Asia Sentinel

Rice Shortage: Crisis or Hype?

JET DAMAZO
29 May 2008

The world’s rice crisis seems to have come and gone

Whatever happened to the rice crisis? In April, reports of a global food crisis and exorbitant spikes in food prices hogged headlines after major-rice exporting countries announced export restrictions and importing countries — the Philippines in particular — scrambled to secure rice supplies from neighboring countries.

Just a month later, however, prices have begun to fall, the export ban has been lifted in Cambodia and both Vietnam and India, two other rice-exporting nations, have suggested they may lift restrictions as well amid a growing realization by governments that there is no immediate rice shortage after all. The price fell Wednesday to the lowest in more than two months and has fallen by nearly 30 percent. Mentions of rice shortage in the news now have the words “alleged” and “perceived” attached to them — but not before the global panic over rice supplies caused prices to shoot up to around $1,000 per metric ton in the global market.

The leader of the world’s largest rice importer, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is now being attacked by critics for actions that would otherwise have been praised if the shortage had been real—raising farm gate prices to encourage local farmers to produce more rice, jailing rice hoarders and promoting alternative staples like sweet potatoes to her rice-consuming constituents — saying these led to more hoarding and pushed prices higher. The Philippines, it turns out, has 54 days of rice stocks on hand, nearly double China’s.

“The price increase was induced by hype,” claims Rosario Bella Guzman, executive editor of local think tank IBON Foundation, after local rice prices increased by over 20 percent over the first quarter of the year—from P23.31 (US 53¢) per kilo of regular milled rice in January to P29.70 in April.

A memo from the country’s agriculture department to the office of the president in February, she says, said that the government needed to import 2.4 million metric tons of rice because of increasing global prices and tightening supply growth, even though the projected shortfall was only around 1.4 million metric tons. “The Philippines was panic buying at exorbitant rates,” she adds. “The excess would only end up in private warehouses.”

So was the rice shortage real or perceived? Adam Barclay, a spokesperson for the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), based in the Philippines, maintains that the real underlying cause of the rice price increase is the long-term imbalance between demand and supply, which has gradually pushed up prices since 2001.

“The long-term demand and supply imbalance implies that we have been consuming more than what we have been producing. This gap between demand and supply was met by depleting rice stocks which are now down to a 20-year low,” Barclay said. “This rise in price accelerated towards the end of 2007 as traditional exporting countries such as India and Vietnam imposed export restrictions.”

The problem was exacerbated by the disastrous results of Cyclone Nargis in Burma, which virtually destroyed the rice production capability of the Irrawaddy River Delta. Burma, which had contracted to sell 600,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, was suddenly turned into a net importer, needing about 500,000 tonnes, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. In addition, North Korea appears to be headed into serious famine and faces a shortfall of as much as a million tonnes of grains, not necessarily rice, although the country’s problems can be expected to cut into other world grain stocks, which are in increasingly short supply.

In addition, according to the just-released OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook for 2008 through 2017, “the overall trend of rising output masks an expected fall in (planted area) due to rivalry with other crops and nonagricultural sectors for land.” Rice is also expected to gain importance in African diets, where consumption per capita is expected to rise by about 10 percent annually over the next decade

But Barclay acknowledged that the combination of export restrictions from some countries and the need for imports from other countries, including speculations and panicked reactions following the ban in rice exports, did contribute to the sudden spike in rice price in March-April this year.

“Other factors include the rapid rise in price of oil (which has raised the cost of fertilizer, irrigation and transport) and pest and weather problems in several key rice-growing areas (for example pest problems in Vietnam, floods in Bangladesh, and drought in the Philippines and Australia),” Barclay added. “The convergence of these problems with several longer-term trends, such as population growth, economic growth and shifting diets in India and China, the increasing popularity of rice in Africa, and a leveling off of productivity growth prompted the rapid price rises.”

Food security expert Mohiuddin Alamgir, former director for policy and planning at the International Fund for Agricultural Development and currently a consultant with the Asian Development Bank, also agrees that the country’s actions, along with speculative commodities traders and opportunistic rice traders, contributed to the spike in prices.

"There is a structural gap in the country’s supply and demand of rice, which is why the Philippines is now the world’s largest importer of rice. The world knows this and so the country’s actions will always impact the market,” Alamgir explained, adding that the manner in which the government came into the market can be debated, as it may have sent the wrong signal. But, he says, had it not been for Arroyo’s actions, the country would have been in a worse situation, prices today would have been much higher, and lines at the government’s subsidized rice stores would have been longer.

“The country’s problem was that it did not plan properly,” he adds. “But people are hurting and they would have hurt more had it not been for the actions taken. Food security is as important as national security, and so governments have to make sure people have food.”

http://www.bangkokpost.com/250508_News/25May2008_news10.php

Rice farmers dig in over foreigners' land

Opposition mounts to Saudi venture



By Sunthorn Pongpao & Thai News Agency

The Thai Farmers Association called on concerned agencies yesterday to look into land occupation by foreign businessmen, which has made many of the country's rice farmers landless. ''Vast areas of farmland in the western and northeastern provinces have fallen into the hands of Taiwanese businessmen, while investors from the United States have also bought a number of plots in the fruit-growing province of Phetchabun,'' said association member Wichian Phuanglamchiak.

''Widespread land acquisitions by these foreign landlords has already made a good number of rice farmers landless, forcing them to rent the same land for rice growing from foreigners,'' he said.

His call came in the wake of an alleged plan to support Saudi Arabian businessmen keen on putting their money in rice farming and setting up a joint rice export venture.

The plan has drawn fierce protests from paddy farmers, who fear they will soon end up being landless farmers if foreigners are not stopped from buying more rice growing areas.

The association said yesterday it would write to Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, asking him to scrap the plan.

The plan is reportedly the brainchild of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who took a group of Saudi businessmen on a tour of a rice production centre in the Buffalo Village of Chart Thai party secretary-general Prapat Pothasuthon in Suphan Buri on Wednesday.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Prissananantakul, from the Chart Thai party, also opposes the plan, saying the idea was ''tantamount to selling the nation''.

But Mr Somsak yesterday denied the remark had anything to do with Mr Thaksin.

''I have to apologise to Mr Thaksin if he feels he's been dragged into the dispute for no apparent reason, which might cause him damage,'' said Mr Somsak in Chiang Mai, the hometown of Mr Thaksin.

Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa said yesterday that Mr Somsak's harsh comment could have resulted from some misunderstandings.

Mr Banharn said Mr Thaksin phoned him before Wednesday's trip, saying he only wanted to show foreigners how rice farming is done in Thailand, and how the sector could be further developed with the help of modern agricultural technology.

Mr Prapat's interview had misled the public into believing that foreign investors were being encouraged by Mr Thaksin to buy up all the paddy fields, he said.

Mr Thaksin's spokesman Pongthep Thepkanjana defended Mr Thaksin yesterday by saying that the former prime minister only wanted to do things he thinks will benefit the nation.

--

At 08:14 PM -0700 05/25/08, Betsy R. Cramer wrote:
It's sad but it's an international issue: few people want to live on a farm in this internet globalized world. I think it is a universal belief that working with one's hands, farming, is inferior to getting an education and a well-paying job in the/a city. That old song, How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm After They've Seen Paree?, would apply to Thailand, except maybe it could be rewritten to say, How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm After They've Travelled Online and Seen the World Wide Web? It's the ever-present downside of education...... And to get that education and the perceived benefits costs $, and the only capital most have is their land.

At 08:16 AM -0700 05/26/08, Mac Bakewell wrote:
Yes, exactly, except that the families in our hardly atypical village who have either sold or mortgaged their land were influenced more by television, which they've had access to since the arrival of electricity in 1980, than by the Internet, which few adults in rural Thailand have ever seen. Whatever the influence, the families I know who have recently sold or mortgaged their land have reinvested the proceeds in diesel pickups rather than education.

