An Analysis of the Pros and Cons of Thailand's Dual-Track Policy of Agricultural Globalization and Localization Driven by Thai Cuisine
In the 21st century, many countries that once 'built their nation on agriculture' have had to confront the impact of globalization head-on and formulate brand-new agricultural development strategies to secure agricultural output value and prevent farmers from being defeated in global competition and suffering heavy losses. When discussing a country's agricultural policy, we often hear a pair of opposing terms: 'large-scale agriculture V.S. smallholders.' Supporters of large-scale agriculture believe it helps strengthen agricultural competitiveness; those opposed argue that industrialized agriculture destroys local quality of life and the public interest.
Which should a country's policy prioritize? For those in power, this is not an easy question to answer. Under the framework of free trade, government agricultural departments often face pressure simultaneously from the business sector and from social movements, which is why many countries adopt a dual-track policy, supporting both large-scale agriculture and smallholders. What are the pros and cons of a dual-track policy? Perhaps Thailand offers lessons worth learning from.
'Using Thailand as the world's kitchen to expand the export economy'
Agriculture is an important industry in Thailand, not because its output value is very high. In fact, according to 2007 statistics, agricultural output accounted for only 8.4% of its GDP, yet the agricultural population made up 49% of Thailand's labor force. Thailand's largest agricultural export is the renowned jasmine rice, once the world's largest rice export by volume, but in recent years it has been affected by competition from Indian and Vietnamese fragrant rice, rampant counterfeiting of Thai fragrant rice by China, U.S. biopiracy To boost Thailand's agricultural export rate, the Thai government launched the 'Thai Kitchen to the World' program in 2002. In the past, many domestic research institutions have introduced the Thai Kitchen to the World program, but mostly from the perspective of food and beverage industry marketing[2] According to Thai official statements, the program's goal is to 'use Thailand as the world's kitchen to expand the export economy,' marketing high-quality and safe agricultural products, processed goods, and authentic Thai cuisine to the world; at the same time, official documents and scholars' research also claim the hope that through this program, the local development of domestic small and medium-sized farms can be promoted[3] However, Thai social movement activists still have many criticisms and doubts about such a dual-track strategy. They believe Thailand's most urgent task is to solve the problems of landless farmers and impoverished regions; the World Kitchen or the commercialization of organic agriculture promoted by the government to please big businesses are merely synonyms for industrialized agriculture. In the long run, they not only undermine opportunities for achieving a self-sufficient economy in social and environmental terms, but also allow big businesses to exploit farmers, or shift the risks of the international agri-food economy onto contract farmers[9] What exactly is the purpose of a local food system? Is it only to solve economic problems? Once economic problems are solved, can everything else, such as community, environmental conservation, disaster prevention, and cultural transmission, also be solved? Do these issues have an order of priority? Under the framework of neoliberalism, many countries have taken the path of dual-track sustainable agricultural policy. Beneath the superficially impressive results, we probably still need to reflect deeply: in the long term, whose interests does such a policy sustain? (This article was originally published in the Farmers' Monthly, published by the Farmers' Association of the Republic of China, January 2018 [ROC year 107], Volume 69, Issue 1, pages 16-19.) [1] U.S. plan to develop Thai fragrant rice criticized, November 02, 2001, BBC Chinese.cam, [2] For example: Yu Pei-Ju (2015). Interpreting Thailand's 'World Kitchen' Master Plan and reflections on Taiwan, China industrial policy. Ministry of Economic Affairs e-newsletter, http://twbusiness.nat.gov.tw/epaperArticle.do?id=274169860 [3] Warunee Varanyanond, 2013, Forstering Food Culture with Innovation: OTOP and Thai Kitchen to the World, JIRCAS International Symposium Proceedings, https://www.jircas.go.jp/en/publication/proceedings/2013/179 [4] Thai cuisine Khuan Chai, http://khuanjai.com/thaiselect/THAI Select [7] Green Net, Policies on organic agriculture in Thailand [8] Thai term, meaning the smallest administrative unit between the community and the district. [9] Isabelle Delforge, 2004, Thailand: From the Kitchen of the World to Food Sovereignty. Fcous on the Global South, https://focusweb.org/node/506
Dual-track agriculture: whose interests does it sustain?