On Dec. 12, the eve of the World Trade Organization's week-longMinisterial meeting, a delegation of celebrities including Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, singer Angelique Kidjou, from Benin, and Chinese rockstar Anthony Wong handed over the petition to Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO.
The group of celebrities reflect the diverse originsof Big Noise signatures, which have poured in from around the world, with large numbers coming from developing countries such as India, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Zambia.
Rich countries have made a significant contribution as well. Through a variety of grassroots methods, in almost every state in the country, Oxfam America helped gather about 220,000 signatures within the US.
Organizers in California, Kansas, Chicago, Virginia, and Boston gathered signatures as part of their work promoting a cap on US agriculture subsidies, which could help reduce poverty for millions of small-scale farmers.
About 1,000 volunteers gathered signatures while talking with audience members at Coldplay, REM, Youssou N'Dour and Habib Koité concerts, and conferences and expos such as the Green Festival and Fair Trade Futures conference.
Student activists at universities around the country, including Oxfam America-trained CHANGE leaders established fair trade clubs on their campuses, participated in a traveling fair trade Road Show, and staged talks and teach-ins this fall and during the Global Week of Action in April.
And roughly 85,000 online activists signed up to the Big Noise, either by logging onto www.maketradefair.com and through e-mail actions from Oxfam.
These efforts supported trade campaigns around the world.
Just this month, actor Colin Firth met with European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in Brussels. He, along with Oxfam campaigners and a Chinese dragon, reminded the commissioner of the upcoming World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong, where development represents a key issue on the agenda. More than 70 journalists turned up for the event.
Firth said: "What is an actor doing here? There are millions of people more qualified than me—the 10 million names on the Big Noise petition ... I'm here as a name, a European, and a consumer. These are the voices I give to Mr. Mandelson to take to Hong Kong."
And in West Africa, where small-scale farmers have been devastated by US overproduction of cotton crops, campaigners reported gathering more than 2.7 million signatures for the Big Noise—an extraordinary achievement.
Oxfam will keep a steady drumbeat going throughout the WTO meeting Dec. 13 to 18.
"For millions of people, trade is a life or death issue. This is the first opportunity many have been given to voice their concerns," said Brian Rawson, Trade Campaign Organizer at Oxfam America.
The Make Trade Fair team also plans on presenting the petition to US decision-makers gathered in Hong Kong.
"The delivery of the Big Noise in Hong Kong will bring the collective power of these voices right into the negotiating halls of the WTO."
]]>The U.S has taken some steps in the right direction. The President spoke unequivocally about the need to cut trade distorting agricultural subsidies during his speech to the UN General Assembly this past fall and Secretary of Agriculture Johanns and US Trade Representative Robert Portman have echoed the President's position. American negotiators have put new proposals on the table attempting to restart the stalled negotiations. But, it is still not enough to deliver on the promises of a "development round" and lift millions of people out of poverty.
The Doha Round of trade negotiation was supposed to change the dynamics on trade. Launched in 2001, negotiators announced that this trade round would put the interests of developing countries at the heart of the effort. But four years later, the negotiations have stalled and development concerns are sliding to the bottom of the agenda.
For the more than 2.5 billion people in the world that rely on agriculture for their livelihood, Hong Kong is more than a meeting of diplomats - it is an opportunity to meaningfully improve their lives. Throughout the world, poverty is concentrated in rural areas, with more than a billion people living on less than $1 a day. The average cotton farmer in Mali earns about $400 a year from the entire cotton crop. Between 2001 and 2003, Oxfam estimates that West African countries, including Mali, lost over $400 million dollars because US subsidies depressed global cotton prices. The backbone of Mali's economy, providing employment for more than 3 million people, falls victim to rules that have permitted rich countries to benefit for decades from dumping subsidized cotton. By leveling the playing field, we could have a massive impact on poverty reduction.
