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| 教 育 專 題 深 入 報 導《2008-05-08》 |
| 本期內容 | |
| ◎國際專題：糧荒--粒粒皆辛苦的白米 | |
| ◎高爾夫球場與開發者蠶食亞洲稻田 | |
| ◎糧荒問與答 | |
| 國際專題：糧荒--粒粒皆辛苦的白米 | |
| 策劃、編譯■陳銳嬪、陳玫伶 | |
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鋤禾日當午，汗滴禾下土。誰知盤中飧，粒粒皆辛苦。 這是小時候大家都唸過的唐詩，卻在全球糧荒的時候令人感受深刻。 要珍惜食物與米飯，應該是此次糧荒給大家最大的啟示吧！ |
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| （回目錄） | |
| 高爾夫球場與開發者蠶食亞洲稻田 | |
| （路透社） | |
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在峇里島西岸高爾夫球場準備發球的遊客，大概不會察覺，他腳下的土地與全球糧荒是有關聯的。 曾經，這個高爾夫球場是一大片稻田。現在，這裡只剩下一小片稻田，村民成了諾曼（譯按：澳洲著名高爾夫球手）所設計的高夫球場桿弟，或者美麗殿度假飯店的侍者。 當亞洲的經濟逐漸起飛時，從峇里島到越南，稻田漸漸被高爾夫球場、飯店、渡假別墅與工業園區所取代，因為生活水準提高，當地人開始選擇薪水較高、較不勞力密集的工作，遠離了農務。 這樣的轉變使稻米產量減少，而稻米是這個區域大多數地方的主食。 最近米價漲到歷史新高，埋下亞洲部份地區政治動亂的地雷，這也凸顯亞洲國家政府在經濟發展與食物保障間的兩難問題。 新加坡的CIMB-GK研究區域經濟學家宋誠煥表示：「從馬來西亞、印尼到中國，開始聽到『重新回到田裡當農夫』的呼喚。」 「這個教訓是，食物保障是重要的，但是當人們匆忙奔向工業化的時候，他們忘記了這些。更長期一點，他們必須專注在一個事實，那就是每個人都必須被餵飽。」 在峇里島，飯店與其他房地產計畫正在一點一點吃掉如畫的梯田。印尼農業部長表示，1980年代稻田最多可以達到18萬2千公頃，現在已經下降到14萬5千公頃。 在峇里島烏布的郊區種稻的依可督‧丘表示：「我不想在這裡看到任何渡假別墅，如果所有的土地都用來興建渡假別墅，稻米將會不足。」 青年看不到農業的未來 令人目眩神迷的稻田景色是峇里島吸引遊客的賣點之一。去年，外國遊客貢獻了大約53億美元給印尼的經濟，而峇里島吸引了最多（大約40％）的遊客。 在這個以旅遊業為主的小島，很多峇里島人開始遺棄需要勞力的工作，轉而尋找薪水更高但是比較輕鬆的工作。現在很多峇里島的農人選擇從鄰近島嶼如爪哇，聘請農夫來耕作他們的稻田。 這樣的轉變並不令人驚訝。農夫必須長時間站在泥濘的水田中，彎腰種稻、照料稻田與收割稻米。 「農務並不是好生活。工作辛苦，但是比起其他工作，例如旅遊業，所得微薄。」 在峇里島西部長谷區的農夫瓦彥‧蘇吉達這麼說。他終生都在家鄉的田裡工作。 他擔心自己年老後，孩子不願繼承祖傳的稻田。 「因為利潤太少，年輕一代再也不想成為農夫。」 以泰國白米價格為基準點的米價在今年已經飆漲3倍，價格突破每公噸1千美元。 但是在漲價中最大的獲利者，是貿易商和碾米業等中間人，農夫很少可以從中獲利，因為主要的利潤都用來支付肥料的錢。 峇里島的巴東縣包括著名的旅遊區如庫塔、努沙都瓦、水明漾，當地政府計畫保留一些土地來種稻，並限制產業發展。 稻米不止是食物，更是峇里島文化重要的一環：它依舊使用數百年前傳統且完整的灌溉系統。峇里島人每天早晨會奉祀白米給家裡祭拜的神明，並且在收成期祭拜米神德威詩禮。 食物保障與高爾夫球 菲律賓政府察覺到自己無力餵飽快速增長的人口，已經下令停止把耕地另做它用。 身為世界上最大的稻米進口國，菲律賓在這波米價暴漲潮中受到嚴重打擊。 菲律賓設定目標，希望在2011年之前可以做到糧食自足。但是一些專家表示，該國目前有超過8千8百萬人口，而且人口以每年2％的速度成長，這些增長的人口、低產量與缺少河口三角洲，都代表了菲律賓不可能完全達到糧食自足的目標。 在靠近峇里島的海神廟，高爾夫球手會被勸告要把球打在球道上，因為球道兩側就是稻田。海神廟是一座興都教廟宇，坐落在海邊一塊巨大的岩石上，每逢潮漲之時，該廟就會被海水包圍，並由海蛇負責守護。 類似這樣的18洞高爾夫球場，已經讓印尼到馬來西亞、泰國甚至中國的稻田逐漸消失，北京在2006年把18洞高爾夫球場列入禁止用地項目。 亞洲要在未來的糧食上自給自足，飯店渡假屋和高爾夫球場並不是對稻田的唯一威脅。 越南政府為了加快經濟的發展，使用工業區來吸引外資。 從2000年開始，越南已經使用1萬5百公頃的湄公河三角洲的稻米地興建了大約40個工業區，並且計劃在未來3年，把另外4萬公頃的稻田用做工業用途。在去年，該地區用來種植稻米的土地只有720萬公頃。 在今年4月，越南的年度通膨達到亞洲最高的21.4％，一部分的原因是食物價格上漲造成的。經濟學家警告，河內必須處理土地應用與食物保障的問題，而其他國家的政府也應該跟進。 ING金融機構的經濟學家蒂姆‧康頓表示，其中一部分的問題是因為主食如稻米的市場應該更開放，以遏止價格的大幅波動。 他說：「稻米很少在國際貿易市場交易，所以只要需求增加一點，價格就會往上飆升。」 一些經濟學家表示，進一步的改善方法從使用更好的稻米品種與肥料，轉移到更有效的耕作方式，例如美國與巴西的大規模耕作。 根據聯合國的數據，預計在2020年的時候，亞洲人口將從現有的40億達到46億，將使到稻米的消費量更高，而發展與工業化則使可以耕作的稻田越來越少。 因為這個原因，一些專家相信，高漲的米價並不全然是壞事，它將迫使政策制定者進行需要的改變，保障耕作與運銷。 CIMB-GK研究的宋誠煥表示：「現在全世界都對農業領域有興趣，或許這是更有效農務的催化劑。」 「希望這次事件最終可以為農夫打開新的希望大門，為他們帶來更多的財富。」 The tourists who tee off at this golf course on Bali's west coast are probably unaware that the ground beneath their feet is connected to a global panic over rice supplies. Once this golf course was a patchwork of rice fields. Now just a few remain, and villagers work as caddies or waiters at Le Meridien Nirwana resort and its Greg Norman-designed greens. From Bali to Vietnam, rice paddies are being replaced by golf courses, hotels, villas and industrial parks as Asian economies surge ahead, the standard of living rises and locals opt for higher-paying, less labour-intensive work away from farming. This shift has cut into rice production, a staple food throughout much of the region. A recent surge in rice prices to historic highs has sparked fears of political unrest in some parts of Asia and highlighted the dilemma faced by Asian governments about how to balance economic growth with food security in the