What follows is a precis of three Earth Read-Out interviews in May '97 with M.D. Nanjundaswamy, a law professor and one of the leading figures in the ongoing gallant gandhian resistance to transnationalism in India.
ERO: Did you have any actions with the farmers
prior to the KFC action?
MDN: Oh yes, we had a program of direct action against
Cargill.
ERO: Where there any other targets?
MDN: Yes, but we have to still take action on them--multinationals
who are trying to get into food and agriculture sectors. . .like W. R.
Grace and Co.
ERO: What are the mainobjections to Cargill and Grace?
MDN: Cargill, the largest grain trader in the world,
is now getting into seed. One of their mootos is "One who controls the
seed controls the farmer and one who controls the food trade controls the
nation". A bill before Parliament called The Plant Varieties Protection
Act takes away all the farmers rights which they have enjoted for generations--they
will no longer be able to produce new varieties of seed, or trade seed
amongst themselves. The intentions Grace and Cargill are that seed must
be purchased every year. We have a movement called The Seed Freedom Movement--Seed
Satyagrapha, to break unjust laws and create a just system.It starts as
seed slavery but it becomes total slavery because seed technology has been
developed in such a way that the farmer becomes dependent on not only the
seeds but also other inouts.
ERO: Yes. like chemical fertilizers.
MDN: Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides,
etc.
ERO: Yes, and then the possibility of agricultural
disasters is greatly increased because of seed monoculture where you lose
the varieties and so if the one standard seed being sold by the companies
should encounter a surprise pest, for example, then you have an enormous
catastrophe.
MDN: That's exactly what happened this year
in Punjab and Haryana, where a particular variety of wheat was totally
destroyed. The farmers didn't get any yield ata all. This was from a defective
seed......so that's why we had to import wheat this year.
ERO: I see, And of course the price of wheat
is going up very rapidly....to the point where poor nations will hardly
be able to feed themselves. What is the role of KFC in all this?
MDN: KFC, which is part of the Pepsico chain, has
agreed with the Export Promotion Board of the government of India to introduce
modern livestock technology and crops to increase meat exports. Huge quantities
of food grain will be ased for cattle feed, creating food insecurity in
the country and depleting cattle wealth, necessary for Indian agriculture
and small farmers. 75% of farmers have less than 5 acres. Globally 140
million tons of food grains are used to produce 7 million tons of beef.
ERO: Any other comments about KFC in India?
MDN: It's not just KFC, but also MacDonalds and other
multi-nationals who are running these fast food chains. We are fighting
for a decentralized system of agricultural production and distribution.
We have started a Centre fo Sustainable Development which also has a farmer's
seed bank.
to be continued