The Doha Round promised developing countries that it would do things differently, that the development of poor nations would occupy center stage. What that means is drastic cuts in agricultural subsidies and offers of market access for developing countries. But this will require that leaders of the U.S., EU and Japan see a greater good for both developing nations and their own citizens. In the US, it means envisioning a new era for American farmers that shifts subsidies from anachronistic, trade distorting support payments to new programs that support sustainable rural livelihoods and stewardship.
President Bush has delivered the right message on cutting subsidies. But the opportunity to lift millions out of poverty through fair trade rules still lies far out of reach. The US should take the lead and demonstrate to the rest of the world that we believe in the power of trade to change lives, and that we care about the lives of farmers in the US and abroad. Two and half billion people are watching and waiting.
]]>This breakthrough is a result of your actions. Americans from all walks of life participated in the ONE Campaign—to show the leaders of the G8 that we must make poverty history by making trade fair, canceling the debt, and increasing global aid. As part of the ONE campaign, Oxfam America brought more than 70 people to Live 8 Philadelphia, one of eight concerts held around the world in the name of Making Poverty History.
Five of Oxfam’s Live 8 volunteers continued on to Edinburgh, Scotland, where they joined Africans, Italians, French, Germans, and other delegates in calling on the G8 leaders to Make Poverty History. Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou was among Oxfam America's ONE delegates in Edinburgh.
"I'm proud to be here with the many activists that have come from the US and many other countries around the world," Hounsou said. "Having just returned from Mali, where I met cotton farmers struggling to live on less than a dollar a day, I was moved to do anything I can to bring attention to their plight."
Today, over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day. One child dies every three seconds as a result of extreme poverty. And while the aid pledged at the G8 meetings will help overcome poverty, much more is needed. And Oxfam, as part of the ONE campaign, will continue to push for more change in the effort to Make Poverty History.
]]>Big international meetings like this are huge undertakings and almost always take on a feeling of a many-ringed circus. There are many side shows and a dizzying array of strange and interesting events.
But at the center of it all, remains an important focus: the world's governments have come together to negotiate trade rules. Rich countries and poor countries, big and small, have gathered to see if they can hammer out a new global trade agreement.
This "round" of negotiations was launched four years ago in Doha, Qatar—hence it's called the "Doha Round." The explicit purpose of the negotiations was to help developing countries gain more from the global trading system. Currently, trade is dominated by rich countries. Less than 20 percent of the world's population captures 80 percent of the world's trade. The poorest countries get the least.
Oxfam's mission in Hong Kong is to make sure that the needs of poor people are heard, and that the negotiations reform fundamental inequities in the rules. My job is to try to lobby US officials, talk to US media, and coordinate with our friends from other organizations and activist groups. It’s a lot to manage.
Luckily for me, we have good hosts. Oxfam Hong Kong is doing an extraordinarily good job. As one of the most prominent nonprofit groups in Hong Kong—in fact in all of China—they have a very important role. They are taking the message of Make Trade Fair to the streets of Hong Kong, talking to citizens, teaching, and listening. They have even taken out billboard space on Hong Kong's sparkling subway system
Today we are learning that negotiators are preparing a "development package" of agreements that would help the poorest countries. This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, these countries really need help. On the other hand, the negotiation will be a failure for development if rich countries can package some small concessions and sell it, rather than undertaking a much deeper reform, particularly of agriculture trade rules. More on that next time.
Must go to bed now. Tomorrow we're expecting to see Oxfam's familiar "big heads"—gigantic fiberglass masks of the leaders of the eight richest countries in the world—doing a fun stunt with some surprise celebrity guests. Also the trade justice movement will stage a large rally and march through the streets of Hong Kong. The negotiations will formally start. And I'll be speaking on a panel on food aid. So the show begins...
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Groups like the National Family Farm Coalition, the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, and Rural Coalition, carried out direct advocacy of their own, telling their elected officials that trade agreements should protect food sovereignty, not threaten it. Just as the Central Americans wanted to avoid the US flooding their surplus commodities into their market, small-scale American farmers wanted their government to pursue policies that supported them, not the huge agriculture corporations that would benefit from DR-CAFTA.
