The group of more than 30 Dutch civil society organizations, ranging from farmer organizations and church based organizations to trade unions and the national India working group, noted that hunger was a global structural societal problem based on unequal purchasing power. Specifically, the group noted that a small number of transnational companies, that focused mainly on rich market segments of Third World societies, were dominating large parts of food value chains.
Moreover, the group concluded that Third World countries were confronted with deteriorating terms of trade, protectionism from the European Economic Community, its practice to dump excess food at low prices, and increasing foreign debts resulting in pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to produce more for export. Combined with export promotion policies in the West, this meant that local production was often unable to compete with agricultural products imported from Europe.
The group emphasized the necessity of rural development for economic growth in Third World countries. Therefore, a set of recommendations was put forward that aimed at achieving self-sustained economic growth that would neither be created for the export interests of donor countries nor be dependent on Western funds[2].
[1] The NCO later merged with the Dutch Platform for Sustainable Development (est. 1992) and became the National Commission for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (NCDO). NCDO was discontinued in 2017 and its functions transferred to the new organization Round Table of World Connectors for People and Planet.
[2] Source: ‘De Nederlandse Economie en de Derde Wereld?’ a reader produced by member organizations of the NCO and published in May 1984, preparing the ground for discussions aiming to influence Dutch governmental policies and practice.
