By Nelcia Robinson.

1. Background

The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) is the Secretariat for the Caribbean Gender and Trade Network.

CAFRA has been instrumental in research and action on the living conditions of women. The organization has produced significant Lobby Papers on Trade and Aid, aimed at highlighting the threats to women’s sustainable livelihoods.

2. Trade and Liberalization

Trade Liberalization has so far had many adverse effects on the quality of women’s lives, reaching even to trafficking in women themselves, as identified by the UNDP Human Development Report 1997, and the Convention for the suppression of the Traffic in Persons, and of the exploitation on the prostitution of others.

Trade Liberalization is not gender neutral and women are concerned that there is no mention of women’s interest and needs, either in the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) or in any of the Agreements adopted by the WTO Ministerial Conferences.

Within the WTO Agenda, women are particularly concerned by:

• The liberalization and privatization of additional sectors such as health, education, social welfare, culture and leisure, water, energy, environmental services etc.
• The growth of unemployment in particular for women who work in sectors and fields affected by WTO policies.
• The increasing conversion of self-sufficient, small-scale, diverse agriculture run by women to corporate export-oriented, agro-industrial mono-cultures, in other words, the shift from food production to cash crop production.
• The overwhelming speed with which natural biological resources, which for thousands of years have been nurtured by indigenous people – above all by indigenous women – are patented by trans national corporations.
• The rules governing intellectual property rights which will block farmers from maintaining their traditional farming practices including the right to save and exchange seeds and sell their harvests.
• The ongoing commercialization of traditional knowledge in the field of healing and nutrition, which in the long run, annihilates southern peoples and in particular Southern women’s ability to maintain their sustainable livelihood and food security.

In Summary,
The result of these measures is the large-scale disappearance of small farmers, the end of food self-sufficiency, reliance on monoculture, genetic manipulation of food, loss of bio-diversity and ecological sustainability.  The impoverished rural people who are displaced through this agricultural policy end up as marginal members of society without work, hope or food, and the most vulnerable groups affected are poor rural women and their children.  The Banana experience I am about to describe bears this out.

3. The Banana Experience

The women’s movement in the Caribbean was among the earliest to recognize and value the contribution of female farmers to the economic well being and prosperity of the Region.  As part of its efforts to transform the status of women throughout the Region the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) undertook several initiatives that sought to challenge the existing socio-cultural, economic and political structures and the resultant policies, which were designed without incorporating Gender Analysis. CAFRA, as a result chose as its first major research activity “Women in Caribbean Agriculture” (1987/88), which sought to highlight the key role of agriculture in Caribbean societies and of women in the sector.

Agriculture has been a very important (principal) sector in the economies of Caribbean islands.  This is particularly true for the Windward Islands, which have maintained agriculture as the basis of their economies, diversifying from sugar and other agricultural products to predominantly banana cultivation.  In past decades, the banana industry had been the engine of economic growth and development of the islands, of Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent.  In fact, as recent as the early 1990’s the largest share of foreign exchange was earned from the sale of bananas, accounting for 50% of all exports and 15% of their gross domestic product.  Additionally, this sector has employed over one-half of the population in varying stages of cultivation and export of this product, and provided steady income to satisfy the immediate needs, and in some instances long-term prosperity, in terms of the acquisition of property, and advancement of education for example.

In recent times however, there has been a dramatic change in the fortunes of Caribbean farmers, as a result of international agreements and arrangements on agricultural policy.  Commonly referred to as the “banana dispute”, the removal of trade barriers ended the minimum prices and guaranteed market for Caribbean bananas, which had been provided to the former colonies under the Lomé Convention with the European Union, since 1975.  Subsumed under the tenet of “free trade”, this policy has effectively destroyed several small and medium holdings within the banana industry on the Windward Islands, and forced several producers to abandon the agricultural sector altogether, (this has been compounded by natural disasters and infestation of diseases).  These developments have not only had a profound effect on whole economies and societies, but also a differential and severe impact on women.

Women represent approximately one-half of the population in the English speaking Caribbean, and two-fifths of its labour force.  Like women in other parts of the world, Women in the Caribbean have a history of involvement in agricultural work, and indeed many have been the “backbone” of agrarian societies.

