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PANUPS: 50 Years Is Enough for the World Bank and IMF

Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:28:37 -0700

 

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P A N U P S

Pesticide Action Network Updates Service

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50 Years Is Enough for the World Bank and IMF

MonthApril 23, 2004

 

This week, a coalition of over 200 U.S. grassroots organizations have organized

a series of events in Washington DC to protest the devastating effects of

International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank projects on developing

countries. From April 21 - 25, 2004, the 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for

Global Economic Justice coalition will lobby for transparency and accountability

in the policies and practices of international financial institutions. Coalition

members will also demonstrate how these institutions undermine sustainable

development.

 

On April 21st an " Unhappy Birthday for the IMF and World Bank " demonstration was

held, in which thousands of postcards urging debt cancellation and an end to

debilitating structural adjustment policies were presented in front of World

Bank and IMF offices. Other events include a vigil by the Religious Working

Group on the World Bank and IMF with the title, " Cry of the People, Cry of the

Earth: Will the World Bank and IMF Respond? " and the 50 Years Is Enough annual

conference, whose theme this year is " Resisting Market Fundamentalism:

Retirement Planning for the IMF and World Bank at 60. "

 

PANNA's work monitoring pesticide reduction policies in World Bank agricultural

projects corroborates the findings of the 50 Years Is Enough coalition. World

Bank projects continue to promote the pesticide dependent, high input,

industrialized agricultural systems advocated by the structural adjustment

policies of both the IMF and the Bank. Nor does the World Bank meet its

objectives of promoting " environmentally sound, financially and economically

feasible, and socially acceptable means of economic development. "

 

With specific reference to pesticides, five years after adopting a revised pest

management policy to reduce farmers' reliance on pesticides and promote

ecologically based integrated pest management (IPM), the Bank has largely failed

to translate the policy into meaningful action. PANNA's new study, The

Persistence of Pesticide Dependence: a review of World Bank projects and their

compliance with the World Bank's Pest Management Policy, 1999-2003, found that

only 9% of the 100 reviewed World Bank projects effectively incorporate IPM and

are likely to be in compliance with Bank policy. The majority of World Bank

projects relied on pesticides as the primary approach towards pest management or

agricultural " intensification. "

 

In addition to pesticides, the World Bank funds the research, development,

field-testing and planting of genetically modified (GM) crops, despite multiple

research findings indicating GM crops increase pesticide use, among other

negative impacts. Recent internal World Bank documents indicate the Bank has

already approved US$ 50 million in project loans for " agricultural

biotechnologies, " including funds to develop transgenic crops such as Bt. cotton

and Bt. rice. A dozen or more World Bank funded projects, in Brazil, Indonesia,

India, Peru, Romania, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Kenya refer specifically to

agricultural biotechnology in project documents.

 

For example, the India National Technology Project (NATP) is a five-year, US$200

million project that allocates US$20 million to support the research and

development of transgenic cotton, rice, sorghum, groundnut, chickpea and pigeon

pea. NATP has published claims of substantial progress towards its goal of

promoting " frontier technologies, " including the creation of transgenic tobacco

and groundnut plants.

 

As the 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice events

highlight the negative impacts of IMF and World Bank policies on developing

nations, PANNA urges the World Bank to support rural development strategies that

empower rural communities to control their own resources and build on local

agricultural knowledge and technology systems. Farming strategies that rely on

local agricultural biodiversity and locally available inputs have been shown to

increase farmers' profits, better protect the environment and biodiversity, and

lower rural poverty levels. Overwhelming evidence from the field indicates that

there are many better ways forward when it comes to sustainable agricultural

development.

 

Sources: The Persistence of Pesticide Dependence: a review of World Bank

projects and their compliance with the World Bank's Pest Management Policy,

1999-2003, PANNA, January 2004; India for a National Agricultural Technology

Project. February 12, 1998. Report No. 7082-IN. World Bank: Washington DC,

http://www.worldbank.org; Indian Council Agricultural Research (ICAR) Annual

Report 2002-2003 and 2001-2002, http://www.icar.org.in./ India, the World Bank

and GE crops. PANNA, Preliminary Research; World Bank Technical Briefing from

the Vice President and Secretary, Biotechnology for Poverty Alleviation and

Economic Growth: challenges and options for the World Bank, January 7, 2002.

 

Contact: PANNA

 

PANUPS is a weekly email news service providing resource guides and reporting on

pesticide issues that don't always get coverage by the mainstream media. It's

produced by Pesticide Action Network North America, a non-profit and

non-governmental organization working to advance sustainable alternatives to

pesticides worldwide.

 

You can join our efforts! We gladly accept donations for our work and all

contributions are tax deductible in the United States. Visit

http://www.panna.org/donate.

 

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http://www.panna.org/resources/panups.html

 

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49 Powell St., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA

Phone: (415) 981-1771

Fax: (415) 981-1991

Email: panna

Web: http://www.panna.org

 

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