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Farmers and food safety at risk
By Lee Wu-chung 李武忠
Wednesday, Aug 04, 2010, Page 8
The controversy over the expropriation of farmland for a science park in
Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) may have calmed down for the time being, but
there are many other cases involving the compulsory takeover of privately owned
land for industrial expansion, including the Chengnan (城南), Yilan City base of
the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, the third phase of the Central Taiwan
Science Park at Houli (后里) and the fourth phase of the same park at Erlin (二林),
all of which come under the authority of the National Science Council. These
cases are likely to provoke a string of protests by farmers who want to keep
tilling the land, and such demonstrations are part of an emerging new wave of
civic consciousness.
Twenty-two years have passed since the landmark farmers’ protest of May 20,
1988, and in that time control of the central government has changed hands
twice. Still, the nation’s agricultural sector has seen no improvement. Farmers
are still on the bottom rung of society, and their cries of frustration continue
unabated.
Years of misguided agricultural policies have prevented a genuine renewal of
Taiwan’s agriculture and farmers remain dependent on government subsidies to get
by. The government has recently been pushing for greater cross-strait trade
liberalization for agricultural products, seeing China as the main export market
for Taiwanese farm produce. This seems to be the government’s chief agricultural
policy thrust.
We should look back and remember the heavy price farmers had to pay for Taiwan
to enter the WTO. The NT$100 billion (US$3.1 billion) the government set aside
to help those whose income was hit by competition from imports has nearly all
been spent, but farmers’ livelihoods have not improved and the rural economy
remains depressed.
As young people continue to move away from farming, only elderly farmers remain
to mount a last-ditch defense of their land. Farmers keep making their quiet
contribution to the nation’s food security and ecological sustainability, but
they are not rewarded with the recognition and respect they deserve.
Based on the WTO experience, many people seriously doubt whether the recently
approved NT$150 billion rural regeneration fund will have the desired effect.
There are no influential farmers’ organizations in Taiwan such as those in
Japan, the US and elsewhere that can push for laws and regulations to protect
farmers’ interests.
It is sad to see how local politicians often think it is acceptable to sacrifice
agricultural interests for the benefit of other sectors, on the grounds that
agriculture contributes less than 2 percent to the nation’s GDP and farm produce
accounts for only 20 percent of farming families’ overall income.
Politicians think it is enough for the government to provide subsidies to make
up for any damage done to agriculture. This train of thought is completely at
variance with global trends in agricultural development. If agriculture is seen
as just one of many sectors of the national economy, then of course its future
should be decided by market forces — just as with other kinds of businesses. But
it should be recognized that agriculture plays a different role in addition to
the market role played by other productive sectors.
Food crises around the world have alerted people to the fact that relying on
global commodity markets for vital food supplies is unwise and even risky. For
that reason, developed countries generally count food self-sufficiency among
their national strategic aims. They try to reduce their dependency on food
imports, so as to safeguard national security and social stability. Why should
Taiwan be any different — unless for ulterior motives? Rather than spending
money on advertising to promote its policies or persuading the media to do it,
the government would do better to try to talk with farmers and hear what they
have to say.
Blossoms and leaves that fall from a tree will soon yellow and wither, and it is
the same for farmers when their land is taken away. Without their land, farmers
have no sense of belonging. We should also bear in mind that a large number of
businesses have moved their core operations to China, so the industrial need for
land has greatly diminished. Conservation groups point out that nearly a third
of the land already expropriated for development by science parks around the
country remains unused.
Excesses in land requisition in Taiwan have long been criticized by academics.
The government should without delay review and amend the Land Expropriation Act
(土地徵收條例) and related laws to strengthen procedural safeguards and expand the
public’s right to take part in decision-making. The government should clearly
demarcate areas designated for farming and invest resources in physical and
institutional construction. Farmers’ incomes should be raised to match those of
general wage earners.
Taiwanese have suffered a great deal over the centuries — farmers above all.
Colonized for a long time, the Taiwanese have learned forbearance, but they have
little hope for a happy future.
Lee Wu-chung is a professor of agricultural economics at
National Taiwan University.
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