Grains of Change

Local Farmers, Global Perspectives Thai farmers advocate fair trade for all

By Angela Kassahun and Talia Kahn-Kravis
This article was printed in Abroad View magazine fall 2006

Bunsong Matkhao (left) and Prasong Seesa-ard (right) examine a package of instant Thai food in an American supermarket. Photo courtesy of Kyra Busch

Thai farmers are eager for free trade opportunities, and they are taking matters into their own hands through international discussion.

Prior to a politically debilitating scandal involving Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai government was in the midst of negotiating a U.S.–Thai Free Trade Agreement. Since then, the discussions have been postponed, and the agreement remains in limbo. Some hope if the negotiations are revived, they will include the voice of small-scale farmers, who stand to lose from such an agreement if they are not represented.

Meanwhile, farmers from the northeastern part of the country are finding an alternative to the prime minister’s vision for development.

Bunsong Matkhao of Kutchoom, Yasothorn, and Prasong Seesa-ard of Surin, spoke to participants of the United Students for Fair Trade (USFT), a national network of student organizations advocating fair trade products and policies. The group strives to educate members about the challenges of free trade and how it has helped small-scale farmers maintain ownership over their traditional way of life.

These farmers are members of a cooperative dedicated to organic farming and self-sufficiency. The groups, brought together through the Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN), favor a more holistic approach to their own livelihoods by growing organic rice and cooperatively managing their own rice mill.

Now a new market organized by Alter Eco is being opened in the U.S., giving Americans access to organic jasmine fair trade rice from Surin and Yasothorn.

This is the third time that Isaan farmers have discussed sustainable fair trade with U.S. citizens thanks to the Educational Network for Global and Grassroots Exchange (ENGAGE), which sponsors trips and runs campaigns on this topic. ENGAGE also helps raise American consciousness about how free trade agreements can adversely affect small-scale farmers, persons living with HIV/AIDS, and other groups in Thailand.

Fair trade seeks to give farmers a fair price for their products by incorporating environmental standards and a livable wage. It also places value on increased connectivity and transparency between producers and consumers in the hopes of creating a better understanding of the processes that surround food production.
Farmers comprise 60 percent of the Thai population. A major concern among food producers with respect to the U.S.-Thai FTA is the potential flood of American produce within the Thai market, which would force farmers to leave their homes and find work in Bangkok or other major cities.

“Rice is my life,” Bunsong explains. “The FTA will destroy us small-scale farmers. We won’t be able to compete with U.S. goods. There will be no space in the market for us to sell our rice.”

To Bunsong and Prasong, entering the fair trade system means being able to take care of their own rice mill and having enough food to feed themselves. “There is no need for our family and neighbors to leave the community for work,” they say. “The money we have left over is used to develop other projects in the community with no outside government help.”

Speaking to the USFT members, Bunsong emphasized the need to campaign to raise awareness and understanding about these issues. “If we support small-scale agriculture,” he said, “we will build alternatives that aren’t adding to the multitude of problems in society.”

Many students were inspired by what the Thai farmers had to say. Sophie Glass, a freshman at Colorado College, says the workshop had a particularly profound effect on her. “I, like many other people, often consume without thinking about the farms and the families that were involved in preparing food that I so carelessly eat,” she says. Sophie is now determined to bring fair trade jasmine rice to her campus.
In addition to speaking with consumers, Bunsong and Prasong had the chance to compare thoughts about fair trade with farmers from other countries such as Mexico, El Salvador, and Brazil, who also grapple with economic globalization.

The two farmers were delighted to have the opportunity to speak to so many Americans and to share their culture. They returned to Thailand energized, ready to link their rice cooperatives with local and international networks.

“I want to make Thai people understand the importance of organic agriculture and fair trade,” Bunsong says. “By keeping in touch with students across the globe, the fair trade movement will continue giving small-scale farmers a voice.”

At the time this article was written, Angela Kassahun and Talia Kahn-Kravis were both undergraduates at Temple University and Macalester College, respectively. They studied abroad at Khon Kaen University with the Council on International Educational Exchange Thailand program. For more information on CIEE, contact: www.ciee.org.