"This agreement is absolutely horrible for us livestock producers," said Rhonda Perry, a farmer and head of Oxfam partner, Missouri Rural Crisis Center. "It's also not beneficial for farmers in the DR-CAFTA countries. All these promises about export markets, clearly, that's not what happens. There are a few multinational corporations that have no allegiance that make out like bandits. The rest of us are stuck picking up the pieces."
Oxfam America created opportunities for Central and North American farmers to meet, learn from each other, and work together to oppose unfair trade. The National Family Farm Coalition worked with members of Iniciativa CID in Washington, DC to help them bring their concerns directly to members of Congress and share perspectives, farmer to farmer.
"This was really a united front even though people were coming at it from different angles. It was a chance to develop shared understanding about CAFTA's negative impacts on farmer livelihoods in both the US and Central America," said Jaeda Harmon, a US Regional Office Program Officer at Oxfam America
]]>I came to the delegation committed to fighting poverty wherever it exists. I also came as an Iowa farmer wanting to build solidarity among all farmers.
In Edinburgh, I experienced a global community serious about ending the kind of poverty that kills 30,000 children a day. At the concert in Edinburgh, 40,000 people, enjoying a free concert, stood on their feet and cheered as Bono told the crowd that he'd asked the most powerful world leaders to "spend your money" to end poverty. This powerful connection between democracy and government action reinvigorated my passion to make sure that Americans become part of this historic movement.
The experience of the ONE delegation provided me an opportunity to see the world with more optimistic eyes. Also, sharing this experience with some of the most impassioned and successful activists from across the United States refueled my own activist energy. Home in my office and on my farm, I've already done interviews and continue to share my experiences with family, friends, and colleagues. I will continue to advocate and fight for US agriculture policy that is fairer for farmers in both the developing world and in the rural communities of my own country.
We are living in a historic time. I want every American to understand that the citizens of Earth have the power to end life threatening poverty. I want my fellow Americans to be a part of that historic victory and not spectators. Our democracy and our great wealth give us the power to lead the fight, and I will do all I can to help Americans see the choice each ONE of us is making: to lead or to stand back and watch.
]]>Today Djimon, Sally Baden (Oxfam’s cotton expert extraordinaire) and I drove an hour and a half from Bamako to meet farmers in Fana, a cotton producing village.
When we got there, we sat with 20 of the farmers in their small village and talked with them about how they grow and harvest cotton. It was the beginning of the cotton producing cycle and the farmers had just planted the precious seeds. They said they were waiting for the rain to come. They were worried that if it didn’t come soon they would have to replant.
We could sense the farmers’ anxiety, as we watched them pray and dance to bring on the clouds.
As if out of a movie, the more we talked, the longer they prayed and danced, the darker the skies became. Our host, Keiffa Diarra, a representative to the national union of cotton farmers, laughed and said his new American friends had brought with them a gift—the rain.
Soon enough the farmers got their wish and the skies opened up, drenching us.
We ran like mad to the local school, where students had just finished their academic year, leaving behind their empty benches and desks. Djimon and I huddled together with the locals (farmers, mothers, children, goats), shouting over the lightning and talking about their struggles.
They told us they were barely getting by after the price of cotton plummeted. Just two years ago they were selling at 210 CFA ($.40) a kilo, but these days they get only about 160 CFA ($.31). Most of the farmers only make a profit of about $100 a year. It’s not enough for life’s basic necessities: educating their kids, paying for medication when they are sick, putting food on the table.
Ironically, the rain they prayed and danced for ended up flooding the village. Meanwhile, three wells in the village were incapacitated because of broken pumps. With their dwindling cotton income, the villagers said they couldn’t get enough money together to fix the pumps. That meant they didn’t have clean water, let alone water good enough for drinking.