A car is the ultimate status symbol in Thailand and, because of the way vehicles are taxed, diesel pickups are the most affordable option. Trouble is, land is so cheap and vehicles so expensive that the sale or mortgage of a typical family farm yields only enough for a down payment on a $20- $30-thousand Toyota, Nissan, or Isuzu. Thanks in part to a cultural disinclination toward maintenance, this purchase typically leaves the extended family in debt over a shiny new toy that will have depreciated to near zero long before the loan is paid off.

Still, urban migration does seem inevitable. The young people who, with or without education, have already moved to the cities send money home to sustain their parents who are raising the grandchildren in the village. (The long-term social ramifications of these abridged-extended families remain to be seen.) Very few of the young people who have moved away are doing well enough in the cities to enjoy being separated from the social fabric of the village, but many of those who can afford to do so have begun investing in better schooling for their own kids.

Thus rural brain-drain is already a reality, and I'm not sure where this is going to end up. Some farmers, like the outside investors, are astute enough to recognize that agriculture is a potentially profitable enterprise. If such farsighted folks can devise ways to inspire their communities to pool their resources, and to persuade their educated sons and daughters to stay on, then they might not have to watch their villages devolve into company towns.

That hasn't happened in many places in the USA, and it is unlikely that it will in Thailand. Rural poverty is a common factor in both countries, but in terms of cooperative communities some Thai villages come pretty close to the Amish model, which has proven remarkably competitive with corporate farming in the USA.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=127743

Taking the green plunge

Organic rice farmers enjoy double benefits

May 20, 2008

By Peter Janssen, dpa

Rice prices have more than doubled, so paddy in the field means money in the bank or debts paid off. Thai farmers growing organic rice have even more to smile about.

Although organic rice farming is still miniscule in Thailand, where most farmers remain attached to their chemical fertilisers and industrial pesticides, those who have taken the green plunge are reaping double rewards this year.

"If you use chemical fertiliser you have to buy from the market and now the price of fertiliser is very high because it is linked to oil prices," said Upin Khasana, an organic rice farmer in Sanam Chai Ket district of Chachoengsao province, 60 kilometres east of Bangkok.

Upin belongs to a 15-family co-op of farmers who decided to switch to organic rice growing seven years ago, with technical input from Green Net, a non-governmental organisation that promotes organic farming in Thailand and helps farmers sell their crops on the domestic market and abroad.

The Chachoengsao co-op uses only natural fertiliser - cow and goat droppings - and no chemical pesticides. In return, Green Net buys their rice at a premium price, usually a little above the market's, and handles the certification process under the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), selling under the Green Net brand name.

After 14 years in the business, Green Net is only producing about 2,000 tons a year of organic rice, supplied by cooperatives in Yasothon, Chiang Mai, Uttaradit, Loei, Khon Khen and Chachoengsao provinces.

"We started out just selling locally, but now we export about 85 per cent," said Vitoon Panyakul, director of the Green Net.

Green Net's only competitor in the organic rice trade is the Capital Rice Company, one of Thailand's leading rice exporters.

Capital Rice started an organic rice farm project in Chiang Rai province in 1991, at the request of Italy's Riseria Monferrato S.p.A., a major rice distributor in Europe.

Last year, Capital Rice exported about 1,000 tons of organic rice under its Great Harvest brand, mainly to Europe.

"If you compare that to Capital Rice's total exports, it is very small, less than 1 per cent," said Wanlop Pichpongsa, deputy managing director of the company.

Thailand's total rice exports last year amounted to 9.55 million tons, earning the country 3.6 billion dollars. This year's rice exports are estimated to reach 8.75 million tons, earning as much as 4.7 billion dollars, winning farmers and exporters a bonanza from higher commodity prices, ramped up by high oil prices and artificial shortages caused by export bans in India and Vietnam.

If anything, the doubling of rice prices this year is probably bad news for organic rice traders such as Green Net and Capital Rice, since higher prices will encourage farmers to try to produce more paddy by using more chemical fertilisers.

"In a way it is okay, because we will see that those who remain with us are really committed to the organic cause," said Green Net's Vitoon. "So it's a way to shake things up a bit and see who is in it just for the money and who is committed."

Capital Rice has put its organic rice expansion plans on hold, also because of uncertainty about farmers' "commitment."

"The character of a community has to be suitable for organic farming," noted Wanlop. "Not every community is suitable. For instance, the rice growers in the central plains can grow rice two- three times a year by using chemicals and pesticides, so they are not interested."

But for the organic rice growers of Sanam Chai Khet in Chanchoengsao, staying committed to the organic cause is more about choosing a lifestyle.

"We do it for our lives more than for the money," said Nutchainat Keowuwee, a member of the Chachoengsao Green Net co-op. "My husband worked with chemical fertiliser for a long time and he became sick. His health was no good. That's one reason I switched to organic."

In Sanam Chai Khet, as in most rice growing villages in Thailand, the farmers keep most of their rice harvest for their own consumption through the year, selling only a portion of it to Green Net for sale on the domestic or export markets.

"The price we get for our rice is about the same as the market price, but what we get is better health," said Uenfah Chamkhet, another co-op member. "We are saving money on medical bills."

--

— The economics in the opening and closing paragraphs don't match up , but there are some interesting morsels in between. — Mac

Washington Post

Women Rise in Rwanda's Economic Revival

By Anthony Faiola

Washington Post Staff Writer

Friday, May 16, 2008; A01

MARABA, Rwanda -- Sun-kissed plantations ring this village, renowned in recent years for growing the rich arabica beans brewed and served in some of the world's finest coffee houses. But the secret to success here has had far less to do with the idyllic climate and volcanic soil than with a group of people who have emerged as Maraba's -- and Rwanda's -- most potent economic force: women.

In the 14 years since the genocide, when 800,000 people died during three months of violence, this country has become perhaps the world's leading example of how empowering women can fundamentally transform post-conflict economies and fight the cycle of poverty. That is particularly clear here in Maraba, a southern village where a host of women -- largely relegated to backbreaking field work in the days before the genocide -- found unwanted opportunity in the fertile lands they would inherit from slaughtered husbands, fathers and brothers.

As both female and male survivors sought to rebuild coffee plantations with financial and technical assistance from international organizations, Maraba's women, most trying their hands at the business of farming for the first time, were by far the faster students. They showed more willingness than men, officials here said, to embrace new techniques aimed at improving quality and profit. Now, Maraba's female farmers are outdoing their male counterparts in both, numbering about half of all farmers in the village's coffee cooperative but producing 90 percent of its finest quality beans for export.

The march of female entrepreneurialism, playing out here and across Rwanda in industries from agribusiness to tourism, has proved to be a windfall for efforts to rebuild the nation and fight poverty. Women more than men invest profits in the family, renovate homes, improve nutrition, increase savings rates and spend on children's education, officials here said.

It speaks to a seismic shift in gender economics in Rwanda's post-genocide society, one that is altering the way younger generations of males view their mothers and sisters while offering a powerful lesson for other developing nations struggling to rebuild from the ashes of conflict.

"Rwanda's economy has risen up from the genocide and prospered greatly on the backs of our women," said Agnes Matilda Kalibata, minister of state in charge of agriculture. "Bringing women out of the home and fields has been essential to our rebuilding. In that process, Rwanda has changed forever. . . . We are becoming a nation that understands that there are huge financial benefits to equality."

Where Men Failed

In the central highlands town of Masaka, the road to female prosperity runs through a path of male shame.

The main drag -- a red earthen way -- winds through a number of tiny mud huts, passing first by the home of Ildiphonse Muhayimana, a builder whose yet-to-be installed iron roofing was seized by village elders this year not long after he defaulted on a $110 bank loan. "He spent the money on women and liquor," said his loan officer, Abed Muhawenimana. Further down the way, teacher Enock Muvunji met a similar fate, his bike seized last month until he repays a $277 loan.

Yet venture up the road, and you reach the door of Jeanine Mukandayisenga. The 29-year-old wife of a disabled army officer and mother of two took out a $50 microloan in 2005 with a plan to support her family. Her pitch: Few people in her neighborhood owned cellphones -- so she would buy one and charge a few cents per call. She paid back the loan within a year. Last year, she took out a $400 loan to open a graining mill for cassava flour. Her businesses are earning the family a relatively princely sum of $650 a month.