future. "The call from Malaysia to Indonesia to China is 'return to the land and be a farmer again'," said Song Seng Wun, regional economist at CIMB-GK Research in Singapore. "The lesson is, food security is important, but people have forgotten that in their rush to industrialise. Longer term, they have to focus on the fact that all these people have to be fed." In Bali, hotels and other property projects are nibbling away at the picture-postcard rice paddy terraces. Total harvested area for rice, which peaked at nearly 182,000 hectares in 1980, has fallen to 145,000 hectares, the agriculture ministry says. "I don't want any more villas here because if all the land is used for villas, there won't be enough for rice," said I Ketut Cuet, who farms rice on the outskirts of Ubud, in Bali. YOUTH SEE NO FUTURE IN FARMING Stunning rice paddy views are a part of Bali's appeal as a tourist destination. Last year, foreign tourists contributed about $5.3 billion to Indonesia's economy, with Bali attracting the lion's share, or about 40 percent, of all visitors to the country. But with tourism forming one of the main economic drivers on this Indonesian island, many Balinese are abandoning the back-breaking work for better-paid, easier jobs. Some Balinese farmers now prefer to hire cheaper labour from the neighbouring island of Java to work in their rice fields. The change is not surprising. Rice farmers spend long hours standing in muddy water, bent double as they plant, tend or harvest their crops. "Farming is not a good life. You work hard and make a low profit compared with other jobs, for example in tourism," said Wayan Sugita, a farmer in Canggu, western Bali, who has worked in his family's rice fields all his life. He fears that when he grows old, his own children won't want to take over the fields, which have been in his family for generations. "Because of the low profit, the younger generation don't want to be farmers any more." Benchmark Thai rice prices have risen nearly threefold to above $1,000 per tonne this year. Yet it is mainly middlemen, such as traders and millers, who are best placed to profit from the increase: farmers rarely reap the benefits as fertiliser prices have gone through the roof cutting into their profits. In Bali's Badung district, which includes the popular tourist areas of Kuta, Nusa Dua and Seminyak, the local government said it plans to preserve certain areas for rice production and restrict property development. Rice isn't just food but an important element of Balinese culture: it is still grown using complex irrigation methods and a centuries-old co-operative system known as subak. Balinese make rice offerings to the household gods each morning, and to the rice goddess Dewi Sri during the crop cycle. FOOD SECURITY AND GOLF Nearby in the Philippines, the government, alarmed by its inability to feed a fast-growing population, has ordered a halt to the conversion of farmland to other uses. The Philippines, the world's largest importer of rice, has been hit hard by the surge in rice prices. It has set a goal to become self-sufficient by 2011 although some experts say the rising population, currently over 88 million and growing over 2 percent a year, poor productivity and a lack of river deltas mean it is unlikely that the Philippines will be able to meet all its rice needs. Near Bali's Tanah Lot, golfers are advised to aim clear of rice fields flanking fairways that overlook Pura Tanah Lot, a Hindu