"Resuscitating Doha is essential to right the rigged rules of trade, but what's been simmering on the WTO stove will simply not deliver for poor countries, said Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser. "The financial crisis, which started in developed countries but is taking its worst toll on developing countries, should be the impetus for a change in course."
In a new report released today called "Empty Promises," Oxfam details how the Doha Round has become an exercise in prying open developing country markets rather than an effort to rebalance decades of unfair agricultural and industrial trade rules. In the midst of a global economic crisis, a food crisis, and a climate crisis, nations with the least blame and with the least capacity to cope with the consequent effects must not have to pay even more to enable their economies to develop, according to the report.
Over 50 million people stand to lose their jobs, remittances are collapsing, and growth in sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to fall by 70 percent this year trapping 90 million more people in poverty, because of the crisis. Food prices meanwhile remain high for poor consumers: by the end of 2008 a further 109 million people had been added to the ranks of hungry, topping 1 billion people worldwide. As the world experiences the sharpest drop in trade in 80 years, a "development" trade deal—as originally promised—remains crucial, according to Oxfam.
"Now is the time for WTO members to come back to the negotiating table, recognize that the current crisis provides an opportunity to address urgent development needs, and change the course of negotiations, much as they did nearly eight years ago in Doha," said Offenheiser. "At this time of desperate need for a change of course, the Doha Round has to step up to deliver on its development promise. There is little credit left for another failure."
The welcome political commitment from the G8 could lead to a fresh start to negotiations, but it cannot be business as usual. In the past eight years, developed countries have used the talks to continue to push to open up new export markets. Developing countries have resisted, saying they were promised a deal that would give them space to protect their farmers and new industries, an end to rich country trade-distorting agricultural subsidies, and more access to rich markets for their farmers and industries.
The widespread food price crisis has shown that food and livelihood security cannot depend solely on market forces. Development, rather than liberalization, has to be the central objective of negotiations and trade rules must respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people first and foremost, according to Oxfam. It is the responsibility of WTO member states to analyze the role of trade in the recent global crises so that the Doha negotiations take into account the new global context and contribute to a solution, rather than exacerbate the problem.
"What's on the table is no silver bullet since it continues to favor the richest and biggest farmers and industrialists in the US and Europe and sidelines the needs of the poor," said Offenheiser. "We have seen what can be done when countries find the resolve to avert problems at home, and this resolve must be translated to the multilateral trade agenda so that the much-needed conclusion of the Doha Round can be achieved in a manner that addresses developing country needs first and foremost."
]]>"President Obama's historic visit to Ghana, so early in his presidency and on the heels of important commitments at the G8 in Italy, signals the importance of African development to US interests," said Raymond Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America. "President Obama gets it. He understands that without a strong civil society, and capable, transparent governance, efforts to fight poverty and bring about social justice in Africa will at best be incremental. Good governance and sustainable use of resources will inspire more effective international assistance and increase trade."
President Obama had several recommendations that will help Africa on the road to prosperity. Here are a few of the highlights from the speech:
"In the 21st century, capable, reliable, and transparent institutions are the key to success—strong parliaments; honest police forces; independent judges; an independent press; a vibrant private sector; a civil society. Those are the things that give life to democracy, because that is what matters in people's everyday lives." These are all important parts of a thriving democracy, and President Obama made clear in his speech that these should be a priority in Africa just as they should be on every other continent. Building strong institutions that protect the rights of citizens, and allow business and entrepreneurs to flourish, will encourage investment in Africa. Oxfam is focused on helping civil society organizations work to hold their governments accountable. Examples include our partnerships with groups promoting new laws that accord equal rights to women and girls in southern Africa, and a region-wide proposal for uniform laws governing the mining industry in West Africa.
"So in Ghana, for instance, oil brings great opportunities, and you have been very responsible in preparing for new revenue. But as so many Ghanaians know, oil cannot simply become the new cocoa... Dependence on commodities—or a single export—has a tendency to concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, and leaves people too vulnerable to downturns." Resources like gold, diamonds, and oil can bring enormous wealth and potential for development. The road to prosperity will require leaders to avoid the path of poor management, corruption, violence and war. Ghana is a promising example of what is possible: Since Ghana discovered oil near its coast, the country's President John Atta Mills pledged earlier this year to disclose all petroleum agreements, so citizens can track what money comes to the government and how revenues are spent. This pledge has not yet been turned into reality. Real transparency needs to be built into a new legislative framework for how Ghana's new oil wealth will be managed, to ensure revenues are spent on social services and poverty reduction. Oxfam is working with the US Congress on legislation to require all US and foreign companies subject to Securities and Exchange Commission rules to disclose payments to developing country governments. This will be a critically important tool for citizens working to avoid corruption and waste of natural resource revenues.
President Obama also highlighted steps that the US would take to help combat corruption, including addressing corruption in the annual State Department human rights report, a recommendation that was made by Oxfam America in its Presidential transition memos.
"Aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it's no longer needed." The United States needs to make a number of key reforms to make our foreign aid system as effective as possible in reducing poverty and creating prosperous communities throughout the developing world. The US lacks a coherent strategy for global development. Oxfam is calling on the US to keep recipient country governments and their public informed on the nature and amount of American aid, and let each recipient country lead its own development agenda. President Obama's focus on using aid to defeat poverty is on the right track—one that we hope will lead to a new strategy for global development and a reinvigorated, effective aid system that will also rebuild US leadership in the world.
