reEarth : Environmental issues in The Bahamas

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15th December New FAO Report On Agricultural Trade And Poverty Godfrey Eneas

Agricultural trade reform offers benefits, but the poor could be left behind

Only days ahead of next week’s make-or-break World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong, where a final push will be made to reach an agreement to liberalize agricultural trade, the FAO today warned that the benefits of trade reform may not reach the poor unless urgent complementary policies and investments are made.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2005 (SOFA 2005) examines agricultural trade and poverty, seeking to answer the question: Can trade work for the poor?

According to SOFA 2005, the answer is yes, but trade liberalization alone is not enough. Policies and investments must be put in place to allow the poor to benefit from trade opportunities and to protect the vulnerable against trade-related shocks. “Agricultural trade and further trade liberalization can unlock the potential of the agriculture sector to promote pro-poor growth, but these benefits are not guaranteed.”

Who wins and who loses in trade reform

The FAO report says that industrial countries have the most to gain from agriculture trade liberalization, because their agriculture sectors are the most distorted by existing policies. “Consumers in currently protected markets and producers in countries with low levels of domestic support would tend to gain the most.”

Developing countries as a whole would also benefit from liberalization, but SOFA 2005 warns that some groups could be hurt in the short run. Those groups include net food importing countries and countries that have been given preferential access to the highly protected markets of wealthier member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

While acknowledging that OECD subsidies help net food importing countries keep their food import bills down, Hartwig de Haen, FAO Assistant Director-General, Economic and Social Department, said, “OECD subsidies to agriculture send incorrect signals to these countries leading them to neglect their own agriculture.”

For developing countries as a whole the greatest potential gains from agricultural liberalization will depend not on reform of the agriculture support system in OECD countries but on reforming their own trade policies, which would encourage greater trade between them. Between 70 and 85 percent of the potential benefits for developing countries would derive from their own reform policies in agriculture.

Trade liberalization can raise incomes for the poor

SOFA 2005 says that the benefits of trade liberalization go well beyond the immediate impact on producers and consumers because the reforms would contribute significantly to economic growth and to raising the wages of unskilled workers in developing countries. Trade can be a catalyst for change, promoting conditions that enable the poor to raise their incomes and live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

Because most of the world’s poor and food insecure people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, SOFA 2005 argues that a growing agricultural sector is crucial for sustainable poverty reduction. “Trade reforms that stimulate agricultural production often lead to a general increase in unskilled wages.” The report calls for policies that enable the poor to take advantage of their most valuable asset: their own labor.

But, the report warns, the poor often survive on so little that they are particularly vulnerable during any reform process, especially in the short term while productive sectors and labor markets are in transition.

The FAO report has a number of recommendations to ensure that liberalization supports pro-poor outcomes.

It calls for basic market institutions and infrastructure to be set up before opening national agricultural markets to international competition, especially from subsidized competitors. The report recommends consistent and sustained policies to provide “appropriate signals for pro-poor, pro-growth outcomes” and warns that “stop-and-go reforms” are particularly damaging.

To ensure that the poor benefit from trade, SOFA 2005 urges a twin-track approach that would on the one hand invest in educating people, building institutions and infrastructure and on the other provide safety nets to protect the most vulnerable people in society during the transition to freer trade.

Case studies cited by the FAO report show that reforms can help reduce hunger and poverty if they are designed and implemented within an explicit pro-poor strategy. The studies also show a clear need to provide carefully targeted investments and transitional compensatory measures for the poor during the early stages of trade liberalization.

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Reader’s Comments: Transitional Compensatory Measures and the sustainance of developed countries agricultural sectors - December 14th, 2005 ellen ruparanganda - eruparanganda@moed.co.zw can African countries afford, from within their budgets,to put in place these transitional compensatory measures. This then brings in the issue of donor support that may call for importation of food in most instances thereby perpetuating the donor dependency syndrome. Once the donor withdraws support for one flimsy reason or another,those people will be worse off. Should the support continue, you are again supporting the agricultural sectors of the OECD countries! Can this poverty issue be ever resolved without furtering the interests of the developed

http://www.jonesbahamas.com/ 24th November PM’s Beach Access Announcement Gets Mixed Reviews Perez Clarke Faced with dwindling beach access, Prime Minister Perry Christie’s announcement that government intends to purchase private land in an effort to open up more of the island’s beaches to Bahamians has sparked a mixed reaction from local environmentalists.

(Journal file photo)

Local environmentalists fear that beach front developments are robbing Bahamians of access to the island’s beaches.

While one organisation congratulated the government for its “interest” in improving beach access for Bahamians, another said that its response was too “vague.”

In his address to convention delegates last week, Mr. Christie said that the thrust of his government’s policy was to augment the national inventory of public beaches, especially in New Providence.

“So that all Bahamians will have ready access to much greater numbers of beaches than is presently the case,” said Mr. Christie. “We consulted engineers to look at existing beaches to improve them. We will go about ensuring that through private purchase, all Bahamians can access this pleasure.’

Director of Parks and Science Liaison at the Bahamas National Trust, Eric Carey, emphasised that beach access for Bahamians is essential.