temple perched on a rocky outcrop that's cut off from land at high tide and guarded by poisonous sea snakes. "A creek running in front guards the approach shot, rice paddies left and wetlands short. The well-contoured green must be accurately read to walk away with par," explains the course instructions for the third hole. Golf courses such as this one have torn up paddy fields from Indonesia, to Malaysia, Thailand and even China where Beijing added them to a list of "banned land usages" in 2006. Yet hotel resorts and golf courses are not the only threat to farmland and Asia's ability to feed itself in the future. Vietnam's government wants to speed up economic development, using industrial parks to attract foreign investment. Since 2000, Vietnam has built about 40 industrial parks using 10,500 hectares of the Mekong Delta rice basket and has earmarked a further 40,000 hectares of this area for industrial use over the next three years -- still, just a small fraction of the 7.2 million hectares planted with rice in that area last year. But with Vietnam's annual inflation hitting 21.4 percent in April -- the highest in the region, partly due to surging food prices -- Hanoi needs to address land use and food security issues, economists warn. Other governments should follow suit, they say. Part of the problem, says ING economist Tim Condon, is that the market for staples such as rice needs to be more open in order to curb big price swings. "With rice, so little is traded internationally that a small increase in demand leads to the price going up sharply," he said. Further improvements could come from using better seed varieties and fertilisers, and by switching to more efficient farming methods, for instance by moving to large-scale farming as in the United States and Brazil, some economists said. Asia's population is forecast to reach around 4.6 billion by 2020, from around 4 billion currently, according to United Nations figures, leading to higher rice consumption even as development and industrialisation whittle away the available farmland. For this reason, some experts think the soaring rice price may be a blessing in disguise as this might force policy makers to make much-needed changes in the way rice is cultivated and distributed in the region. "The whole world is interested in the agriculture sector now so maybe this will be a catalyst for more efficient farming," said CIMB-GK's Song. "Perhaps this will eventually open up new opportunities for farmers, a period of greater prosperity." REUTERS |
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| （回目錄） | |
| 糧荒問與答 | |
| 參考來源：《衛報》 | |
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發生了什麼事？ 去年糧食價格攀升了60％，在不少國家造成了騷動，聯合國秘書長潘基文已警告這波危機來勢洶洶，將造成「前所未有的社會動盪」。 米糧價格在今年已經上漲68％，其他主食像是小麥和玉米的價格自去年來已經漲了兩倍。 結果？ 世界銀行表示過去兩年內全球估計有1億人因糧食價格飆漲而變貧窮。在英國，民生物資上漲，將連帶影響一個家庭的平均開支每年多出8百英鎊（約新台幣4萬8千1百元）。 食物暴動的嚴重程度為何？ 目前情況糧荒最嚴重的國家是海地，已經有6人死亡，總理被迫下台；在喀麥隆已有24人因糧荒死亡。其他發生暴動的國家還有埃及、象牙海岸、南韓和孟加拉；而菲律賓則是警告人民若囤積糧食將被判終生監禁。 糧食危機和其他危機的不同點？ 不論都市或鄉村地區，受影響的層面是全球性的。 為什麼糧荒會在此刻發生？ 世界糧食計畫將原因歸咎為崛起的中國和印度等國家糧食需求暴增、氣候變化造成洪水和乾旱不利耕作和政府的短視政策。過去30年來廉價糧食的時代使得人們對未來供應量自信滿滿。投機團體急於開發新興市場，進口者過於擔心供需問題而大量進口糧食，也使得情況惡化。原本為保護國內產品設定的出口限制，導致食物價格對供應者傾斜。另一方面，對發展中國家的農業援助減少也是原因之一。 此外，在美國，傳統農作物轉作生質燃料，也顯著佔用了糧食耕地。 可行的解決辦法為何？ 短期辦法是聯合國呼籲增加對世界糧食計畫署的補助款項；而中長期的解套方式則是，敦促發展中國家的中小農民獨力發展，脫離對西方國家的依賴。農人耕作必須更有效率，並利用更多還沒使用的土地做為耕地。 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/29/food.qna |
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