In the article No let up in India farm suicides BBC News reports on the increase of suicides among farmers of Maharashtra, India. This increase is attributed to debts that farmers are unable to pay. There is little hope in government relief programs, as they do not adequately respond to farmers’ debt. Another source of criticism on governmental policy for aid for farmers is that the government does not utilize funds to educate farmers about their rights.
The article reports that an estimated 10,000 farmers commit suicide in India every year. Farmers’ debt makes them vulnerable to high interest rates from loaners, only worsening farmers’ financial situations. The article offers some statistics to put into perspective the severity of the problem of debt and suicide amongst farmers in India. I thought this story was particularly interesting because I had not known of this problem prior to reading the article. A lot of times the articles I read contain recycled information presented in new ways, but this was news to me!
Check out the article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7383662.stm
If you are interested in rights for farmers and fair trade policies check out this site:
http://www.transfairusa.org/
You can check out Fair Trade criticism too: http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj27n1/cj27n1-9.pdf
Check out the article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7383662.stm
If you are interested in rights for farmers and fair trade policies check out this site:
http://www.transfairusa.org/
You can check out Fair Trade criticism too: http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj27n1/cj27n1-9.pdf
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