 Fair Trade
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Issue 147 |
BACKGROUNDER: That's Not Fair!
In times past, people tended to produce their own food, shelter and clothing. They may have traded a little with neighbours. They were in direct contact with those that produced everything they consumed. These days, consumers and producers are commonly separated by many thousands of kilometres. Just take a look in your cupboards and wardrobes. Much of what you will find has not even been produced in the same country as where you live. Should we feel responsible for our spending decisions even though we have no personal connection to the people who produce what we buy?
Every time we spend money we set off a whole chain of events. We are connected to the whole globalised world through a complex web of trade and exchange. More and more we are asking questions about the consequences of our spending decisions. We are now more aware of the working conditions of the people who produce such products as sports shoes and can choose to purchase products which we know will result in fair pay and conditions for the workers who produce them. We hope that when we spend our money on an imported product that the people who produce these products will get a fair return for their labour so that they will be able to support themselves and their families.
Even more complicated, however, is the global trading system which has complex rules which seem to disadvantage poor people in the majority world. We would hope that the peak body for setting the rules for international trade, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) would ensure that people will indeed receive a fair return for their produce and would not have to suffer from unfair rules. We don't, as consumers want to support a system that results in people losing their jobs, their farms or their futures.
When we buy tomato paste, think of the Ghanaian tomato farmers who are now breaking rocks in a quarry after the WTO forced the Ghanaian government to remove support from a local tomato processing factory and then allowed the market to be flooded by cheap, subsidised tomato paste from Europe .
When we buy milk, think of the Jamaican dairy farmer who had to sell his cows to the butcher because nobody wanted to buy his milk any more. The Jamaican markets have been forced to open up to cheap imports of milk powder from Europe . The Europeans pay a subsidy to their producers which means that they are able to sell at prices lower than it costs to produce. Many of these farmers have never done anything else and their future is looking bleak.
When we buy rice, think of the Philippino and Haitian rice farmers who are struggling to survive after their governments allowed cheap, subsidised rice to flood their markets. The WTO and the World Bank put pressure on the poor countries to free up their markets while allowing the United States to continue to pay its farmers a huge subsidy. This meant that huge numbers of small producers in these countries have had their livelihoods destroyed.
When we buy clothing, think of the cotton growers of Kenya who used to supply cotton to the local textiles factory. The Kenyan government was forced to cut its assistance to local cotton producers and at the same time American cotton was allowed to be sold on world markets at 40% less than it cost to produce, due to the massive subsidies paid to US producers. This has devastated the Kenyan cotton industry and its many small farmers.
The pattern is repeated throughout the world especially in agricultural produce. One in four people in the world rely on farming for their livelihood. The poor countries are forced to open their markets and the rich countries continue to pay huge subsidies to their producers and keep their own markets firmly closed. The rules are stacked against the poor.
The average European farmer receives around $20,000 per year in subsidies, more than 100 times the average income of an African farmer. Cows in the European Union are subsidised by $2 a day while around 500 million Africans live on $1 a day. The rich countries continue to promise to reduce the subsidies that they pay their own farmers but the Europeans have put off any real action until 2013 and the US is planning to increase payments to their farmers by $175 billion over the next ten years.
As consumers we are connected to the world and how we choose to spend that money has consequences that we may not always be aware of. We do have some responsibility to ensure that how we spend our money does not indirectly have disastrous consequences for some of the most vulnerable people in our world.
We of course, are not only consumers. We are also global citizens and as such have the right and the duty to tell our leaders when we think that the rules of international trade are not fair. We should tell them until they listen and take steps to change them.
Religion
Reflection/discussion :
1. a) Would you purchase a product if you knew that it was produced under unjust working conditions?
b) How much responsibility do you think you bear if you do participate in this type of commerce?
c) How can you be more aware of the consequences of your spending decisions?
d) Why do you think that many Christian organisations are campaigning for better rules for international trade?
2. “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of one's self and of one's family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services…” (Article 25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights) How is trade justice a human rights issue?
3. Go to www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/c43a5d676c91e5cd2737ad9f9f129875.pdf for an activity where quotes regarding wealth sharing are to be matched to their authors.
4. Discuss the concepts of fair and unfair. Come up with a class definition. How do we decide what is fair or unfair? Use the example of games to highlight these concepts. Have a game of Sneaky Snakes at www.globalgang.org/snakes/index.htm to assist in class discussion.
5. Go to www.cafod.org.uk/resources/worship/
liturgies_and_services/children_s_liturgies for some liturgies for children with a justice theme which could be used or adapted for your classes.
HSIE/SOSE
1. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 was awarded to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank (the world's first microcredit bank). To find out more about this bank visit: www.ozspirit.com/2005/105b.html
2. Go to www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file
=issues_dumping.htm&cat=2&subcat=2&select=1 and click on the interactive pictures to activate an animated explanation of each of the ways that the international trade rules are biased against the poor and in favour of the rich. Form into small groups and each group can investigate using the animation, the unfairness of the trade rules and then report to the larger group.
