BAYER CHIEF PROMISES NO MONSANTO GM CROPS IN EUROPE

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Roots for Equity

Business Recorder, October 23, 2016

chemicals firm Bayer said on Monday it would not introduce genetically modified crops in Europe after its gigantic takeover of US seed and pesticide producer Monsanto. “We aren’t taking over Monsanto to establish GM plants in Europe,” chief executive Werner Baumann told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “Some people think it might be easier for us than for Monsanto, given the reputation we enjoy,” Baumann said, “but that’s not our plan”.

“If politics and society in Europe don’t want genetically modified seeds, then we accept that, even if we disagree on the substance,” he went on. Aspirin-maker Bayer’s planned 58.8-billion-euro ($65.7 billion) takeover of the US firm is the biggest ever by a German company. But it is also one of the most controversial, thanks to Monsanto’s GM seeds designed for use alongside its pesticide glyphosate – which has itself made headlines this year over cancer fears.

Environmental groups, green politicians and some farmers vowed to block the “marriage made in hell” between the two companies after the deal was inked in September. Baumann pointed to the Americas, where “when this was all new 20 years ago and we had no experience, there were justifiable reasons to be sceptical.

http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/95973/

HOME-BASED WOMEN WORKERS SEEK POLICY

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Roots for Equity

Dawn, October 20th, 2016

HYDERABAD: The Home-Based Women Workers Federation (HBWWF) on Wednesday called for the implementation of the policy drafted by it in consultation with other relevant organisations for due rights of home-based workers.

Speaking at a press conference in the local press club on Wednesday, the federation’s general secretary Zehra Khan announced that her organisation would observe ‘South Asian Home-Based Workers Day’ on Thursday by raising its voice for the rights of this neglected segment of society.

She said the federation had submitted the draft policy to the government but it was yet to be implemented.

Stressing that the home-based workers act must be finalised for the welfare of workers, she said that more than five million people in Sindh alone would benefit from the policy.

HBWWF information secretary Shakeela Khan, Home-based Women Bangle Workers Union general secretary Jameela Abdul Lateef and others were present at the press conference.

Presenting a charter of demands, they said that home-based workers should be given social cover; the federal and provincial governments should employ a tripartite mechanism for resolving of their issues.

The government should ratify the ILO convention C177, signed in 1996, and should make laws in the light of it.

They said that all political parties should put workers welfare and struggle for labour rights on their agenda and workers should be defined in the book of law accordingly to the production system in the current scenario.

They also demanded for establishment of training centers for home-based women workers and facilities to provide them special access to markets for showcasing their products.

Speaking about the day, Zehra Khan explained that Oct 20 was a historic day for home-based workers because in Katmandu Declaration in 2000, labour unions and other organisations had decided to commemorate this day as ‘South Asian Home-Based Workers Day’ and pledged a struggle for the rights, social security and identity of more than 50 million home-based workers in South Asia, of them 80 per cent were women.

She said the HBWWF would organise a rally in Karachi and a workers’ convention in Sanghar on Thursday.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1290953/home-based-women-workers-seek-policy

Decent Wages for Agricultural Laborers!

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Roots for Equity

Press Release: World Hunger Day

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nation holds 16^th October as “World Hunger Day” every year for the past 70 years. The United Nations slogan for World Hunger Day is “Climate is changing. Food and Agriculture Must Too.” However, Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity in collaboration with Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and Pesticide Action Network (PAN AP) has marked the day as “World Huger Day”; A public rally participated by the large number of small and landless farmers was in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) protested the abysmal condition of food security faced by a majority in the country, especially the women across the working class and small producers.

Speaking to the rally the PKMT provincial coordinator Tariq Mehmood stated that Pakistan is one of the largest producers of wheat, rice and milk. Despite this fact, the advent of free marketing, corporate farming and land grabbing in the name of agricultural progress has deeply aggravated hunger and has further impoverished the marginalized sectors, especially women. It is shameful that Pakistan is 147^th out of 188 countries on the Human Development Index, 121^st in 155 countries on the Gender Inequality Index, and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) shows that 45.6% of Pakistani are multi-dimensionally poor. The aggressive corporate agriculture policies implemented in the country coupled with lack of equitable distribution of land are responsible for the relentless poverty in the country.

District coordinator PKMT Fayaz Ahmad was scathing of the UN’s slogan “Climate is changing. Food and Agriculture Must Too.” It is the disastrous fossil fuel economy that has created chaos in Hattar, as well the climate catastrophe world over. Now these corporations are providing ‘climate smart’ technologies, which will earn them more profits and the landless, small famers more hunger and misery.