Officials at Vision Finance, the microloan arm of World Vision International that launched a program in 2005 in this town of 40,000, said that while women make up the majority of borrowers, four out of five defaulters are men.

"They say that women care more about the family, but I do not know if that is true," Mukandayisenga said. "I think it has more to do with the self-control woman show in hard times. We know how to survive when men despair."

Wise Investors

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that women have been key in reconstructing Rwanda. In the effort to finance the reduction of poverty in the developing world, many leading experts said that women simply make better investments.

The evidence has been building for years. In 1990, a major study on poverty in Brazil published in the Journal of Human Resources showed that the effect of money managed by women in poor households was 20 times more likely to be spent on improving conditions in the home than money managed by men.

In Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank founded by 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has focused its poverty-busting microloans on women, with success rates far higher for female than for male borrowers. Microloan programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America have shown similar results.

In India's great economic transformation of the past 15 years, states that have the highest percentage of women in the labor force have grown the fastest as well as had the largest reductions in poverty, according to the World Bank.

"We have overwhelming evidence from almost all the developing regions of the world that [investment in] women make better economics," said Winnie Byanyima, director of the United Nations Development Program's gender team.

Born of Tragedy

For the worst of reasons, Rwanda became a testing ground for such theories after the 1994 genocide.

The slaughter of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu militias, and the ensuing retributions, left Rwanda with a population that was 60 percent female and 40 percent male by the time the dead were buried. With thousands more men jailed for war crimes or living as refugees in neighboring Congo, women, at first by default, took on roles in business and politics. Although women had long enjoyed a relatively higher social status in Rwanda than in some other African nations, women here still had weak property rights, and female entrepreneurs were rare.

That would change rapidly -- particularly in agriculture, where many women were forced to take over farms. They found an ally in the barrage of foreign organizations that rushed into Rwanda following the genocide, with much of their focus aimed at training women.

As important was an acceptance at the highest levels of government that women would need new legal status to help rebuild the nation. By 1999, reforms were passed enabling women to inherit property -- something that would prove vitally important to female farmers. At the same time, woman began rising to higher ranks of political power. Today women hold about 48 percent of the seats in Rwanda's parliament, the highest percentage in the world. They also account for 36 percent of President Paul Kagame's cabinet, holding the top jobs in the ministries of commerce, agriculture, infrastructure, foreign affairs and information.

Success in economics mirrored the rise of women in politics. Today, 41 percent of Rwandan businesses are owned by women -- compared for instance with 18 percent in Congo. Rwanda has the second-highest ratio of female entrepreneurs in Africa, behind Ghana with 44 percent, according to the World Bank.

At the same time, Rwanda has engineered a surprisingly fast economic recovery. After falling into devastation in 1994, with many farms and businesses abandoned, damaged or destroyed, Rwanda's economy has since tripled in size and has grown at an average rate of 6 percent since 2004. Though the population is balancing out -- women edge men by a rate of 52 to 48 -- women make up 55 percent of the workforce, according to Commerce Minister Monique Nsanzabaganwa.

The ranks of female entrepreneurs were aided in part by returnees, largely from Uganda and the United States. Joy Ndungutse, 51, returned in the 1990s after working for years as a secretary in Washington. "We came back to a country destroyed," said Ndungutse, who since her return has built the largest nonagricultural export business in Rwanda. Her firm sells finely woven baskets to Macy's. Like many exporters here, she has been greatly aided by a trade agreement that allows her exports to enter the United States duty-free.

"Women are being given an opportunity in this country to change their status," she said, "and they are taking it."

From Survival to Success

For most women here, success in business was the unforeseen byproduct of their fight for survival in the face of unspeakable loss.

In the madness of the genocide, when ethnic hatreds boiled over into mass violence, Jeanette Nyirabaganwa, a minority Tutsi, escaped with her family, fleeing their home in Maraba where her family had cultivated coffee for years. They joined dozens of others who sought refuge in a schoolyard. When Hutu soldiers came, joined by some of her Hutu neighbors, they entered the yard firing machine guns, using machetes to hack those who remained alive. She watched as her husband was killed by bullets, her infant son and 2-year-old daughter hacked to death by blades. She survived by pretending to be dead.

"After two days I woke up," Nyirabaganwa, 39, said. "Birds were eating my dead children. This was too much for me. I wanted to be killed . . . I felt as if I was dead, too. I did not want to go on."

But she did. When the violence passed, and a Tutsi-dominated administration came to power, she returned to the jade hills of Maraba to take charge of four orphaned nephews and nieces. For the first few years, they survived with U.N. assistance. By the late 1990s, she had begun to visit her husband's old coffee plantation and her father's coffee farm, both of which had reverted to her after they died.

The farms were in disrepair, but she began her business by picking a few ripe beans off the trees and selling them to traders in town. "I knew nothing about growing or business," she said. "My job was to pick weeds between the coffee plants; women did not get involved in money or business. It was not done."

Like many women, she joined a coffee cooperative organized with the help of international nonprofit organizations and aid agencies in 1999. By 2001, USAID was offering extensive training to farmers. Rather than emphasize quantity, as farmers had for generations here, a new push was made to improve quality and prices by growing less but better coffee and using fertilizers.

Coffee-washing stations were established to impose strict quality control, sorting beans by grades and disposing of the poorest crops. Tasting laboratories -- staffed largely by women, who scientists say have more taste buds than men -- added to the quality. The best of Café de Maraba's production has become hugely popular among fair-trade coffee distributors in the United States and Europe, with exports growing from 20 tons in 2002 to an estimated 80 tons in 2008.

Theophile Biziyaremye, Café de Maraba executive director, said that male coffee growers in the cooperative have been too set in their ways. "They keep saying, 'We've done it our way all our lives, our fathers and grandfathers have done it this way, so why should I change and use your way to grow coffee now?' " he said. "The women are different. They have not done it before, so they are adapting and growing the better-quality coffee. That also means they are making more money than the men."

Nyirabaganwa is proof. Now employing eight laborers, she is growing three times as much coffee as her father and husband did. They sold their poorer-quality beans for local consumption. Her finer grade is largely for export, roasted overseas and sold in coffee shops and specialty stores in cities including London, New York, Chicago and New Orleans.

"I'm proud of this," Nyirabaganwa said. "I would never have thought I would be in a situation like this. I never thought I could come back."

Her total family income is roughly five times what it was then, income she has used to improve family life. Two years ago, she renovated the family home, still a modest space of plain cement walls, to make it more sturdy. She bought cellular phones for her four charges, all of whom see their aunt as a role model.

"I think that now, boys and girls are different than they were," said Eric Muhire, a junior in high school. "Today, woman are in business; before, if a woman had some money, she would have to give it to the man. They could not compete against a man. But now, they are competing and doing better."

Perhaps more important for Nyirabaganwa, a woman who was only educated through primary school, is that Donatelia Mukampe Ta, 18 and her oldest female charge, is set to graduate from high school this year. Nyirabaganwa has promised to pay for her higher education in the capital, Kigali, where Ta hopes to become an accountant.

By Western standards, women still have a long way to go in Rwanda. Many of the women in Maraba who have husbands are culturally expected to ask their permission before engaging in any form of business. But some of these women who have inherited land from genocide victims have been able to use income from farming or renting that land to gain a measure of financial independence.

When Gemina Mukashyaka, 30, who cleans the coffee-tasting laboratory in Maraba, insisted that she pay for the schooling of her younger sister after their parents were killed in the genocide, her husband balked. She ignored his protests, paying with money she gained from leasing the land she inherited from her parents.

"My husband is not happy about my paying for my sister, but it is my money," she said. "The law in Rwanda now says that woman have that right. I will not let him stop me."

Yahoo News - AFP

Myanmar says more than 133,000 dead, missing in cyclone

May 16, 2008

Satellite photos: Burma Before and After Cyclone Nagris

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar said Friday that more than 133,000 people were dead or missing in the cyclone disaster, nearly doubling the toll from the worst disaster in the country's history, which hit two weeks ago.

