Why is Giles concerned about reducing poverty in Africa ?

1/ In June 2005 Britain hosted the G8 (Group of 8) meeting of some of the richest countries in the world at Gleneagles in Scotland / 15/ Giles farms wheat and barley. He has seen his income from farm subsidies go down over the last 10 years and is concerned that he might lose all or most of his farm subsidy
2/ Bob Geldof helped organise Live8 / 16/ A subsidy is financial incentive to encourage something to happen
3/ Giles is a farmer. He lives near Rugeley in Staffordshire. His son, David, is a recovering heroin addict and now helps Giles on his farm. / 17/ If subsidies to European Union (EU) farmers like Giles ended, the world price of many agricultural foodstuffs would go up.
4/ Make Poverty History campaign to help Africa. They want fairer trading arrangements to help increase the incomes of African farmers. Many people wore their wristbands to show their support / 18/ Large farming multi-national corporations often benefit the most from subsidies. In 2004, a large company, Tate and Lyle Europe received more than £120 million in subsidies
5/ EU trade barriers restrict the amount of African farm produce entering Europe / 19/ Farmers in the EU receive much more in subsidies than EU governments give in aid to Africa
6/ Each European cow costs taxpayers in Europe about £1.50 a day. Half the world’s population lives on less than £1.50 a day / 20/ Live8 was organised to send a message to G8 countries in particular, to do something about world poverty.
7/ African exports to Europe face import taxes (tariffs) on processed or manufactured goods / 21/ In July 2005, 20 years after Live Aid, there was a follow up concert called Live8
8/ Subsidies in MEDCs have encouraged an over supply of farm produce. This has kept world prices for many agricultural foodstuffs at low prices / 22/ Giles was shocked by the images he saw of the Ethiopian Famine in 1984. He gave £50 to the Live Aid appeal
9/ Giles has contributed to charities that support poor groups of people in Africa / 23/ Africa is often treated as one big country. It is a continent made up of over 50 different countries
10/ In 2001 at the Doha trade talks in Qatar, the USA and EU agreed to cuts subsidies to farmers. They have since increased, particularly in the USA / 24/ Campaigners for fair trade want to see easier access to rich countries markets for poor countries’ products and an end to subsidies provided to EU and USA farmers
11/ The G8 meeting at Gleneagles made some progress in relieving poor countries of debt and increasing aid, but made little progress on trade and global warming / 25/ After World War II, farmers in Europe were given subsidies to boost production and to help Europe become more self-sufficient in food production. Food production increased significantly
12/ Rich countries spend about £230 billion a year on subsidies for their farmers / 26/ Farmers in the USA and in parts of Europe are politically quite powerful.
13/ Many African farmers earn relatively little for their low priced farm produce and find it difficult to export to MEDCs because of trade barriers / 14/ Countries at the G8 meeting at Gleneagles discussed climate change and debt, aid and trade as a means of reducing poverty in Africa
27/ Tony Blair had to interrupt the G8 meeting to deal with the London terrorist attacks on the 7th of July 2005