Land loss will become more common as new farm policies further relax rural land-holding laws for businesses. For almost a decade, the goal of national and international food and farm policies has been to lower consumer food prices by increasing food imports. US dumping of underpriced grain surpluses has destroyed poor farmers in many food-importing countries. Ill-Founded Green Revolutions New WTO agricultural trade rules may lead to more effective food embargoes as they result in the elimination of national food storage programs. US doubling of export prices for basic grains in the summer of 1996 was essentially an embargo against the poor countries that most needed these supplies.
Most governments still see hunger as a problem of production shortfall.
The US, for example, argued that the solution to hunger lies in more intensive use of biotechnology, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, irrigation and greater freedom for transnational food corporations. The NGOs insisted that any revolution, green or otherwise, must be undertaken in partnership with the peasants and the local society. In 1994, the Zapatistas burst forth in Chiapas, Mexico, demanding land, food and an adequate standard of living. In July 1996, protests forced the Jordanian government to abandon IMF-imposed plans to triple the price of bread. Last September, Argentines rose up against government plans to increase the cost of food and other basic amenities by 10-46 percent.