Even as the regime again rejected calls for international aid workers to help direct the massive relief effort, state media acknowledged that the scope of the disaster had prevented confirmation of the figures.

State television said 77,738 were dead and 55,917 missing -- with 19,359 people injured -- according to the latest figures confirmed on Thursday.

It said 159 government staff were among the dead, with 58 missing and another four who were injured. No other details were given.

The stunning new toll nearly doubled the roughly 71,000 dead or missing given by state media the previous day, and comes amid mounting foreign pressure on the country's secretive military rulers to allow a full-scale aid effort.

Aid agencies believe 2.5 million people who survived the powerful storm are still in dire need of food, water, shelter or medical care, and have warned that the death toll will rise unless they get help immediately.

But the European Union's aid chief, who held two days of talks with the ruling generals, said earlier that they would not budge on the issue of foreign disaster experts -- angering the international community.

Heavy rains on Friday again pounded the devastated southern Irrawaddy Delta region, compounding the misery for one of the poorest and most isolated countries in the world.

Louis Michel, the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner, was due to leave the secretive nation later in the day after failing to get permission to visit the delta, which has been all but sealed off to journalists and outsiders.

He said the regime, which has long been suspicious of the outside world and any influence that could weaken its control on power here, would not explain why they continued to refuse visas for most foreign disaster emergency experts.

"They didn't answer the question, and they did not give any reason," Michel told AFP.

But Western diplomats who declined to be named said the regime was taking them to the delta on Saturday, but have no further details about where they would be going.

Michel said he had been taken to "a rather perfect, organised camp" outside the main city of Yangon, far from the flooded and devastated delta region where aid groups say many survivors have still not received help.

Myanmar's southeast Asian neighbours meanwhile were gearing up for talks in Singapore on Monday aimed at convening a high-level donors meeting.

A UN source said a donor meeting would likely take place in southeast Asia, probably Bangkok, with May 24 suggested as a possible date.

The junta has said that the country will welcome aid shipments but has steadfastly refused to bow to international pressure to let in most outside workers, saying it can manage the disaster on its own.

Michel has warned that the impoverished country, once a rich British colony known as Burma, is at risk of famine after Cyclone Nargis wiped out vast swathes of the country's rice-growing delta region.

Despite the humanitarian emergency, the government announced victory in a national referendum on a new constitution, held last Saturday with parts of the country still underwater and tens of thousands of people unaccounted for.

It said the vote, the first here since 1990, was a step on the road to democracy, but critics say it will only tighten the military's grip on power. Another round of voting is scheduled for May 24.

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=92212

MYANMAR: Government denies foreign journalists' entry

Military junta limits foreign aid and news coverage of post-Cyclone Nargis devastation

By Debory Li
AsiaMedia Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

BBC journalist Andrew Harding was deported from Myanmar last week after attempting to report about the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.

According to an Agence France-Presse report, state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar first covered the story, saying Harding was deported due to visa violations. He attempted to enter Myanmar with a tourist visa rather than an official journalist visa. Harding had done this twice before and was blacklisted from entering the country.

New Light of Myanmar accused Western journalists of illegally entering Myanmar and writing falsehoods with the aid of anti-government groups within the country. Foreign journalists have been denied access to the country, and in the case of CNN reporter Dan Rivers, have resorted to sneaking inside it -- only to be hunted by the government. Local journalists face harassment and imprisonment for reporting on stories that may offend the ruling junta.

"The military regime wants to conceal the extent of the damage. And they don't want the Burmese people telling foreigners the true story," said Irrawaddy editor Aung Zaw, according to an Associated Press report.

Nonetheless, images and reports of the post-cyclone devastation have reached the rest of the world. Myanmar's state-run television station said the death toll has reached more than 34,000 after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar on May 3, 2008 and estimated that nearly 28,000 people are missing. The U.S. charge d'affaires in Yangon, Shari Villarosa, however, estimated the death toll is over 100,000.

U.N. officials said that at least two-thirds of the 1.5 million people in need of aid have not received it, according to a Bloomberg report. Recovery efforts remained stalled while the military government delays accepting foreign aid and imposes stringent restrictions.

Estimates by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization revealed that the five states hit hardest by Cyclone Nargis account for 65 percent of the country's rice production. "There is likely going to be incredible shortages in the next 18 to 24 months," economist Sean Turnell told the Associated Press.

Date Posted: 5/13/2008

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/business/2008/May/business_May339.xml&section=business&col=

Saudis to start growing rice in Thailand by the end of 2008

(Reuters) 10 May 2008

DUBAI — Saudi Arabia, one of the world's top rice buyers, is likely to start investing in rice farms in Thailand by the end of 2008 in a move to boost security of food supply, industry sources and traders said yesterday.

"A number of private companies and Saudi officials already met last week with Thai investors to discuss possible partnerships," said a Gulf industry source. "Those interested will be looking at meeting domestic demand and then exporting to neighbouring Gulf Arab countries, mainly the UAE," he told Reuters.

India, the world's second-biggest rice exporter in 2007, banned all non-basmati rice shipments in March, one of a series of protectionist measures worldwide that triggered a wave of panic buying, causing benchmark Thai prices to nearly treble.

Last year Saudi Arabia imported 960,000 tonnes of rice, making it the world's sixth biggest rice importer, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Around 70 per cent of the kingdom's rice imports were basmati rice, while Thai rice accounted for 10 per cent, traders said.

Saudi Arabia's cabinet on Monday approved plans to coordinate state and private sector activities, and to increase Saudi investments overseas in fisheries, livestock and food production.

"Saudi Arabia is trying to get companies investing together in rice farms in Thailand, and they are aware that companies here do not want to invest independently," one dealer said.

http://www.afet.or.th/v081/english/news/commodityShow.php?id=580

Saudi may start growing rice in Thailand by end '08

May 9, 2008
By Summer Said

DUBAI, May 9 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, one of the world's top rice buyers, is likely to start investing in rice farms in Thailand by the end of 2008 in a move to boost security of food supply, industry sources and traders said on Friday.

"A number of private companies and Saudi officials already met last week with Thai investors to discuss possible partnerships," said a Gulf industry source, who asked to remain anonymous.

"Those interested will be looking at meeting domestic demand and then exporting to neighbouring Gulf Arab countries, mainly the United Arab Emirates," he told Reuters.

India, the world's second-biggest rice exporter in 2007, banned all non-basmati rice shipments in March, one of a series of protectionist measures worldwide that triggered a wave of panic buying, causing benchmark Thai prices to nearly treble.

Last year Saudi Arabia imported 960,000 tonnes of rice, making it the world's sixth biggest rice importer, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Around 70 percent of the kingdom's rice imports were basmati rice, while Thai rice accounted for 10 percent, traders said.

Saudi Arabia's cabinet on Monday approved plans to coordinate state and private sector activities, and to increase Saudi investments overseas in fisheries, livestock and food production, state-owned Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday, without identifying any countries.

"Saudi Arabia is trying to get companies investing together in rice farms in Thailand, and they are aware that companies here do not want to invest independently," one dealer said.

"We are expecting a decision to be taken before the end of 2008, and most likely this decision will be a yes," he said.

The rising price of staples like rice -- called a "silent tsunami" by the World Food Programme -- has sparked violent protests from Haiti to Somalia, and heightened fears that the world's poor may soon struggle to feed themselves.

Many countries have responded to the high prices by imposing taxes and other restrictions on exports -- allowed under World Trade Organisation rules -- to try to ensure adequate domestic supplies.

TASTE CHANGE

The population of the desert kingdom, the world's largest oil exporter, could more than double to 53 million within about 30 years from 25 million now, John Sfakianakis, chief economist at HSBC Holdings Plc Saudi affiliate SABB bank said on Wednesday.

"Saudi Arabia is caught between a rock and a hard place. The government know they have to feed the increasing population, but on the other hand they cannot increase domestic agricultural output because of the country's scarce water supplies," a Saudi rice importer said.

