Break the hold of food cartels

By Saimah Hanif
Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Thailand is among the world's top food producers and exporters _ no question about that. There is no question either that it is no longer traditional family farm units but contract farming systems that play a key role in producing foods for local mass consumption and in making food exports the country's most important foreign exchange earner.

Eggs, chicken, pork, fish, you name it, all these foods in the market are produced under the industrial food production system of contract farming controlled by a few agro industry giants. Their power is also intensified by their domination of food processing and distribution systems under their farm-to-table operations.

Since exports are a key driver of economic growth, governments across the globe support contract farming as an efficient and productive mode of agriculture.

Nonetheless, a group of farmers from various parts of the country met academics and social activists in Bangkok this week to tell consumers why they should raise more questions about what they eat.

Both research and individual farmers' testimonies have shown that the contract farming system is monopolistic. The agro giants control every single farm input and every production step while enjoying total power to determine product quality and whether to buy the products, or not.


The farmers' stories are the same. They enter contract farming because the government praises it, because the bank gives them easy credit, and because they believe they will quickly get rich.

They have said they were not allowed to see or keep the contracts, and they were afraid to push for it for fear of retaliation through supply of sub-standard inputs and refusals to buy their products.


Despite their ordeals, the farmers are unable to leave the system because they must keep on working to pay the interest on the debts they accumulate once they are in the system.

Contract farmers also mentioned intensive use of chemicals, hormones, and animal medicines which should make consumers worry about food safety. When toxic waste is released into natural waterways, as in the case of fish and pig farms, the agro giants do not have to take any responsibility for polluting the environment.

Land-clearing for corn plantations under contract farming was a major cause of the big haze in the North this year.

Since industrial mass production of food is here to stay, contract farmers must organise themselves to secure their bargaining power. The government must break contract farming's unfair business practices and the food cartels' monopoly. If not, farmers will become labourers on their own land, the environment will be polluted, and consumers will not be able to escape high food prices and unsafe foods.