, water and other natural resources. Investments in food production overseas have also become more popular as a hedge against inflation and a strategy for portfolio diversification, particularly following the recent collapse of securities markets.

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