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- Yes to district support, no to industrial agriculture

The Common Council for Africa's proposal on how Norway can help solve the global food crisis splits the Small Farmers' Union and the Bondelaget.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

Today, 16. May, the Norwegian agricultural settlement will come to port we believe the stall tips.

- To help solve the global food crisis, the result must be sharp cuts in production subsidies, while district support can be increased, says Magnus Bjørnsen, political deputy head of the Joint Council for Africa, to Ny Tid.

When the government presented its offer to the farmers last week, several commentators characterized the offer as historically good. Center Party leader Åslaug Haga claimed that the negotiations had almost resulted in a government crisis. On the other hand, there was far less focus on the connection between the Norwegian agricultural settlement and the global food crisis. This must be seen in context, through the global rules of the world trade, believes the Joint Council.

- But is it not a paradox to cut production support for Norwegian agriculture now that there is a shortage of food in the world?

- One must ask what has caused the lack of production capacity in the world's poorest countries. An important reason is overproduction in the rich countries – with consequent dumping on the world market and destruction of production in the poor countries, says Bjørnsen. He believes that as long as there are no global mechanisms in place to prevent dumping, an increase in rich countries' support could make the situation worse, rather than better.

- But Norway does not export much agricultural products?

- It is important to remember that Norway supports its agricultural sector in the same way as the EU and the US – mainly through subsidies that provide incentives for as high production as possible. This way of supporting one's own agriculture is part of the problem and must be abolished throughout the West, including Norway. It is perfectly fine to spend money on taking care of scattered settlements, biological diversity or cultural landscapes. And for our part, the transfers to agriculture can easily increase – it is not the volume that matters, but how the funds are used, says Bjørnsen.

Both Ruth Haug, professor at the University of Environmental and Life Sciences at Ås, and Mekonnen Germiso, research leader in The Future in Our Hands, agree that Norway should prioritize district support rather than go further in the direction of industrial agriculture. The subsidies must also be demanded back in the event of exports from Norway – so that cultural landscape subsidies do not end up as hidden export support, says Germiso.

The proposal shows how the two agricultural organizations Farmers' Union and the Farmers' and Small Farmers' Association have different priorities.

- No, we do not support such a change. There is a big difference between large exporters and small countries such as Norway. In addition, there are very high production costs in Norwegian agriculture. If we switch to more district support and less production support, I do not think it will be so interesting for the farmer to produce, and I also do not think most people will support such an agricultural policy, says Eli Reistad, 1st Deputy Chairman of the Norwegian Farmers' Association.

- Yes, we support the proposal for increased support for district settlement and cultural landscapes and reduced production support, says Ole-Anton Teigen, leader of the Norwegian Farmers 'and Smallholders' Association. He believes that settlement and the cultural landscape are two of the most important reasons for having agricultural support.

The Mekonnen Germiso also sees other reasons why Norway should not continue in the direction of industrial agriculture.

– Norwegian agriculture today is both capital-intensive and high-tech – with a lot of machines, pesticides, fertilizers and advanced barns. In a real crisis, it is not certain that our high-tech and meat-heavy agriculture will be so robust, says Germiso.

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