Farmers, anti-globalisation activists protest chicken imports

In a rare global show of protest in Cameroon, thousands of farmers and anti-globalisation activists from Africa and Europe massed in the capital on Tuesday to demand a halt to frozen chicken imports, which farmers and consumers say threaten health and livelihoods. About 6,000 people demonstrated in front of the office of the Citizens Association for the Defence of Collective Interest (ACDIC) - which planned the event - after the government at the last minute barred the group from marching downtown. Demonstrators carried banners saying “Frozen chicken - a catastrophe to Cameroon producers” and “Importing what we produce? What a crime to our local economy!” The import of frozen chicken was among Africans’ grievances at last month’s Hong Kong round of world trade talks, where developing countries repeatedly contest agricultural subsidies and other trade policies they say favour the rich industrialised world at poorer countries’ expense. On the poultry front, Cameroon farmers’ groups have seen some progress in recent years; the country imported 5,000 tons of frozen chicken in 2005, down from about 22,500 tons in 2003, according to ACDIC. But protesters want the imports eliminated altogether, and a government decision to allow a flood of foreign chicken around the recent holiday period sparked sharp condemnation over health risks from avian flu and impact on citizens’ livelihoods. The famed French anti-globalisation activist Jose Bove took part in the Yaounde demonstration, as did activists from Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Importation of chicken is a crime against the Cameroon farmers, a crime against the Cameroon economy,” Bove told IRIN on Tuesday. Bove said rather than allow chicken imports, the Cameroon government should establish a programme to help farmers in the country optimise their own production. “Let the Cameroon government support its farmers and ensure food independence, because without peasant farmers there is no Cameroon,” he said at the protest march. Speaking to the demonstrators, ACDIC president Bernard Njonga said, “Our reason for being here is we strongly condemn the importation of chicken from across the world and from Europe where there is avian flu. By importing frozen chicken [the government is showing that it] doesn’t care about the health and welfare of its citizens.” Njonga also lashed out at the government for refusing to authorise the group’s planned march from the city centre to the livestock ministry, where they had hoped to set frozen chicken pieces ablaze. “But this could not happen because our march has been denied, thus denying our rights as well,” the ACDIC leader said. The protest was called after the government in late November decided to allow the importation of 2,650 tons of frozen chicken through the end of January - the approval coming about a week after the government said it was blocking such imports due to avian flu, according to ACDIC. The group said the government’s justification for the move - to avoid shortages around the holidays - was completely unfounded. “There is no shortage nor inflation in the markets during end of year festivities, and … supply was superior to demand,” the group said in a communique. ACDIC fears that double the authorised volume will make it into the country due to what they call poor controls and corruption. Christian Penda Ekoka, economist and member of Cameroon’s ruling People’s Democratic Movement, told IRIN that protesters must not stop at a ban on imported chicken but must urge help for farmers in preservation techniques. “The Cameroon government needs to set up a mechanism to ensure a smooth link between production and consumption, otherwise there will be a gap that the local population will not be able to fill.”