The Responsibility of International Organizations

58. As an instrument of a developing agriculture, agrarian reform directly touches on the spheres of competence and responsibility of many international organizations. When these organizations define the development models they intend to promote, they must take care that such models are suited to the needs and problems of the various countries.

It is therefore important to make sure that concern for reducing international debt — often translated into the promotion of a predominantly export-oriented agriculture — does not lead developing countries to pursue policies that will cause serious deterioration in public services, especially education, and an increase in social problems.

59. Agrarian reform requires those organizations responsible for promoting international trade to pay special attention to relations among commercial policies, income distribution and the satisfaction of families' basic needs.

Development of trade usually has a positive effect on a country's economic growth, by expanding the market, stimulating efficiency, and producing new skills and know-how.

However, in certain situations it can also have detrimental effects on the living conditions of the economically disadvantaged. This happens, for example, if the increase in the production of foodstuffs for export leads to a reduction in the supply of food for domestic consumption and an increase in its price. This has a negative effect because the products exported are less labour-intensive than those consumed locally, with the result that employment is penalized.

It can happen that small farmers be penalized on two fronts. In the first place, the obstacles they run up against prevent their access to the necessary inputs to grow export crops, so that they cannot benefit from their advantages. In the second place, the development of exports brings about rises in certain costs of agricultural production and in the price of land, and such increases make the production of traditional crops less financially viable.

However, this series of effects is not due exclusively to the logic of commercial exchanges. They are also the direct result of a concentration of land in a few hands, of a widespread social inequality, and of the inadequacy of technico-administrative assistance services for small producers. International organizations obviously have to keep the overall situation carefully in mind when drawing up their own intervention strategies, because of its negative consequences on the fight against poverty and hunger.