WTO not a convincing farmer’s friend

SMALL farmers in Ireland know how hard it is to get an economic return for their produce.

Now, in Mexico, what the World Trade Organisation seems to offer them is even harder times, so that small farmers in the Third World get a chance to eke a living out of the land.

Perhaps the soundbites from Cancun don't tell the full story, but it's hard for European farmers to swallow what's on offer the remote hope that farmers who can't even feed themselves at present will somehow rise up and become a trading force to be reckoned with, able to feed their own populations and even break into the world food markets.