Soon the rain overwhelmed us. The roads were wet and muddy, but rather than sleep in the dark schoolhouse with no electricity, we decided to try to get out of town.
Rather than speed away, though, we sunk. Both vehicles got stuck about a mile from the main road and we had to call for all the men from the village to help pry us out and push the car to high dry land.
We were filthy and tired and ready to get back to the dry clean hotel. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bit drier.
The next day, stifling heat replaced the rain. We drove almost three hours to the region of Bougouni. There, we were put to work on Modou Diallo’s cotton farm. Modou is also a representative of the national cotton growers union. We turned the soil to prep the land for planting. Djimon steered the hoe while two unruly donkeys pulled it along. It was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit under the blazing sun and we were working very hard. After we turned the soil, Modou explained his current situation to us.
Modou said he only made about $60 last year, after he finished paying off his farming expenses. Djimon was shaken by the conversation. He said he knew that much of the world managed to get by on just $2 a day. Modou and his family were living on just 16 cents.
Djimon said that something had to change. He said we couldn’t continue to look the other way when this kind of poverty is happening hurting so many people. You know something is wrong when the world’s richest countries and the world’s poorest countries are competing in the same market, but the rich countries aren’t playing by the rules that they themselves set.
After a two-hour, bumpy ride along a narrow road, we arrived in Kebila to meet cotton farmers who are cultivating organic and fair trade cotton. They told us that after receiving lower and lower prices each year, they had fallen into debt, which is why they decided to shift into a niche market like organic cotton.
Organic cotton doesn’t allow the expensive pesticides to enable growth but organic fertilizer that the farmers make themselves from the natural resources among them. Though this type of farming is more labor intensive, farmers can save themselves some out-of-pocket expenses by using their own natural resources to make organic fertilizer. They can also sell their cotton at a higher price when it has the organic label.
They felt organic cotton represented was one solution to their growing problems. With cotton prices dropping significantly they knew they either had to adapt, diversify, or eventually lose their land.
Because the demand isn’t as high for organic cotton as conventionally farmed cotton, they were still at a disadvantage, which meant they weren’t selling as much as they used to. But selling at a higher price allowed them to keep their jobs for the time being.
Djimon told the farmers that part of his job as a US citizen would be to start educating the public about organic and fair trade cotton to try to grow the demand. Djimon also promised that he would begin to call on our leaders to address the cotton crisis immediately.
We agreed that though prices fluctuate we must come up with a better system. We must demand a change to the rules of trade, which continue to devastate small farmers everywhere.
Djimon felt the next important step for him to take was to participate in the events going on around the G8 in Scotland. He knew that he could stand in as a representative from Africa who understood the struggles Africans are faced with. He could demand that our world leaders make a historic promise and deliver on it for Africa.
Djimon shared stories about his trip to Mali when he stood alongside the thousands of activists in Scotland from the US, Africa and Europe. At the end of the summit, G8 leaders made important progress for the world’s poorest people, by confirming debt cancellation for 18 highly indebted poor countries in Africa and doubling aid to reach $50 billion by 2010.
However, the outcome from the G8 leaders has fallen short of the hopes of Djimon and the millions around the world campaigning for a momentous breakthrough, especially on trade issues. Although some progress was made on a plan to reform the farm subsidies that keep Africa’s farmers poor, the G8 stopped short of setting an end date for scrapping these damaging subsidies.
Djimon hopes that rich countries will change their negotiating position in the trade talks in the run up to the December Hong Kong WTO ministerial, if people in poor countries are to be given a fair chance to work their way out of poverty.
]]>This report assesses the current state of the coffee crisis and calls on the US government to empower small-scale farmers and farm workers to take full advantage of the improved market conditions. With greater access to rural finance, technical assistance programs, and participation in international debate, small-scale, family farmers and farm workers will be less vulnerable to the boom and bust cycles of the market.
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