Asia happens to be the largest agricultural economy of the world, with the majority involved in agriculture. Converting self-sufficient food economies into food dependent economies is the... W.T.O. strategy...

The Agreement on Agriculture should be called a Cargill Agreement. It was former Cargill Vice-President, Dan Amstutz, who drafted the original text of the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture. Opening Southern markets and converting peasant agriculture to corporate agriculture is the primary aim of Cargill and hence the Agreement on Agriculture.

But opening markets for Cargill implies closure of livelihoods for farmers. W.T.O. rules are not just about trade. They determine how food is produced and who controls food production. For Cargill, capturing Asian markets is key. Asia happens to be the largest agricultural economy of the world, with the majority involved in agriculture. Converting self-sufficient food economies into food dependent economies is the Cargill vision and the W.T.O. strategy.

“ver half of population growth by 2008 will happen in Asia as well as 30 per cent of the world income growth in the next decade…. People in India and Vietnam spend more than half their incomes on food, while the Chinese spend more than a third. If better food could be delivered more efficiently, more income would be freed up to spend on other things like motorbikes, cellular phones, even computers…. A global open food system would be the one where the regions that grow food best are linked through with regions that need food most…That system describes a region where the best areas for growing food - the Americas - are linked through trade with the areas where food is needed the most, Asia.