Several leaders of PKMT from KPK stated that poverty and hunger can only be corrected if farmers are allowed to be the key decision makers for agriculture and rural development policies. The Government has initiated programs such as China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that have adverse impacts on farmers, especially along the CPEC route including in Haripur and Hazara; this will surely increase poverty and hunger in KPK and the rest of Pakistan.

PKMT demand’s an equitable distribution of land with the elimination of the role of international corporations from rural and agriculture development. Only self-sufficiency in agriculture production can ensure food sovereignty for the country. In addition, agricultural laborers, especially rural women be recognized as a formal sector a must of decent wages.

PKMT and Roots for Equity also hold a press conference in Multan Press Club on the eve of World Hunger Day on 16^th October, 2016. According to Dr. Azra Talat Sayeed, Executive Director, Roots for Equity, an almost criminal impact of unjustlabor practicesin agricultural sector is the impact on agricultural work force, especially women who comprise a huge percentage of the agriculture labor force. They form the bulk of labor force in sowing, harvestingof important crops such as cotton, wheat, sugarcane and rice, including vegetables. According to Mr M. Sadiq, a landless farmer from the riverine belt, “our misery is based on inequitable distribution of land and lack of decent wages for agricultural workers.” According to an ongoing research of Roots for Equity, in Sindh and Punjab women cotton pickers earn Rs 200 to 300/maund of cotton; sugarcane harvesting earns them nothing but measly amounts of fodder. Wheat harvested in extreme weather conditions earns them no more then 5-8 kg of wheat per day (Rs 150-250/day).Agriculture women workers, working 8-10 hours/day, face acute gender discrimination and human and women rights violations. It needs to be emphasized that the role of these women in agricultural production is responsible for vast amount of foreign exchange earnings.

Released by: Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity

PKMT Women Farmers Demand Agriculture as Formal Sector!

Posted on October 15, 2016 by Roots for Equity

Press Release

October 15^thwas declared as the Rural Women’s Day in 2008. The context was to declare Rural Women’s Day on the eve of the World Food Day (October 16) to emphasize the crucial role of rural women in world food production.

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity alongwith Pesticide Action Network (PAN AP) celebrated the Rural Women’s Day by organizing a rural women’s assembly in Khairpur and a protest rally in front Sukkur Press Club, Sindh. In this rally, rural women from several districts of Sindh participated.

The rally was organized to highlight and protest the exploitation and oppression perpetuated against rural women, especially those working in the fields as agriculture women workers. Addressing the rally, Dr. Azra Talat Sayeed said that women form a huge proportion of the agricultural work force. These women are sow, harvest and provide daily care ofimportant crops such as cotton, wheat, sugarcane and rice. According to an ongoing research by Roots for Equity on Women Agriculture Labor, women in Sindh and Punjab working as cotton pickers earn Rs 200 to 300 per 40 kg which generally takes more than a day. Grueling work during wheat harvest is paid in kind and does not exceed Rs 100 to150 per day. These women work 8 to 10hours a day regardless of extremes of weather. Moreover, these women are the target of gender discrimination. According to Sana Sharif, it needs to be emphasized that the backbreaking work of women is responsible for the country earning billions of rupees in foreign exchange which is especially true for the textile industry. The Pakistani government has failed to incorporate the agriculture in the formal sector leaving behind millions of men and women agriculture labor with out access to a decent livelihood.

PKMT activists, Sainth Bheel and Hafeezan highlighted the fact that exploitation of rural women has resulted in women facing higher levels of poverty, hunger and misery. Patriarchal norms and feudal control has not allowed them to access education, not for them and tragically not for their daughters. Further, women agriculture workers, who produce food for millions of homes across the country face food insecurity routinely.

Raja Mujeeb, National Coordinator, PKMT stated that according to the National Nutrition Survey, 2013, 50.4% rural women suffer from anemia, 41.3% and 66.8% have Vitamin A and Vitamin D deficiency, respectively. The survey also reported that amongst 145 countries, Pakistan was ranked 144 in the list of countries, and Gender Inequality Index of 121 of 155. He also stated that hybrid and genetically modified crops were not only polluting the farm land and making farmers subservient to the market but also creating dangerous health problems for rural women because of the use of dangerous pesticides and chemical fertilizers. It is common for rural women to have health problems such as pruritus, asthma and several other illnesses because of such chemicals.Provincial coordinator (Sindh) of PKMT, Ali Nawaz Jalbani stated that in order to eradicate poverty and hunger, important agriculture inputs such as land and seed must be the ownership of small and landless farmers, rather than the right of agricultural multinational corporations.

PKMT on this World Day of Rural Women, demands that the influence of corporate farming and multinational corporations be eliminated and land allotted to rural women through just and equitable land distribution policies. In addition, agricultural laborers, especially rural women be recognized as a formal sector a must of decent wages.

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Monthly Archives: October 2016