In the Windward Islands, women have remained in the agricultural sector in significant numbers – in the marketing of produce, hagglers, huckster and vendors and as farmers and labourers.  A great number of women are involved in banana production, with estimates that 70% reply on the industry as small scale and medium sized farmers managing all aspects of production and day to day decisions regarding their farms.

Of the population within the Windward Islands, a significant percentage lives in small rural villages, where a number of women are classified as housewives.  May of these women contribute unpaid labour to their partner’s farms or plots, but are still counted as unemployed, as their work is perceived as a natural extension of their “duties” in the home.  This contribution is however, critical to the continuing viability of the farm.  ON the other hand, a dominant feature of Caribbean households is its single-female headed characteristics, where approximately 40% of all households are headed by women, who are the sole provider of both economic/material well-being and domestic services to the family.  The recent sharp increases in poverty and unemployment levels experienced by women throughout the Windward Islands is a direct consequence of the decline in the banana industry.  This was revealed in research conducted by CAFRA on the impact of new trade agreements on the living conditions of rural women.  Respondents to the survey described life as hard and frustrating, indicating that they had found it difficult to survive and raise their children in living conditions that had worsened in the last five years, due to the decline of banana cultivation and prices.

One outcome of the research was the issue in 1999 of a banana “lobby paper” which argued for the continuation of the protection of the market share for ACP bananas in the interest of the human development and economic survival of women of the Windward Islands.  Specifically, the Paper states: “We the women of the Windward Islands in the agricultural sector, face severe hardship as a consequence of the decline of the banana sector.  We have no prospect of immediate relief, since agricultural diversification requires both time and subsidies in order to produce favourable results in the long term”.

The Paper in addition to highlighting the economic devastation of the WTO ruling on the economies of the Windward Islands brought the gender perspective sharply into focus.

Women’s voice in this area has brought the issue of food security sharply into focus, and strengthened the regional and international lobby against harmful WTO policies.

However, in some quarters, there are questions around the emphasis on bananas.  The answer is that, as mentioned earlier in my presentation, most small island developing states rely on one or two agricultural primary products.  For the Windward Islands the primary products are bananas, fruits and vegetables.

There is an old Proverb that says when elephants play or fight, the grass is trampled.

The WTO policies, like the elephants at play, have trampled the grass.  The vulnerable small island developing states are being crushed.

With the bananas, there was an assumed weekly income, which paid for housing, education, health needs, insurance savings, and with it self esteem and mental well-being.

With the loss of the banana market, poverty set in as houses and equipment were sold or re-possessed as mortgage payments fell behind, and insecurity became a way of life.

The second primary product of fruits and vegetables also suffered setbacks as mealy bug infestation forced neighboring countries to prohibit importation. This meant that the hagglers, lucksters and vendors who traveled among the islands now had no market.  They along with displaced banana farmers became the new poor.

The mounting pressure in the farming community led to the anomaly of a group of persons emerging as “The Marijuana Farmers” stating that their only means of livelihood seem to be the farming of an illegal crop which there was a lucrative market. The scenario described above would be the same with the loss of markets for primary products such as rice, sugar and coffee.

4. Alternative Means of Survival

The other means of production in the areas of beef, dairy, poultry and textiles for example, are small scale compared to the highly industrialized countries.  These vulnerable areas are adversely affected by the unrestricted swamping and dumping of goods under the WTO measures, which countries are forced to buy instead of their own domestic products because they are cheaper and buying power is low.

I am reminded of a National Geographic feature, which shows the amphibian hippos chomping the grass by night and returning to the pool by day.  The aquatic life feed on their manure; pick shreds out of their teeth as they benignly rest in the pool.

Small island developing states are caught between the elephants and the hippos with disastrous results.

A new wave of migration has become a way of life.  The exodus of women from the region has led to households being headed by children, and a drain of Nurses and Teachers, who now build the Skills Banks of the North.  It is important to note that several categories of women migrate, but all of them leave children behind who are at risk of sexual abuse and neglect, often become school drop-outs, adolescent mothers, prostitutes, or become perpetrators and victims of violence.

The culture and history of our countries becomes severely eroded, as the socialization from their parents does not take place.  What values or characteristics will these children pass on?