"A warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources, and deplete crops, creating conditions that produce more famine and more conflict." Climate change is already affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of poor people in Africa, as a recent Oxfam report detailed. Tackling these impacts is essential to addressing food security and broader development objectives. President Obama must commit to help bring about a comprehensive global climate strategy that will help poor communities cope with failed crops, dwindling reserves of clean water, and displacement caused by extreme weather events. The US and other wealthier countries must curb their greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate chaos and provide adequate financial assistance to help African countries adapt in greener and more sustainable ways.
"Now, America can also do more to promote trade and investment." The economic welfare of Americans is inextricably linked with the well-being of people across the globe. While our foreign policy seeks to address the problems of poverty, disease and lack of economic opportunity, our trade policy has often exacerbated them, by demanding greater access to export markets in the poor countries, more favorable rules for US investors that can lead to greater poverty and inequality, and limiting access to affordable medicines. President Obama must develop a new trade policy with economic development as a core objective, spreading the benefits of trade as widely as possible, in the developing world as well as in the United States. This must include focusing efforts on the multilateral trading system to achieve a successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round, while working with Congress to pass legislation providing for duty-free and quota-free market access for all Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
]]>Amankwaa, 48, is a serious, no-nonsense business woman who rarely cracks a smile, but is patiently answering questions about her farm. She is gracious to visitors because she wants them to know she will not willingly sell her six small farms to an American mining company intent on exploiting the gold under the land in her Ghanaian village, Mehame, which means "don't bother me" in the local Twi dialect.
Amankwaa looks around the cocoa pods and all the trees. "This land was given to me by my grandmother; it had old cocoa trees on it and I cut them down and planted new ones," she says. "Now they are growing very well. This is what I depend on for everything, to keep my children in school and all the money we use for food we eat, the house we built, everything is from the cocoa farms."
"This farm is my life," she says finally, "My life is this farm."
The farmers here are industrious. One stood up in an informal meeting back in town to say "If you grow cocoa and don't make money, then you are not working hard." And the farmers in Mehame do make money: Amankwaa earns about $3,200 per year, which is roughly six times the national average income in Ghana. She and her husband have three children. The oldest is finished with school and growing cocoa himself, and the other two are in high school, a boy and a girl. They have a large concrete house with a proper roof, electricity, and clean water from a well.
Given everything they have achieved in Mehame, some of the farmers are skeptical about the proposal to expand the nearby Ahafo mine into their village, swallowing up their cocoa farms and homes. In exchange they would get compensation for their land and be given new homes somewhere else, but this is not an attractive option to Amankwaa and some others. "We don't want to be resettled somewhere, to be sent to another place, to another person's land," Amankwaa says. "We just want to be at peace with our farms and our children."
The American company looking to expand its mine into the area near Mehame seems to have the support of the government, and there is little opportunity for the local farmers to express their opposition to the mine expansion.
At first there were just rumors, then the villagers heard chainsaws in the forest, and found crews exploring for minerals without their permission. The company, Newmont Mining of Denver, arrived for formal visits with the chief, along with representatives from the Brong-Ahafo regional government, and a member of parliament. "Later on we heard the company found people and pushed them to say they wanted mining here, and used them to prove the community approved," Amankwaa says. She says this compelled opponents of mining to call on Oxfam America's partner WACAM to teach them how to defend their rights.
Working with WACAM, the farmers attended workshops in communities already affected by mining to learn about the potential social and environmental costs like pollution to the many streams that feed their farms. And they are learning to organize themselves, Amankwaa says. "With their advice, we have been able to unite and advocate for our position."
When a group of farmers convene to discuss their concerns about mining, the talk inevitably turns to ways they can defend their farms. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng of WACAM cautions the group against violence: "Protect your property, but don't sacrifice your life," she tells them. "Not all struggles should be violent. You can struggle by jaw-jaw, [talking], use your wisdom and language to win your struggle."
Abdullah Selifa, a 28-year-old employee of WACAM in Brong-Ahafo, says their first task it to ensure farmers like the ones in Mehame understand their rights in Ghana's constitution.
"We are fortunate to live in a democratic country," he says, and goes on to describe the articles in Ghana's constitution that protect the right to private property.
Nevertheless, the farmers are sure to have concerns about confronting powerful forces. "The people here have courage, but they are concerned about intimidation," Selifa says. "So we try to show them that they do not have to be afraid of struggling for their rights in the constitution—and that the government is there to protect their rights."
The community's latest move is to write their political representatives to ask for help. If they get a negative response, Selifa says they will take legal action to protect their farms.
]]>While the Farm Bill does little to help poor farmers in the US, it actually harms rural communities around the world. After receiving massive subsidies, US cotton farms produce more than they otherwise would, and sell their surplus at less than the cost of production. These subsidies hurt African cotton farmers by reducing the world price of cotton and shrinking their share of the market. This situation is not only unfair; it violates international rules set by the World Trade Organization.
]]>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.
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