BURUNDI: UN EXPERTS WARN OF NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF COFFEE PRIVATIZATION

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From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 18 Apr 2013 13:00:00 -0400
Subject: BURUNDI: UN EXPERTS WARN OF NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF COFFEE
PRIVATIZATION
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

BURUNDI: UN EXPERTS WARN OF NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF COFFEE PRIVATIZATION
New York, Apr 18 2013 1:00PM
The World Bank-led privatization of the coffee industry in Burundi
that began in 2008 is having a negative impact on farmers, two United
Nations independent experts warned today, calling for the suspension
of the policy pending an assessment based on human rights.

"There are worrying signs that the interests of coffee growers have
been shut out of the reform process, despite coffee producer
organizations showing themselves open to reform of the sector in a way
that allows them to climb up the value chain,"
<"http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13246&LangID=E">said
the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, and
the Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Cephas
Lumina.

"In Burundi – the third poorest country in the world – coffee revenues
represent the difference between food security and hunger for much of
the population, and yet the country is in the process of reforming the
sector in ways that risk undermining their livelihoods."

Coffee accounts for 80 per cent of the country's export earnings and
provides the livelihood of 55 per cent of the population –
representing some 750,000 families – many of whom are small-scale
farmers.

Mr. De Schutter and Mr. Lumina called on the World Bank to consider
the human rights implications of privatization, adding that it must
not repeat errors made in the 80s and 90s, when developing countries
were encouraged to sell off State assets without taking into account
the social consequences on the population.

In 2007, the Burundian President declared that coffee was owned by the
growers until it was exported, an arrangement that allowed them to
manage the supply chain and entitled them to 72 per cent of revenues
from coffee sales on international markets.

However, in 2008-2009 the Burundian Government moved towards full
privatization of the industry under alleged pressure from the World
Bank, whose support for public health programmes was reportedly tied
to coffee sector reforms. Since then, less than 5 per cent of
Burundian coffee was processed in the country, with the higher
value-added operations taking place abroad.

"States must not confuse their own priorities with those of
corporations," Mr. De Schutter and Mr. Lumina stressed. "Institutional
actors like the World Bank must support States in their attempts to
reform key economic sectors in ways that do not expose vulnerable
farmers and growers to the uncertainties of the market."

The experts also expressed concern that, after six months of exchanges
with the World Bank, the information provided to them falls short in
scope and transparency, and fails to acknowledge disagreements between
the Bank and the Burundian Government.

"We expect fuller cooperation from the World Bank with the independent
experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council," they said. "In
appropriate circumstances such as these, international law imposes on
the Bank a duty to consider the human rights implications of its
activities."
Apr 18 2013 1:00PM
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