In addition, Governments look to Tourism as an alternative to banana production.  While there are benefits to be gained from tourism, one negative impact is that with increased Tourism comes the Sex Trade and increased threats of HIV/AIDS infection.  Women in the childbearing age are most affected.

5. Unequal Treatment for Unequal Partners

These factors contribute to the region’s call for “Unequal Treatment” for Unequal Treatment for Unequal Partners”.  The geopolitical differences of the countries of the small island developing states must be taken into account.

The ground-breaking work by the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat Joint Task Force on small States in the Global Economy, clearly and irrefutably demonstrates that characteristics such as remoteness and isolation, limited diversification, susceptibility to natural disasters and environmental change, poverty, limited access to external capital and limited institutional capacity, make it nearly impossible for the small and vulnerable economies to compete effectively in the international trading systems. We therefore need to lobby the WTO Ministerial for:-

1. The integration of gender analyses and impact assessment in all WTO policies through the use of gender disaggregated data and gender development and trade indicators.
2. The WTO organization to institute wide training sensitization programmes to raise awareness and understanding of gender issues.
3. The complete exemption from commitments in the Agreement on Agriculture affective critical cash crops and staple food production in small and vulnerable countries.
4. Developing countries to be allowed to re-evaluate and adjust their tariff levels. Where cheap imports have destroyed or are threatening the domestic producers developing countries must be permitted to increase their tariffs on key products to enable food production.
5. Pharmaceutical companies should reduce the price of key medicines in developing countries so that they are affordable to the poor.
6. Recognition that the application of core labour standards will differ from country to country, and small and vulnerable countries, should be granted flexible implementation regimes and technical and financial assistance to ensure that the required standards are met.
7. Build capacity of developing countries by making financial support available to facilitate adequate representation in Geneva.
8. Other WTO member countries to assist developing countries to strengthen their technical skills necessary for trade negotiations and to take full advantage of marketing opportunities.
9. Special and differential provisions, due to be phased out by 2005 should be re-evaluated by the undertaking of a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the current provisions, and an assessment of the changing needs of small economics in a rapidly liberalizing market.
   

6. Financing for Development VS Trade Expansion

These recommendations are in keeping with the goals of the upcoming International Conference on Financing and Development, which provides an opportunity to address this situation.

Looking ahead, the preamble of the Draft Outcome document states, “We"Heads of State and Government, gathered in Monterrey, Mexico, from 21^st – 22^nd March 2002, have committed ourselves to work together to ensure that the global systems of finance and trade fully support economic growth and social justice for all the peoples of the world.  Our objective is to achieve a fully inclusive and equitable globalization”.

They are about to commit to ensuring sustainable investments in education, health, nutrition and social security programs, which take special care of children and are genders sensitive and fully inclusive of the rural sector and all disadvantaged communities.  The document mentions small island developing stales (SIDS) as a specific category.

However, as I have outlined, the outcomes can be meaningless if the WTO continues to operate in its present form.

7. Lobby for Equity Development and Poverty Eradication

The Caribbean Gender and Trade Network joins with the International Gender and Trade Network in proclaiming a vision of a trade regime in the World that tests on a framework of human rights, in which trading rules are determined to maximize the development potential of the poorest countries, specifically, and countries of the South.

Instead of asking “How we maximize trade and market access?” women want Negotiators to ask “How international trade will enable countries to grow out of poverty?”.

Women affirm that a reinvigorated focus on equity development and poverty eradication will have far reaching implications for the manner in which the international trading regime and the WTO function.

We will take this message to the WTO Ministerial wherever it is held a few short weeks from now.

Nelcia Robinson is Coordinator of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) and  of the Caribbean Gender and Trade Network. A Kellog Fellow, Nelcia has majored in International Development.  She has wide experience in researching the social impact of trade agreements on Caribbean people and Caribbean women especially.  She has also been actively involved in activities for the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action at local, regional and global levels. Nelcia is a community educator, lobbyist and researcher.  Her special focus is women's human rights and economic development. Nelcia Robinson can be contacted at: cafrainfo@wow.net

Go to the next page

Go to FfD-index

Compiled and edited by Ingeborg P. Eliasen