Poverty should be on Obama’s UK visit agenda

By Aurelie Walker, Trade Policy Advisor, Fairtrade Foundation

Counter-terrorism, the global economy, ping-pong and bbqs; President Obama’s UK state visit is as much about a public display of affection as it is about geopolitical and geo-strategic interest. But shouldn’t the US and UK be addressing one of their most pressing challenges, global poverty?

10 million of the 925 million people going hungry are cotton farmers in West Africa, and a quick and easy solution to their situation lies in the hands of Obama: drop the subsidies given to US cotton farmers. Since 2001, the US has doled out $24 billion to their cotton farmers, making it impossible for African farmers to compete. One US farm in California even received $2 million last year while Moussa Doumbia, a Malian cotton farmer told us, ‘Mali cotton farmers are hardly able to cover their living costs.’

This is why Traidcraft, the UK’s leading ethical trading company and development charity, were poking a giant cotton bud at a stand-in Obama outside the Foreign and Commonwealth office yesterday, prompting him to take action on cotton subsidies and asking William Hague to raise the issue with his counterpart Hillary Clinton. Traidcraft campaigners sent a message loud and clear that it’s time to put an end to this damaging policy now.

They were not alone. Two miles of bunting for trade justice, enough to stretch from the Tower of London to the Houses of Parliament, sent the same message from campaigners across the UK. Glenys Kinnock, UK opposition’s spokeswoman on international development in the House of Lords blogged yesterday ‘The United States and others made a commitment in Doha to farmers from developing countries. But, almost a decade later, there has been no change. Whether Doha fails or succeeds, President Obama can and should, take a lead on removing illegal cotton subsidies and ensure that the promises made are honoured.’

So Barack, the UK knows that the future of 10 million cotton farmers and their families is in your hands, and so do you. What will you do about it?

image credit: Traidcraft/Claudia Janke