Ríkisstyrktur vestrænn landbúnaður, böl þróunarríkjanna

Hér er að finna fína grein af hinu ágæta vefriti 3 Quarks Daily, þar sem Robin Varghese fjallar um þau alvarlegu áhrif, sem ríkisstyrkir í vestrænum landbúnaði hafa á kjör bænda í þriðja heiminum.

The link between farm subsidies in the West and poverty in the Third World is fairly straightforward, even if many don’t quite see the linkage. It’s no secret that farms subsidies in the West are enormous. Excluding subsidies in the form of research and development, food inspection and welfare support for poor citizens (mostly, the food stamp program in the US), subsidies in the OECD averaged 30% of farm receipts, meaning 30 cents of each dollar of revenue from farming in the West comes from state transfers, on average. Nearly, US$290 billion was spent by OECD member in direct support to farmers.

The funny-disturbing figure in these discussions is $2.50 a day in subsidies per cow in Europe; compare that with this one--nearly three in four people on the African continent live on less than $2 a day. And the connection is more than coincidental.