In this issue of our bulletin we bring our readers an interview with Mr Gil Ducommun, Professor at the Agricultural College of Zollikofen in Switzerland. The interview was published in AGRI, the weekly professional journal of agriculture of the French-speaking provinces of Switzerland (www.agrihebdo.ch). Professor Ducommun  visited Burkina Faso on several occasions in 2003 and 2004. At the time he was heading research on family farming in Burkina Faso. We reported on this work in abcBurkina n°85: “Family farms – the driving force of development”. (“L’exploitation paysanne familiale –  moteur du développement”, in French only)

G.D.: Yes, I do. If we are to attain food sovereignty, international trade in basic farm products must first be reduced. It is madness to ship millions of tons of grain from one continent to another or to export milk powder to the Sudanese-Sub-Saharan region, which itself has great capacity for cattle rearing. On the other hand, the occurrence of Europe importing bananas, France exporting its wine and Switzerland its Gruyère cheese is not problematic, as long as the environmental impact is accounted for in the calculation of transport costs. Exports of specialised niche products of high added value will not endanger food sovereignty.

Achievement of food sovereignty also requires trade which is fair. “Fair” meaning that the marketed products must have been obtained with due respect to workers and the environment. 

AGRI: What is your view on the repeated failures of the World Trade Organisation (WTO)?

G.D. They happen because the dominant Member States refuse to recognise  the element of fairness in trade and to see to the interests of all. The neo-liberal standpoint holds the high ground in the WTO. It ignores considerations of sustainability and fair trade and gives preference to the economic interests of the big agricultural exporters. The WTO  has no agenda with regard to sustainability and fair trade on its programme, because the dominant Member States refused it.

Fortunately negotiations have not succeded, since the opposition is too strong. Even so, a body such as the WTO is a necessity. The world is becoming aware of the need to include new criteria in trade talks and the WTO could be instrumental in this. For the future one could hope that exporting countries would become liable to a penalty, if their exports have been produced without regard for  environmental and social sustainability

AGRI: Would an international agricultural policy that includes multi-functionality, food sovereignty, social sustainability and fair trade be utopia?

G.D.: The utopia of today is the reality of tomorrow. 70% of the world’s peasants till their soil manually and cultivate less than one hectare per worker, 27% use animal labouring and work 2 – 4 hectares per worker, whilst 3% use machinery and cover from 10 to 200 hectares per worker. In the light of these data, it is easily understood that it would be unwise to introduce competition between these groups. Such all out competition would be unbearable for Swiss farms and would be disastrous on a world wide scale. The price cuts that would occur would trigger off massive rural exodus, unbridled urbanisation and planetary flows of migration.

The Swiss farmers’ union and Switzerland should seek stronger alliances with the many developing countries, where agriculture has interests in common with Swiss farmers. 

AGRI: Could the principle of free competition and the law of the market also apply to agriculture? 

G.D. As regulatory instruments they are not uniformly applicable, neither to agriculture nor to any other sector of the economy. If used only as a regulatory mechanism, they will lead to social and environmental dumping with unacceptable consequences. The agricultural policy of any country, whichever it may be,  must also aim at the conservation of the rural heritage and  production skills and know-how, the maintenance of social structures and recreational areas. Such objectives can only be attained, if there are rules of trade which permit it.

Unilateral pressure on prices to cut production costs, according to a strictly economic rationale, is not a valid objective. As an economic strategy it has its limitations, in the form of other, higher objectives, such as sustainability and quality of life for all. 

abcBurkina: A few weeks ago, we relayed to our readers the plea of the Canadian milk producers for food sovereignty in Canada and in the rest of the world. Today we have this contribution from Switzerland. I feel certain that the farmers of Burkina will identify with this vision of a sustainable agricultural policy. It also is in line with the view of the CPF (The National Farmers’ Union of Burkina Faso). Our thanks to Gil Ducommun for having shared his vision of a sustainable agricultural policy with us.