Myanmar agricultural workers and farmers organize against contract farming threat
Workshop participants learned from the successful experiences of poultry contract farmers in Thailand who organized the “Chicken Action Network” (CAN) with the support of the IUF. Formed by farmers left massively in debt when the poultry processor they supplied went bankrupt before paying them, CAN supports collective bargaining for fairer contracts for farmers supplying the major food and beverages companies and supermarkets.
“Contract farming is a fairly new issue here and people are not yet aware yet of the possibility that farmers could fall into serious debt. As members of AFFM-IUF we can organize ourselves better against being exploited by companies and middlemen.”