Plowed Under: WTO and the Small Farmer

By Anuradha Mittal

May 26 2002 (IPS) - The Agreement on Agriculture signed under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks has not produced the predicted results, but rather is the first step in making food production into a business monopolized by a few and driving small farmers off the land.

The WTO was established with a commitment to raise standards of living and ensure full employment by expanding trade, while upholding the objective of sustainable development. The reality has been almost the opposite, writes Anuradha Mittal, co-director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First).

In this article for IPS, Mittal writes that the 1996 Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), made under the WTO's predecessor, has become the first step in making food production into a business monopolized by a few.