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The Globally Interlinked Mandi
The farm support policies and subsidies offered by rich nations, including the United States and the European Union, protect the interests of the wealthy in their own countries, while they distort farm produce prices globally. This hampers the possibility of the farmers in developing countries to earn a sustainable livelihood, as well as their access to markets.
In Budikote village, a largely rain-fed agricultural area in Karnataka, Gururaja firmly believes that if credit flows were at reasonable rates, and farm inputs sold by the local dealer were more affordable, his family could sustain and even prosper off the family farm holding. However, Gururaja, a fruit, vegetable, and millet farmer, does not realise that his hopes of making a sustainable living off their farm activities are hampered by farm support policy decisions taken in distant, much richer nations. The subsidies that rich nations give their farm businesses make farming in developing nations financially unsustainable.
Global Subsidy Picture
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