"So sooner or later they will be forced to grow rice and other crops on foreign lands. Many here don't like Thai rice, but if the world is facing food scarcity, then a taste change is the last thing we should worry about."

Inflation is taking the shine off the rapid economic growth experienced by Gulf oil exporters, flush with windfall oil revenues, as food prices soar.

Last month, the government cut import tariffs on food and building materials, after inflation almost doubled in the six months to February.

Since December, Saudi Arabia has introduced cost of living allowances for public sector employees, boosted subsidies on rice, baby milk and other products, and introduced welfare payments.

Reporting by Summer Said, editing by Daniel Magnowski
Gulf newsroom, +971 4 366 4296, summer.said@reuters.com

Bangkok Post Breaking News
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=127591

Aid from Thailand reaches Burma, but not victims
May 10, 2008

Geneva (dpa) - The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said its first trucks had arrived in Burma Saturday from Mae Sot without a problem, carrying 20 tonnes of emergency aid for survivors of the cyclone.

But the Mae Sot area is far from the actual disaster area, and the aid had not reached victims of the storm, nine days ago.

The trucks, with enough emergency material to provide shelter for up to 10,000 people, had crossed over from Thailand at the Friendship Bridge border at Mae Sot. They bore plastic sheets and tents.

"This convoy marks a positive step in an aid effort so far marked by challenges and constraints," said Raymond Hall, UNHCR's Representative in Thailand.

"We hope it opens up a possible corridor to allow more international aid to reach the cyclone victims."

Hall added: "What we are sending in by road is in addition to the supplies we have already procured locally in Yangon and the 100 tons of supplies we started airlifting today from Dubai."

UNHCR has also started airlifting 100 tons of shelter supplies, including 4,500 plastic sheets and 17,000 blankets, from its Dubai stockpile to Yangon early Saturday.

The first 33 tons left on a World Food Programme aircraft with two other flights scheduled for early next week.

The refugee agency is focusing on providing emergency shelter for the cyclone victims in the Irrawaddy delta and parts of Yangon, which were among the worst hit. More than one million people are estimated to have lost their homes after Cyclone Nargis hit last Friday.

UNHCR has already distributed $50,000 worth of shelter items bought locally in the aftermath of the storm.

The lorry convoy is expected to take around two days from the border to Yangon in the south. The supplies, raided by UNHCR from its existing stockpiles normally intended for refugee camps scattered along the Thai-Burmese border, will be distributed by UNHCR staff.

UNHCR negotiated a concession for the border posts to stay open at the weekend to allow the convoys through.

UNHCR launched a $187 million appeal for Burmese Friday which included six million to provide 250,000 cyclone victims with shelter.

In depth: Cyclone Nagris
US Campaign for Burma » News
Cyclone Nargis - Breaking News - The New York Times
Maps: The Aftermath of Cyclone Nargis - The New York Times
Slide Show: Junta Allowing Little Aid After Cyclone - The New York Times
Other links re Cyclone Nagris ...

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/05/08/national/national_30072593.php

FDA warns of cheap and fashionable teeth braces

The Food and Drug Administration has warned that some cheap but fashionable teeth braces popular among youngsters are contaminated with lead, selenium, chromium and arsenic.

If the dangerous substances accumulate in the body, they can cause kidney failure and even death, says Deputy Public Health Minister Chaovarat Chanweerakul. He warns that some braces available outside dental clinics and hospitals are made with substandard materials and can cause an accumulation of toxins.

— Orthodontic braces are such a status symbol in Thailand that some young people who don't need them, or whose families can't afford the real thing, buy and proudly wear these potentially dangerous fakes —

Thai farmers urge commerce minister to explain why rice prices fall

BANGKOK, May 7 (TNA) - The Thai Farmers Association (TFA) has urged Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan to explain why local rice prices have declined sharply.

TFA president Prasit Boonchoei said farmers nationwide are now unhappy towards the way Mr. Mingkwan has handled rice market questions in the past, and now, they say, the more he talks, the more confused the farmers became.

Farmers would be more than happy if they could sell paddy rice at between Bt12,000-13,000 per tonne but prices have fallen since the government announced that it would release rice from its warehouses and sell to the retail public as packaged rice at a sales price about 20 per cent below the market price, Mr. Prasit said.

The market mechanism is now twisted, Mr. Prasit said, as rice exporters and millers have slowed buying paddy from farmers, causing prices to fall, he said.

"When rice prices rose the government released announcements regularly but when prices fell not a single government agency issued any statement," Mr. Prasit said. "The Commerce Ministry shouldn't speak on rice prices or its directions because farmers would eventually suffer."

Mr. Prasit suggested that the government should indicate clearly at what price it would buy rice from farmers to keep its stockpile at the same level of 2.1 million tonnes after it has decided to withdraw rice and sell it to the public in packaged rice form.

He said farmers were still not confident that the government would buy rice from them at the average price of Bt13,000 per tonne.

The government should also find ways to assist farmers who planned to organise a rally after millers have offered to buy paddy from them at prices which are too low, he added. (TNA)-E111

MCOT News : Thai farmers urge commerce minister to explain why rice prices fall
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=4152



Rice prices said to be easing as purchasing slows down

By Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation
Published on May 7, 2008

The price of 100-per-cent white paddy rice appears to have eased after hitting a record high of between Bt13,000 and Bt14,500 per tonne, traders reported.

Due to tight storage capacity and other factors, the prices started to fall by Bt1,500 to Bt2,000 last week as rice millers and exporters delayed their purchases.

However, traders dismissed the likelihood of further big falls as world demand remained strong and supply from other rice-exporting countries was restricted.

As a result of the weaker domestic price, the export price had also eased, down by between US$60 (Bt1,900) and $80 per tonne last week.

According to the Rice Exporters Association, the export price of 100-per-cent white rice was now $854 per tonne, down from $894.

Pramoth Vanichanont of the Thai Rice Millers Association said yesterday millers had delayed their purchases because of overwhelming stocks.

He believed the price would not fall below Bt10,000 a tonne, adding Cyclone Nargis had damaged Burma's rice crop so there would be higher demand on the world market.

Burma earlier expected to ship 500,000 tonnes of rice this year, up from the annual 300,000 tonnes.

Prasit Boonchuey, president of the Thai Rice Farmers Association, said farmers were satisfied with the current price, despite the drop from between Bt14,500 and Bt15,000 to between Bt11,000 and Bt13,000 a tonne for paddy white rice.

However, farmers would suffer if the price falls below Bt10,000 a tonne. He pointed out the cost of rice production for farmers had surged significantly this year from Bt5,690 to Bt7,000 a tonne because of the rising costs of fertiliser and pesticides.

To ensure lower prices would not hurt farmers, the association had called on the government to set up a price-guarantee programme to ensure the figure would not fall below Bt10,000 a tonne for paddy rice.

Bangkok's Independent Newspaper
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/05/07/national/national_30072426.php

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F8259015-8BAC-42F0-ADF5-F3F4A5A9526C.htm

WEDNESDAY, MAY 07, 2008
10:37 MECCA TIME, 7:37 GMT

Cyclone smashes Myanmar 'rice bowl'

The destruction wrought by Cyclone Nargis also threatens to have devastated Myanmar's agricultural heartland, posing concerns over long-term food shortages across an already desperately poor country.

The Irrawaddy delta region, which bore the brunt of the storm, has long been known as the rice-bowl of Myanmar.

But the features that made it so fertile – its low lying geography and its proximity to water - also made it vulnerable to disaster.

In the wake of the storm UN relief officials have reported distribution networks in the region in tatters and large tracts of rice-growing land still under water. Rice plants generally die if they remain submerged for about four days.

"The cyclone certainly complicates matters," said Paul Risley, a spokesman with the UN's World Food Programme in Bangkok.

"It blew through the critical rice-growing areas of the country and it seems the harvest was only partially completed. This could represent a substantial loss to the country's rice output," he said.

According estimated by the Rome-based UN Food and Agriculture Organization the five states hit hardest by the cyclone on Saturday produce 65 per cent of the country's rice.

