Un nouveau regroupement d’association d’agriculteurs au Québec : la CLAAQ
Après la publication du petit livre noir du monopole syndical détenu par l'UPA, plusieurs associations d’agriculteurs se sont regroupées afin de rétablir la démocratie en faveur des agriculteurs. Ils ont fondé la CLAAQ. À l'heure actuelle, seul l’UPA peut voir la liste des agriculteurs, un fait impensable dans une société démocratique. Le livre fût envoyé à l’ensemble des 125 députés et qui est aussi accessible via Internet. Le nouveau site à deux objectifs : rejoindre les producteurs agricoles et leur permettre de se regrouper et faciliter les dons de la part des agriculteurs et des citoyens qui souhaitent le faire.
Les membres fondateurs de la CLAAQ sont des associations indépendantes d’agriculteurs et d’agricultrices qui couvrent tous les secteurs agricoles allant des petites fermes aux plus grandes exploitations agricoles :
- Association des Jardiniers Maraîchers : Fondée en 1945, elle regroupe plus de 300 producteurs maraîchers qui représentent 80% de la production maraîchère québécoise.
- Association des Érablières Transformateurs des Produits de l'Érable : Regroupe plus de 300 érablières qui transforment et mettent en marché leurs produits de l'érable.
- Avenue Bio de l’Est : Fondé en 1999, le regroupement des producteurs et productrices horticoles biologiques du Bas-Saint-Laurent rassemble environ 15 fermes.
- Les Céréaliers du Québec : Créé en 2004, il regroupe plus de 200 membres qui produisent des céréales ou des oléagineux.
- Union paysanne : Fondée en 2001, elle regroupe actuellement plus de 300 agriculteurs dans l’ensemble des productions.
Deux articles gratuits du Journal of Peasant Studies
À celles et ceux qui s'intéressent aux questions paysannes, mais qui ont un accès limité aux périodiques scientifiques. Deux articles sont disponibles gratuitement pour une période limitée... Attention, c'est en anglais. Voici les résumés avec les liens.
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY', Guest Edited by Raj Patel
Grassroots Voices Section, Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 36, no. 3
Food sovereignty is the sort of thing one knows when one sees. This is a little unsatisfactory. The Grassroots Voices Section of the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS), Vol. 36, No. 3 guest edited by Raj Patel marks an attempt to put a little more flesh on the concept's bones, beyond the widely agreed notion that food sovereignty isn't what we have at the moment. Patel offers an analytical discussion on the etymology of the term 'food sovereignty'. The Section then reproduces the Nye´ le´ni Declaration on Food Sovereignty, which is followed by Hannah Wittman's interview with Paul Nicholson, one of the leading thinkers in Via Campesina. In this dialogue, Nicholson explains the philosophy of food sovereignty, strongly emphasising its democratic, procedural character. Food sovereignty is not something that can be forged by one person alone, nor, as Nicholson notes, can it be brought about exclusively by peasants, particularly in contexts where peasants form the political and social minority. This is explored further by Christina Schiavoni's account both of the Nye´ le´ni Forum and the applications of food sovereignty not in rural Africa, but in urban New York City. Asking activists and workers in a range of community gardens about food sovereignty, she points to the rich potential that food sovereignty has for urban contexts in the Global North. Marcia Ishii-Eiteman adds further nuance and scope to food sovereignty by showing how a group of natural and social scientists who were tasked with tackling the future of global agriculture arrived at conclusions strikingly similar to those articulated by the peasants at the Nye´ le´ni Forum. In recognising the ecological costs of industrial farming and the need for locally flexible policy in order to tackle future food crises, the International Agricultural Assessment of Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development offers a rich and valuable complement to the political foundations of food sovereignty built by peasant groups. Finally, Rodgers Msachi, Laifolo Dakishoni, and Rachel Bezner Kerr present a concrete case study of moves toward food sovereignty in Malawi. The report of their experiences in developing the Soils, Food, and Healthy Communities project in northern Malawi shows the extent to which food sovereignty is simultaneously about farming technology, democratic policymaking, public health, the environment, and gender, but also how the process of increasing food sovereignty is integral to its achievement. Together, these papers offer practical wisdom and analysis from activists in North America, Europe, and Africa, reminding us of the past contributions to justice and food sovereignty, as well as of the contributions that are yet to come, from the world's most organic intellectuals.
The full Grassroots Voices on Food Sovereignty, Journal of Peasant
Studies, 36(3) can be downloaded for FREE: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g916400439
Rethinking Public Policy in Agriculture: Lessons from History, Distant
and Recent by Ha-Joon Chang
This article reviews the histories of agricultural policy in 11 of today's developed countries between the late-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth century and in 10 developing and transition economies since the mid-twentieth century. After discussing the theoretical limitations of the prevailing orthodoxy, the article discusses the history of a wide range of agricultural policies concerning issues like land, knowledge (e.g., research, extension), credit, physical inputs (e.g., irrigation, transport, fertilizers, seeds), farm income stability (e.g., price stabilisation measures, insurances, trade protection), marketing, and processing. The article ends by discussing the policy lessons that may be learned from these historical experiences.
The full article can be downloaded for FREE for a limited period of time:
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=g916400439