A whole new world

Krola village's struggle began in 1993, when villagers found signboards posted along the village road, staking claim to their land. The signboards had been put up by business people from Ban Lung, the urban centre nearest to Krola. They wanted to convert the land as well as the neighbouring forests into palm plantations, as the area's soil was very fertile.

To save their land, the community took the only action they could think of. They removed the signs and resolved to say a firm 'no'. An internal policy was formulated, forbidding the sale of land to outsiders. Any member who sold land would be disqualified from clearing new area for cultivation, and would be forced to place the proceeds of the sale into the communal village fund.

Due to such measures, business sharks were unsuccessful in their attempts to grab the land. However, they started logging the forests. For years the devastation continued; in 1997, left without any other alternative, representatives of the village approached Norodom Sihanouk, the country's king. He urged the government to protect the country's hill tribes from environmental and cultural erosion by granting them legal rights over areas they inhabit.

Since the government had to 'oblige' the king, it granted permission to the Krola communities to prepare a plan as to how the rights would be granted. In August 1998, a provincial working group (including representatives from the departments of agriculture, forest, environment and land titles) presented a 'request' to the governor of Ratanakiri (the province in which Krola exists) and the national land titles department to proceed further. The lack of a national legal framework that recognises land rights of indigenous communities was cited as the major obstacle in granting rights to the community.

Following this, a national conference was organised in March 1999, during which the minister for the council of ministers, H E Sok An, promised the inclusion of a section, dealing with such rights, in the new land law being drafted. A survey was conducted thereafter to know the communities' opinions on the new draft section. Its results were used by the council of ministers in redrafting the content of the section. Then the new land law, with provisions of communal land titling, was passed by the National Assembly. "But this is just the beginning. Even after two years, there is no political will to enforce the law. Hence the communities have to fight to ensure that the law is implemented. It is an endless struggle, but one which can bear fruit. It certainly proves that another world is possible if the communities empower themselves," says Gordon Paterson, of Non-Timber Forest Products Project, a non-governmental organisation based in Ratanakiri.

As told to Ritu GuptaSHAFIQ BUTT
Punjab Lok Sujag, Lahore

Milked but alive

The Punjab Lok Sujag, a Lahore-based non-governmental organisation, has been struggling for years to end the exploitation of rural milk producers of Pakistan by multinational companies (MNCs). The struggle is of great significance, as the country is the fourth largest producer of milk in the world (30 billion litres in 2002). MNCs, especially Nestle, have gone to any length to capture the market, because the country's per capita milk consumption is one of the highest in the world -- 440 millilitres per day.

Traditionally, urban centres bought milk from peri-urban and rural sellers. But in the 1980s, municipal authorities decided to boost up packaged milk (primarily Nestle). Among other things they telecast a 10-minute documentary, showing local sellers getting milk from sick animals, and mixing dirty pond water in milk. In contrast, the companies were portrayed as all-good. Lahore's corporation even declared all milk animals as public hazards and obstacles in making the city clean.

Such a campaign made it impossible for rural and peri-urban milk producers to remain in business, and by the mid-1990s they had lost most of their customers. They even had to shift their animals out of the city. Nestle took over the market. It started buying milk from 'middlemen' as well as directly from rural sellers, now forced to sell at unjustified prices. To date, the system continues. The companies exploit farmers as much as possible. It has even manipulated the country's Pure Food Law of 1965, as per which cow milk should have 3.5 per cent fat and 8.5 per cent solids non-fats (SNFs); buffalo milk should have five per cent fat and nine per cent SNFs.

The companies have arbitrarily set the standard of six per cent fat and 15 per cent total SNFs. This way the farmers are exploited -- despite the farmers' milk being pure, its declared adulterated. 100 litres of buffalo milk with five per cent fat fetches the price of only 83 litres, as per the company's rules.

This is not all. Companies pay farmers only Rs 11 for every litre of milk purchased. Then they take out a hefty 31 kg of fat (desi ghee) from 1,000 litres of the pure milk and sell the remaining low fat milk after processing and packing at Rs 32 per litre. This generates a margin of Rs 24.66 per litre for the companies. This way everybody in the milk business is rich expect for the one who actually produces it.

Why do the farmers keep getting exploited? Fact is, they have to sell to survive. "The only way out for them is to form a diary cooperative like the one which was formed in Gujarat, India," says Shafiq Butt, executive member of the Punjab Lok Sujag, that now has done a study to prove their point.

As told to Ritu Gupta