The region also is home to 80 per cent of its aquaculture, 50 per cent of its poultry and 40 per cent of its pig production, the FAO said.

With as many as a million people directly affected by the catastrophe, rice shortages and possible accompanying public resentment present a major challenge to the country's military government.

With food shortages and rising prices already triggering riots in poor countries, the cyclone's disruption of the harvest in one of Asia's richest rice-growing areas could also have global implications.

Until last weekend, Myanmar had been expected to export a portion of its rice harvest.

Shortfalls could hit Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other regional neighbours that had been counting on importing Myanmar's rice.

Traders suggest that in the cyclone's wake, world rice prices, already soaring, could be sent higher.

Globally the cost of rice has already nearly tripled since the beginning of the year, busting the budgets of humanitarian agencies that provide emergency food aid to disaster-struck countries.

In depth: Cyclone Nagris
Eyewitness: 'Utter devastation'
Relief work hampered by red tape
Cyclone threatens military's grip
Map: The deadly path of Cyclone Nargis
Satellite photos: Before and after the cyclone
Timeline: Asia's deadliest storms
Video: Toll soars

Thailand drops plan for rice cartel that would have fixed prices

By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
(05-06) 06:26 PDT BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) --

Thailand is dropping plans to create a Southeast Asian rice cartel that would have fixed the price of the skyrocketing commodity over food security concerns, the country's foreign minister said Tuesday.

The proposal to create an OPEC-like cartel was first floated last week by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to give rice producers greater control over rice prices, which have tripled since December. But the idea was heavily criticized by senators in the Philippines, a major importer, as well as some Thai rice exporters.

"We are not talking about setting up a rice cartel," Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said after a meeting with ambassadors from six rice exporting countries in Asia. "If Thailand sets up a rice cartel and fixes a price, that will make matters worse and worsen food security."

Instead, Noppadon said Thailand proposed holding a meeting on rice in the next month or two that would work with top Asian exporters including India, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Pakistan to improve productivity. He also said exporting countries would discuss sharing of technology, market information and price information.

Noppadon denied that the about face on the cartel had anything to do with concerns about the impact on the Philippines.

"We are sympathetic to all human beings, not just the Filipinos," he said.

Rice prices have tripled this year, with the regional benchmark hitting $1,000 a metric ton for 100 percent Grade B white rice.

The run-up in rice prices has come amid global food inflation, poor weather in some rice-producing nations and demand that has outstripped supply. Some Asian countries, including India and Vietnam, have contributed to the problem by curbing rice exports to guarantee their own supplies.

Supporters say that a rice cartel — tentatively named Organization of Rice Exporting Countries — would ensure farmers benefit from the increasing demand for the staple.

Despite Thailand's reluctance, Cambodia's Information Minister Khieu Kanharith insisted that an association of rice exporting countries could still be useful for avoiding a "price war, which could affect livelihoods of peoples" in the region and beyond.

He said his government will pursue discussion about forming such an association at a meeting of the leaders of five Southeast Asian countries in Vietnam later this year. The five countries — Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar — have formed a sub-regional cooperation forum known as Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy, ACMECS.

Their next meeting is planned to be held in Vietnam in October, Khieu Kanharith said.

But Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Philippine Senate's Committee on Agriculture, has expressed concerns that a small group of producers could control the staple food and price it out of reach for "millions and millions of people."

"It is a bad idea," he said Friday. "It will create an oligopoly and it's against humanity."

Meanwhile, China said it has enough grain to keep food prices steady, amid reports authorities were struggling to prevent the smuggling of rice to overseas markets.

China views basic self-sufficiency in staple grains for its 1.3 billion people to be a national strategic priority, and with grain prices soaring internationally it is moving to ensure domestic supplies and curb exports, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its Web site.

The comments, published in the form of a question-and-answer session with an unnamed official, emphasized Beijing's ability to keep grain prices stable after four straight years of bumper harvests.

"Our grain supply and demand is basically steady, our reserves are full and we can guarantee the supply and stability of grain prices," the statement said.

It said reserves alone could meet demand for six months. The government is shifting grain from the north to heavily populated southern areas where consumption outstrips production.

Thailand drops plan for rice cartel that would have fixed prices

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/06/international/i021303D65.DTL&feed=rss.business

The Edge Daily
April 16, 2008

BANGKOK: Surging global demand caused Thailand to export 66% more rice in the first quarter of 2008 from the same period last year, Commerce Minister Mingkwan Sangsuwan said on Wednesday.

However, he said the world's number-one rice exporter, whose market share is set to rise due to recent export restrictions imposed by Vietnam and India, would not be raising its overall target for the year of nearly 9 million tonnes.

Mingkwan also reaffirmed that there was no need to release rice from a 2.1 million tonne government stockpile, as another 4.2 million tonnes of milled rice from the country's second annual crop was expected to hit the market this month.

"I'm sure that we will have ample supply for domestic consumption and exports so we don't need to release the stock," he told a news conference.

Between January to March 2008, Thailand exported 3.26 million tonnes, up from 1.96 million tonnes a year earlier, following India and Vietnam's decisions to restrict exports to protect domestic supply.

"That makes us feel confident that we could export up to 9 million, as we aimed earlier," he said.

Thailand exported 9.4 million tonnes of rice in 2007 and expects to sell up to 8.75 million to 9.0 million tonnes in 2008.

With the moves by Vietnam and India, Thailand expects to expand its share of the global rice market to 40% in 2008, from 31% in 2007, Mingkwan said.

Mingkwan said Thailand was looking to work with other rice exporting countries to ensure more price stability, starting with a visit by his Indian counterpart on April 27.

However, traders were sceptical about the success of any talks, given that the "cooperation" has been bandied about as a theme since 2001 without bringing any concrete results.

"In every county, rice is a political commodity that gets leaders into trouble if they make any mistakes. No one wants to take any action that could harm their farmers," said a trader who asked not to be named.

--

International Herald Tribune
April 4, 2008

Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, has no plans to restrict exports of the grain, the country's finance minister said Friday.

"We don't want to abuse or to artificially influence the market," Surapong Suebwonglee said on the sidelines of a conference of Southeast Asian finance ministers in Vietnam. "For the rice market in Thailand we try to follow (the rules of) supply and demand."

There has been speculation in rice markets that Thailand — like neighbors Cambodia and Vietnam — would act to boost its domestic supply of rice. Rice prices on world markets have jumped 50 percent in the past two months and at least doubled since 2004. Experts blame rising fuel and fertilizer expenses as well as crops curtailed by disease, pests and climate change.

There are concerns prices could rise a further 40 percent in coming months. Vietnam said at the end of March that it will cut rice exports by 1 million tons this year as part of the government's efforts to rein in soaring inflation and ensure food security. Cambodia ordered a ban on exports to curb rising prices in its domestic market.

Surapong's comments echo a recent statement by the Thai Commerce Minister that Thailand won't ban rice exports.

--

The Nation
April 19, 2008

"Now, hom mali is the world's most expensive rice. We just sold it at a new record of over US$1,300 per tonne to customers in Hong Kong for May delivery. Singapore, Malaysia and China are also our major customers.

"Looking back some 45 years, a tonne of hom mali rice was just over US$100. Today, we've seen record prices of not only rice, but also crude oil [$120 per barrel], gold [$1,000 per ounce] and other commodities," said Chookiat.

"We're now in the fourth straight month of price upsurge, meaning that prices for all kinds of rice have more than doubled - from $360 to $860 per tonne for white rice and from $620 to $1,300 for fragrant jasmine rice.

--

Bloomberg
April 18, 2008

An average household in India spent 32 percent of its income on food last year compared with 6 percent for a household in the U.S., data from the department show. The figure for Indonesia was 43 percent, and 36 percent for the Philippines.

"Poorer countries tend to suffer more than developed countries," HSBC's Neumann said. "It is the poor who shoulder the biggest burden."

--

Bangkok Post : General news
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/12Apr2008_news22.php

... According to the Meteorological Department, Thailand's annual mean maximum temperature has increased from 32.3C (90.14F) in the 1950s to 32.9C (91.22F) last year.