3. Go to www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?file=
issues_coffee.htm&cat=2&subcat=4&select=1 and in small groups examine the consequences for the victims of the unfair trade rules. There are 7 case studies and so 7 small groups can be formed. Explain these real-life consequences to the rest of the larger group.
4.
View the “Moosters Millions” animation to see how pampered the cows of Europe are at www.cafod.org.uk/watch_listen/animations/
moosters_millions
5. Go to www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/16c37ceb4594986777c8d362fce4d917.pdf to research gold. Most of us will purchase some gold jewellery at some time in our lives. Do we realise the consequences of buying gold on people we will never meet?
Answer the following:
- What does gold symbolise for us as consumers?
- What is its current world price?
- Who mainly profits from gold mining?
- What are the benefits to the local people of a gold mine?
- What are some of the negative side effects of gold mining?
- How are indigenous people particularly affected?
- How has the water supply been affected in Honduras?
- Why might the presence of gold in an area provoke conflict?
- How can we as consumers help to make the gold industry more just?
- Make a list of things that need to happen for the gold industry to be more ethical. Compare your list with the “golden rules” on page 3 of this document.
- Suggest some ways consumers can act to make the gold industry fairer.
6. To play a simulation game based on growing coffee including the decisions that need to be made on a daily basis go to www.foodfast.org/pdf/Life_As.pdf This is a comprehensive activity and takes some preparation and planning.
A similar activity based on the production of sport shoes can be downloaded at : www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/phpVTIrq8.pdf
7. Research an imported product like chocolate or coffee. Find out as much as you can about the conditions it was produced under.
a) What proportion of the final price you pay goes to the producer?
b) Is there a fair trade alternative?
c) How much extra does the producer receive under a fair trade scheme?
d) What difference might this make to their life?
Go to www.globalgang.org/images/
chocolate_tcm7-1153.pdf to provide tasks across the curriculum to support this project.
8. Go to www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/2c25116115ebaca8568c1996508bf2a0.pdf to research the history of the WTO. What do you notice about its stated aims and what it actually does in practice?
9. Go to www.maketradefair.com/en/index.php?
file=qa_doha_suspended.html&cat=2&subcat=1
&select=1 to find out about the so-called “development round” of trade talks under the umbrella of the WTO.
Answer the following:
a) Where was the first round of these talks held?
b) Why have the talks stalled?
c) How effective has the fair trade campaign been? Outline one success.
d) Why are the US and Europe most responsible for the stalling of the talks?
e) What is the future for these talks?
10. Complete the on line quizzes on trade justice issues at www.cafod.org.uk/extra/quizzes/index.php
11. Go to cyberschoolbus.un.org/mdgs/index.html and click on the 8 th icon and find out how this Millennium Development Goal relates to fairer trade.
12. Play a fair trade board game at www.newint.org/issue322/camels.htm
English
1. Compose a letter to the Federal Trade minister or to a major retailer or manufacturer outlining your concerns regarding unfair trade practices. Ask them what steps they are currently taking to ensure that fairer trade rules are brought in.
2. Compose a piece of creative writing from the point of a dollar and its travels from your wallet to the other side of the world. It would make an engaging adventure story.
Design and Technology
1. Design a logo and advertisement for a product that is produced in an ethical way according to fair trade principles e.g. Just Chocolate
Go to www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/original/
application/77f5ebc60b88a8b3c521a6b35fbaf
7fc.pdf and www.cafod.org.uk/var/storage/
original/application/phpjQIkD0.pdf for more teaching and learning ideas. Past issues of Ozsirit also include more ideas: ozspirit.info/2003/52bg.html and ozspirit.info/2003/54bg.html
1) Read about the failure of the Doha round of talks at www.cafod.org.uk/news_and_events/news/rich_
scupper_talks_2006_07_24 and www.onlineopinion.com
.au/view.asp?article=4734
2) For more information on fair trade issues from an Australian perspective go to www.aftinet.org.au/ and www.tradewatchoz.org/
3) Sign up for the Big Noise in this global petition to make trade rules fair at www.oxfam.org.au/campaigns/mtf/povertyhistory/
petition.php
4) Go to unstats.un.org/unsd/mdg/Resources/
Static/Products/Progress2006/MDGProgress
Chart2006.pdf for a progress chart on the Millennium Development Goals
5)
Go to www.millenniumcampaign.org/atf/cf/
{D15FF017-0467-419B-823E-D6659E0CCD39}/
WA%20-%20AUSTRALIA%20-%2030-05-06.PDF for an assessment of Australia's progress in achieving its stated aims of helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
6)
Register now for an exciting event in April 2007. Caritas Australia is hosting its Festival of Global Concern for Year 11 and 12 students and their teachers from around Australia and New Zealand . Students and teachers will come together to learn and share about issues of justice and peace . Go to www.caritas.org.au/events/festivalGlobal
Concern.htm for more information.
7)
Go to www.ccdr.org.au/ to view a recent report on the effects on our region of climate change. This report also suggests how Australia needs to be prepared for the possible disastrous effects of global warming on our neighbours in Asia and the Pacific.