By DAVID DIZON
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations must contribute to a buffer fund that will seek to stabilize food prices in the region, representatives from various civil society organizations from Europe and Asia said Monday.  

Charles Santiago, a member of the Malaysian Parliament, said ASEAN member-states should coordinate efforts to address the problem of food and energy security in the region amid rising food prices in the world market.

"The way to come out [of the food crisis] is for ASEAN to set up a buffer mechanism where all countries of Asean can contribute to the buffer whether it's rice or any other resource. In the spirit of solidarity in the ASEAN, we need a buffer created to support countries who need rice for the people. The different large resources per country, whether its rice for Vietnam, coconut for Philippines and chickens for Malaysia, can be used," Santiago said in a forum in Quezon City.

Santiago said participants in the Asia-Europe People's Forum (AEPF) conducted June 6-8 in Manila will be submitting a position paper on the issue in time for negotiations of the free trade agreement between the European Union and ASEAN on June 25.

He said one of the agreements opposed by AEPF participants is the liberalization of the agrisector in Asia. "They want us to open up the markets and bring in more food from outside the country. Small and medium farmers will be unable to protect themselves against huge competition from the agri-producers in Europe," he said.

Santiago added that misguided policies of international financing institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank are partly to blame for the shift from food crops to cash crops in the region. "When the WB and IMF recommend that food sovereign nations reduce rice and poultry production, that's a recipe for disaster," he said.

Pierre Rousset, a member of European Solidarity Without Borders, said the issue of food security is a global problem that affects even his native France. He said globalization is to blame for a confrontation between the vision of agriculture pushed by poor French farmers and the vision of society imposed by agro-industry.

Santiago said some multinational companes are responsible for the uptick in food prices through the use of "speculative" funds, usually through hedge or pension funds.
 
He debunked as false the economic theory on competitive advantage wherein developing countries produce more food to handle the food needs of industrialized countries.

He said that instead of shifting to higher value crops, nations should first ensure that their constituents will have enough food at affordable prices.

"In India and Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they have food riots already. I haven't heard of any food riots yet in southeast Asia but I think it's a matter of time before people start getting fed up and start protesting because the prices are so high, people can't buy. This means they have to restrict money spent on other things such as healthcare and education, which contribute to the poor quality of life of the worker and the family," he said.