The department has forecast that during the Songkran week, between April 9-15, the highest recorded temperature will be 39C (102.2F).

The figure is considered moderate for many of us as we have experienced the 40-plus (104-plus F) degree heat several times in the past.

According to the department's records, Thailand's hottest day in the past 55 years stood at 44.5C (112.1F), which was measured on April 27, 1960 in Uttaradit province.

In the old days, people would bathe in the rivers or just relax at tai toon baan, an open space under a Thai-style house. But the most popular way for people to shield themselves from the heat these days is to go to shopping malls or simply turn on the air-conditioners at home.

Various other means also are being used to fight the heat.

If you walk along the banks of the Chao Phraya river or some of the cleaner klongs, you will find that children are still jumping into the waterways to escape from the scorching sun.

Many people may find the hot season an undesirable period, but instead of just complaining about the heat, we should use this torrid moment to think about our lifestyles — how we can adapt ourselves to the hotter weather in an environmentally-friendly manner like our ancestors have done and how we can help stop the world's temperatures from soaring.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Asian states feel rice pinch
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7324596.stm

Asian states feel rice pinch

Friday, 11 April 2008

Asian countries have been struggling to cope as the cost of rice has reached record levels.

The price of the staple crop has risen by as much as 70% during the last year, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), with increases accelerating in recent weeks.

Shortages have begun to hit some importing countries.

Factors contributing to the price rise include:

        • Poor harvests resulting from extreme weather

        • A rise in demand in some rice-importing countries,
           where populations and incomes are growing

        • The expectation of further price increases - resulting in hoarding

        • Low stockpiles and a long term lack of agricultural investment

The spike is also part of a general surge in food costs worldwide, so the option of switching to cheaper foods is often not available.

Producers including India, China and Vietnam have restricted exports as they try to protect their stocks and limit inflation.

Importers such as Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Afghanistan have been hit hard.

Prices are expected to remain volatile, though output is likely to grow later this year as farmers in Thailand and Vietnam plant additional crops.


INDIA

India is the second largest rice grower in the world behind China. With rice the staple food for 65% of the country's one billion plus people, much is consumed domestically.

But prices have been soaring - a shopkeeper in Delhi told the BBC that the cost of one variety had increased from 12 rupees (29 US cents) per kilogram to 16 rupees (39 cents) in the last two months.

Rice prices in the capital rose by 20% last year.

The government has announced a total ban on exports of non-basmati rice, in a bit to curb rising food prices, which have helped push inflation to a 13-month high.

The price for basmati rice, meanwhile, has been raised to $1,200 per tonne to discourage exports.

Officials say as yet there is no crisis - India has more than enough reserves to feed its population.

They also say India will honour its commitments to export rice to neighbouring Bangladesh.

But the International Rice Research Institute says that the sustainability of rice farming in India and beyond is threatened by overuse of fertilisers and soil health.

Stocks have come down over the last three years as agricultural growth has failed to match the rest of the economy.

And because of the low purchasing power of India's poor, even a small increase in prices can cause a sharp fall in real incomes.


BANGLADESH

Spiralling rice prices have left the people of Bangladesh facing their worst food shortages since the major famine of 1974.

Over the last year, prices have nearly doubled to about 35 taka (50 cents), while there has been no corresponding increase in wages.

Hundreds of poor families are now surviving on one meal a day, and spending 70-80% of their budget on food. The problem is most acute in urban areas where aid agencies say they are very concerned about infant malnourishment.

Local factors have contributed to the price rise. Bangladesh has been hit by severe flooding twice in the last year and a devastating cyclone in November.

The government is giving rice away to 2.6 million people and supplying some families at discounted prices.

It has had to import four million tonnes of rice from India over the last six months - more than double the usual amount.

But the government's critics say it has made matters worse with an anti-corruption drive that has led to the closure of many unofficial rice supply outlets closed down.


PHILIPPINES

Once self-sufficient in rice, the Philippines is listed by the US Department of Agriculture as the world's top importer of milled rice for 2007, ahead of Nigeria, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Over the past 20 years or so, the country lost nearly half of its irrigated land to rapid urban development.

Domestic demand has risen as the population has grown, pushing up prices.

With rice stocks low, the government has been negotiating with neighbouring countries to secure imports, signing a deal with Vietnam and working for another one with Thailand.

Fears of public unrest have been growing. Communist guerrillas recently burnt a rice trader's vehicles in the central island of Panay.

President Gloria Arroyo has asked authorities to crack down on hoarders. Officials have said they could be charged with economic sabotage - a crime that carries a life sentence.

There have also been efforts to reduce consumption. Some of the country's fast-food chains are offering half portions of rice at the government's request. The government has also asked the public to save leftover rice.

Troops have been called in to protect deliveries of rice to poor areas, while farmers have reportedly begun guarding their crops.

Some government critics say it has not done enough, and members of the influential May First Labour Movement have been holding small-scale demonstrations in various parts of the country.

But others say the Ms Arroyo has overreacted, creating unnecessary panic.


THAILAND

Thailand has long been the world's largest exporter of rice, well ahead of Vietnam and the US.

It has not yet placed any restrictions on exports, and has denied reports that it is considering taking this step.

However, some rice millers and traders who deal on forward contracts have been suffering, after being caught out by price fluctuations.

Exporters have even complained that they would prefer to have stable prices than high prices.

Some millers have hoarded rice in an attempt to earn higher profits later on, pushing prices higher still as they restrict supply.

The government has released some of its 2.1 million tonnes of stockpiled rice in an attempt to contain inflation.

It has also said it will enforce a rule that exporters set aside at least 500 tonnes of rice to prevent shortages.

Rice prices increased by more than 50% last year and have doubled since the beginning of 2008.

While in some countries rice consumption has risen with prosperity, Thais have been eating a greater variety of foods and less rice as they have become wealthier.


CHINA

Chinese consumers have been have been eating less rice as their income has risen, according to the FAO.

Instead, they have been switching to meat and dairy products.

But the government, highly conscious of social or political tensions caused by food inflation, has moved to protect consumers by restricting exports.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said this week that China has an "abundant" supply of rice to feed its population of more than 1.3 billion.

China had stockpiled about 40-50 million tonnes of rice, he said.

Though China is not one of the top rice exporters, export restrictions can have a big impact on importers including North Korea, which buys rice from China at very low prices as it tries to cope with frequent food shortages.

Though short term supplies are secured, there are concerns that urbanisation and industrial development are putting pressure on farming.


JAPAN

Rice is thought to have been produced for more than 2,500 years in Japan, where it was once seen as so important that it was worshipped as a god.

Instead of importing rice, Japan heavily subsidises its rice farmers, paying them as much as four times the market price and restricting imports.

This policy is defended by a farming community with considerable political weight, and many Japanese agree home-grown rice tastes best.

Food security is seen as politically important and the country keeps a large stockpile of rice - even though it is probably wealthy enough to buy on the international market even if prices continue to rise.

Its scientists are already looking for varieties that will be resistant to higher temperatures caused by climate change.

Japan trades relatively small quantities and has little impact on the international market.

BBC SPECIAL REPORT - Food price crisis

Who says we never had Bhikkhuni clergy?
http://www.bangkokpost.com/blogs/index.php/2008/04/10/who-says-we-never-had-bhikkhuni-clergy?blog=64

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Who says we never had Bhikkhuni clergy?

Posted by Sanitsuda Ekachai , Reader : 677 , 05:30:17

Like most Thais, I believed that there have never been female monks, or Bhikkhuni, in Thailand. How I was wrong!

The person who opened my eyes was Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni, a Buddhist teacher and abbess of the Dhammadharini Vihara, a temple for female monastics in Fremont, California.

As a scholar on Bhikkhuni history and Vinaya, Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni has done an extensive research on female ordination in Southeast Asia. So when I wrote in one of my articles that Thailand, unlike Sri Lanka, had never had a Bhikkhuni clergy, she kindly emailed me to tell a different story.

Contrary to mainstream belief, there is much evidence about the Bhikkhuni clergy in old Siam and nearby countries from the 3rd century BC up to modern times, she said.