“The Bahamas National Trust is responsible for the management of the national park systems in The Bahamas and we basically do that for two main purposes,” Mr. Carey told The Bahama Journal in an interview.

“One is to protect the country’s biodiversity and to provide opportunities for Bahamians to experience nature and to have recreational experiences in our national parks. We have been concerned and this has been expressed by this organisation over many years, about the disappearing beach access and window to the sea that people are beginning to face.”

Mr. Carey referred to existing public beach properties as “shrinking strips,” and expressed concern over what would happen during public holidays, when Bahamians traditionally flock to the beach.

He believes that private developments, especially in New Providence, are eating up access to what little beaches are left.

Mr. Carey added that the existing high water mark law, which makes all beachfront property public up to the high water mark, does not retain a person’s rights to the beach.

“Firstly the law takes away the beach for more than half of the day,” noted Mr. Carey. “We are told that we have access to the beach below the high water mark, so if the tide is high Bahamians do not have access to the beach.

“We want to stay on the beach whether the water is high or low and we want to have access to the beach whether the water is high or low.”

Mr. Carey also congratulated the government for its effort to improve beach access for Bahamians.

“I wish to applaud the government and the Prime Minister in taking the bold initiative because what he also said during his contribution was that they are prepared to invest significant sums of money into acquiring properties for access to beaches by Bahamians,” he said.

“This is a phenomenal initiative to be taken by a government and is certainly an admirable undertaking on behalf of Bahamians to ensure that we do have, for years to come, access to good beaches.”

But the Director of Campaigns at Re-earth, Sam Duncombe, reacted differently to the Prime Minister’s message.

She said that given the government’s position on past environmental issues, more information must be provided before the environmental impact is weighed.

“It’s far too vague,” Mrs. Duncombe told The Bahama Journal. “There is really nothing in there that clarifies the situation to me as to whether he is purchasing beach front (property) and what he intends to do with that.

“How is he going to fix it or make it better. Those are issues that carry grave consequences if you are talking about changing the physical landscape of the coastline or the beach.

“Quite frankly the PLP’s record on environmental issues is so poor right now, I would really have to know exactly what they intend to do if I am to give them any type of praise.”

Said Mrs. Duncombe: “We were promised environmental protection and we have not gotten it. We do not have access to the environmental impact assessments that affect our environment and we were promised that we would get them through the Freedom of Information Act.”

However, Mrs. Duncombe did agree that beach access is essential to the Bahamian culture.

Earlier this month, Kerzner International announced that it had agreed to acquire another six acres of property at Cabbage Beach, a move that sparked an outcry from vendors who depend on the popular strip of beach to make a living. However, resort officials have promised that public access would remain in place.

Christie Points To Investment Dilemma

        Julian Reid 
        27/01/2004



              Prime Minister Perry Christie at the opening of the Inter Regional Meeting on Small Island Developing States at the Radisson. 


        Prime Minister Perry Christie told delegates at the opening of the Inter-Regional Meeting on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on Monday that The Bahamas faces a major dilemma in determining the authenticity of some potential investors.



        "Countries that are small are challenged like The Bahamas where you have the most complex industries seeking permission to locate in your country to manufacture either components of products or products for export," said Mr. Christie, speaking at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort.



        He added, "The question always is whether they are coming to our country because we are lax in our environmental safeguards or whether it is just a better environment

        Mr. Christie pointed out that The Bahamas has done well in working to implement the mandates of SIDS countries for sustainable development but he added that as delegates seek to deal with environmental challenges they should not forget basic human needs.  



        "Climate change and sea level rise, natural and environmental disasters, management of waste, coastal and marine resources, fresh water resources land resources...yes all are very important," Mr. Christie said. "All very necessary for our focus and our harmonized agreement to act having agreed on a course of action to speak in unison to our donors to release the funds that have been promised."



        Mr. Christie added, "But do not ever forget that as we broaden governance into these areas that those fundamental areas that impact the course of human development must be your priority."



        Representatives of the 43-member SIDS group began reviewing the progress made by member countries in 14 key areas for sustainable development outlined in Barbados 10 years ago.



        The meeting is a preparatory meeting for the Mauritius International Meeting for the Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.



        That meeting will take place in August.



        United Nations Secretary General Anwarul Chowdhury said however that the expectations for international cooperation for the implementation of the Barbados Programme have not materialized and in fact has fallen severely short of those expectations.



        "The overall disbursement of international assistance to SIDS have fallen from $2.3 billion in 1994 to $1.7 billion in 2002," Mr. Chowdhury said.



        Mr. Chowdhury also addressed the issue of HIV/AIDS and its impact which is "making rapid inroads" into the regions of SIDS countries.



        "Effective programmes at national and regional levels to contain this menacing disease must be taken up," he said 



        Mr. Chowdhury added that information technology will be a key tool in assisting SIDS countries. 



        "Deliberate and prudent use of information technology will go a long way in reducing the isolation of remote islands, enable them to deal more effectively with a host of constraints particularly in the areas of trade, development, health, education, security and technology transfer," Mr. Chowdhury said.



        Some of the key areas delegates will seek a common position on during the Nassau meeting are good governance, security, trade and investment, health, sustainable capacity building and information and communication technology.

© 2003 The Nassau Guardian