Why Africa Cannot Trade Away Poverty

The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
September 8, 2005
Posted to the web September 7, 2005
Eric Shimoli
Nairobi

Unfair international trade rules are denying developing countries a chance to escape from poverty.

The UN Human Development Report says that global policies continue to deny millions of people in the world's poorest countries an escape route from poverty, and perpetuate inequalities. <snip>

"Today, for every $1 (Sh75) worth of Arabica coffee from Tanzania sold in a coffee house in the US, a farmer receives less than one cent," the United Nations report says.

"Behind the free market rhetoric and emphasis on the virtues of level playing fields, the hard fact is that some of the world's poorest farmers are being forced into a competition not with northern farmers, but with industrial country finance ministries. Comparative access to subsidies, not comparative advantage, remains the key to understanding agricultural trade," says Mr Kevin Watkins, the lead author of the 2005 report and director of UNDP's Human Development Report Office.

In Ethiopia, the report says, exports have increased by two thirds since the mid-1990s. But earnings have fallen dramatically and consequently, income in coffee producing households has crashed. <snip>

http://allafrica.com/stories/200509070873.html



Kenya Getting Poorer, Says New UN Report
The Nation (Nairobi)
September 8, 2005
Posted to the web September 7, 2005
Eric Shimoli
Nairobi

The standard of living among Kenyans has fallen drastically in the past three years with the country now ranked among those with low human development levels, according to a new UN report.

Kenya has gone down by 20 places in the grading order in the past three years.

The grading order, known as human development index, is based on life expectancy; literacy levels and manpower development. It also measures a country on the basis of wealth distribution. <snip>

Overall, Norway ranks top among nations with high human development while Niger is classified last in the rankings. <snip>

http://allafrica.com/stories/200509070872.html