The oldest document, dating back to the Ashokan period, states that a mission led by Arahanta Theras Sona and Uttara travelled to Suvarnabhumi where they ordained "3,500 men and 1,500 women, establishing the Buddhadhamma".

This important historical journey is recorded in the Pali texts as well as in the ancient Sri Lankan chronicles, which were later translated into Chinese.

The Chinese version, in particular, specifies that the 3,500 noblemen were ordained as Bhikkhu and the 1,500 noblewomen as Bhikkhuni.

Closer to home, this historical Buddhist mission also appears in the old records of Nakhon Si Thammarat, believed by many to be the entry point of Buddhism into our region.

This is exciting information. Powerful information.

You see, the clergy's main argument against female ordination is that we never had Bhikkhuni in Thailand. They also argue that since the Theravada Bhikkhuni lineage has been long extinct, it is impossible to have Bhikkhuni in the Thai Theravada clergy.

No need asking the clergy to ordain women. They insist that a legitimate female ordination, according to the monastic discipline, must be performed both by monks and Bhikkhuni.

The clergy's arguments, however, crumble with historical evidence of the Ashokan Buddhist mission. They not only show that we used to have Bhikkhuni, they also confirm that dual ordination is not necessary where Bhikkhuni does not exist, that monks alone can ordain women to set up the Bhikkhuni clergy.

There's more. There are later ancient texts that make reference  to the existence of  Bhikkhuni in the Lanna and Sukhothai kingdoms. For example, there are old records in Lanna literature about two Bhikkhuni believed to be local women. There are also Sukhothai period evidence of Bhikkhuni who were ordained by monks alone, she said.

The Bhikkhuni Sangha in old Siam came to a halt when the Ayutthaya kingdom rose to power. "The previous Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni Sangha was made to cease to exist for political reasons and a new Bhikkhu Sangha was founded with royal support," said Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni.

Her message: Don't say Thailand never had a Bhikkhuni clergy. To be precise, say Thailand has never had a Bhikkhuni Sangha, with dual ordination, established and supported by the monarchy, since the founding of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya.

Now we know.

If facts cannot dismantle the prejudice against female ordination, what can?

Read comment

Comment 1
BENG LOW date : 18/04/2008 time : 03:28

Hi Sanitsuda

Excellent!

If Buddhism cannot rise above historical precedent to meet the needs of society, then it will sooner or later fall prey to the truth of impermanence.

beng

Please add comments to the original post at the Bangkok Post web site

Ayya Tathaaloka Bhikkhuni
http://www.dhammadharini.org/
http://www.myspace.com/ayyatathaalokabhikkhuni
http://www.tipitaka.net/community/news.php?page=060528c
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=6,4899,0,0,1,0

Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/30Mar2008_news01.php

Rice Prices Soaring
but farmers find little to smile about

Piyaporn Wongruang

Golden stems of rice growing across paddies in the country's rice bowl are supposed to make the field's owners smile with pride. But the smiles have been wiped off the faces of farmers in the central region of Thailand due to fears that thieves might sneak into their fields at night and steal their precious assets. Since the middle of the month, rumours that rice has been stolen around the area spread across the fields in provinces from Lop Buri to Sing Buri and Ang Thong, where farmers like Sunthorn Pumkanklao, Bamrung Rodruedee and Somnuek Meechana have lived and grown rice for more than 20 years. The rumours have yet to be confirmed, but the talk already has farmers living in fear and has prompted them to stay out at night to keep an eye out for anything suspicious near their rice fields. They have to protect their rice crops at all costs.

"I'm so scared now that thieves will steal my rice. If they really do that, it is like they are killing me because everything in my life - my money, my efforts and my hopes - have been put into it," said Mr Somnuek, who grows rice on about 80 rai of land. It is almost fully blossomed now and about to be harvested. Mr Sunthorn said the farmers in his area are not allowed to carry sharp weapons unless they are authorised to by village headmen. As a result, the best they can carry is sticks and mobile phones.

"I'm not really sure that if I really encountered thieves I would be able to press the button. They would not come alone, for sure," he said. He also accompanies his neighbours like Mr Somnuek and Mr Bamrung to take care of their rice crops, which have been left to grow in the fields. A few days ago Mr Somnuek and his wife received a phone call from their daughter in Bangkok, who heard the news about thieves being rampant in the rice fields. She urged her mother to accompany her father at night. As a result, the couple stay awake and stay in the dark in their rice fields together.

The rumours are about as unprecedented as the soaring price of rice in the markets. According to recent records of the Agricultural Economics Office under the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, the local price of the best rice, Hom Dok Mali, rose from about 9,600 baht a tonne in December last year to 10,067 baht in January. The price of raw rice, which farmers usually immediately sell to traders, has also skyrocketed from 6,900 baht in January to between 9,000 and 10,500 baht in several local rice trading areas.

The soaring prices have significant implications for the country as well as for farmers. For more than 20 years Thailand has been the world's number one rice exporter. Thailand has been able to generate income from selling rice abroad of up to 80 billion to 100 billion baht a year, according to the Thai Rice Strategy from 2007 to 2011 report, produced under the supervision of the National Rice Policy Board, by the Rice Department, last year.

Last year, Thailand was able to export 9.20 million tonnes of rice, bringing in income worth about 119 billion baht. Increasing demand and the price of rice in the market therefore contributes further to the country's income, and farmer incomes. The increasing price of rice results from increasing global demand due to a shortage of supplies in some regions, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh and new demands from other countries such as Japan.

The increased demand and the price of rice in the market is a golden opportunity that Thai farmers must take advantage of. Mr Sunthorn said he has never seen such a high price for rice before. It is the first time he can also see profits after deducing production costs, he said. At one rice trading spot in Ang Thong, Sali Ngernpan, 68, rides on a rice truck to sell her rice which was harvested from a five-rai farm in Viset Chaichan district. The rice trader gave her 10,350 baht a tonne for her rice. After deducting the weight of the truck, she gets only about 34,000 baht.

"Grandma" Sali looks at the money, smiling. "Money? I will pay back my debts. I owe about 30,000 baht," she said, echoing Mr Sunthorn's remark that being a farmer is not easy. Very few understand the high price farmers pay for living their lives in paddy fields.

Almost all the farmers here in the central provinces have a narrow chance of seeing some profits from their investments. Besides not being able to determine the price of rice in the market, they have to shoulder the heavy production costs. Some farmers even start their seasons with heavy debts. Mr Sunthorn said a lot of farmers do not own land. They have to pay rent, which is likely to rise along with the rising price of rice. As well as rent for the farmland, they have to pay for seeds, fertiliser, pesticide, farm labour and transport to move their rice to the trading areas.

Most farmers believe all these rising costs are due to the soaring price of oil. Their production costs soon pile up and become part of the farmers' debts once the price of rice falls below these costs, or the farmers' rice is destroyed by natural disasters like floods and drought. According to the Thai Farmers Association, farmers now shoulder rice production costs for both rain-fed crops and off-seasonal crops of between 5,000 to 6,000 baht. These are likely to increase. The price of a pack of fertiliser has also risen, from about 500 baht to 1,000 baht at the moment, said Vichian Phuanglamjiak, a co-founder of the association.

The Agricultural Economics Office records show that with such investment costs, farmers will earn a narrow profit margin of about 340 baht per rai for rain-fed crops and 970 baht per rai for off-season crops. Mr Vichian said now farmers cannot earn anything if they cannot produce up to 600 kilogrammes of rice per rai. One rai of farmland will normally yield at best 1,000 kilogrammes of rice in a good year. Mr Vichian said the unstable rice price and high production costs have long been a concern for farmers, but these problems have never been properly addressed or solved by any governments. [1 rai = 1600 sq. meters or 0.395 acre]

He said he is now very worried that if farmers rush to grow rice following the soaring prices, they will later be hard pressed by rice traders and offered low prices for their rice. Some farmers are now rushing to grow a second crop, despite limited water supplies from the Royal Irrigation Department, which has to share water with other sectors.