Politics and social factors are deeply intertwined with the rice industry. Millions of people around the world rely on rice. Since so many people depend on rice for food and jobs, governments have tried to maintain strict supervision over the rice trade in their countries. Governments want to balance the needs of both the producers and consumers in their country. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has developed many organizations to regulate and promote the trade of rice. In 1949, the International Rice Commission was created to supervise the production, distribution, consumption, and conservation of rice. The Intergovernmental Group on Rice was created to regulate the trade of rice. (1)

In 1994, the World Trade Organization created an Agreement on Agriculture which called for reduced government intervention and trade liberalization of rice on the world market. (2) However, with increasing liberalization policies comes a decreasing role for the government. The liberalization of the rice trade has created very unfair circumstances in certain countries. While every country is supposed to decrease their protectionist policies, this is not what has happened. The European Union, Japan, and the United States are still protecting their rice producers and subsidizing their exports. The developing countries have followed the WTO’s guidelines and reduced their subsidies, which in turn increases the cost of production for the farmers. Since world rice prices are continually falling, and the price of production is increasing for farmers in developing countries, these farmers in are unable to make profits off of rice. In order to make profits, poor rice farmers need to add more value to the rice they produce. (3) In response to these policies, groups such as G33, which includes more than 40 countries, have developed to fight for the right of developing countries to use tariffs and guarantee decent prices for their crops.

Rich countries are receiving an unfair competitive advantage in the world rice trade by providing heavy subsidies to their rice farmers. In 2002, Japan, the United States, and the European Union provided $16 billion in support to their rice producers. The United States is an example of a wealthy country that has provided heavy subsidies to its rice farmers. In 2003 alone, the U.S. government provided $1.3 billion in rice subsidies. This amounted to 72% of the cost of producing the rice for the year. (4) Rich countries such as the United States want developing countries to open up their economies. However, when these poor and developing countries are forced to lower their tariffs and subsidize thier rice, the rich countries prosper while the poor countries suffer.

Since so many countries, including wealthy countries like the United States, are able to produce vast amounts of rice, the price of rice has continually declined. The people who suffer from the decreased prices in rice are the poor people in developing countries. Many rice farmers in developing countries have been reduced to poverty. Haiti, a country that relies on rice production, is an example of an economy that greatly suffered from the effects of the rice trade. The country was forced to remove the tariffs in place to protect its own rice, and now most of the rice consumed in Haiti is produced by the United States. (5) To protect developing countries, NGOs have been created. The East Asia Rice Working Group, for example, was created in an effort to exempt rice from trade liberalization. (6)

The group of people that suffer the most from the politics of rice are women. In general, women complete the more labor-intensive work in the rice fields. During the Green Revolution, high-yielding rice was introduced into developing countries. Since this new rice came at a higher price, the men moved into the cities looking for more money. This left women with both the men's and their own responsibilities in the rice field. At other times, when men know that they can make a lot of money in the rice fields, they will take over the women's jobs in the field and leave them with no money. (7) This is why when working to improve social conditions in the rice industry, it is especially important to pay special attention to the role of women.

Women Transporting Rice Stalks (Courtesy: Diana Grace)

In 2004, the United Nations declared that it was the official year of rice. The UN wanted to raise awareness of the political, economical, and social issues associated with rice. To visit the official site for the International Year of Rice, click here.

Although the rice trade has many social and political issues, it also has many environmental issues. Click here to learn about the effects that producing rice has on the environment and ecosystems.

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