The livelihoods of more than 200,000 sugar cane farmers in developing countries are threatened by a decision – backed by Britain – to lift quotas on sugar production within the European Union, campaigners say.
David Cameron will travel to a UN summit in New York this week to formally adopt a series of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to end global poverty and reduce inequality. But the Fairtrade Foundation has accused the Government of “policy incoherence” because at the same time it is supporting “damaging changes to trade rules on sugar” that will undermine those efforts.
Generations of sugar cane farmers and their families in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have depended on the British and European markets, the independent charity says.
Alexia Ludford’s 1,700-member Jamaican grower’s association is at risk (O’Brien Brown)
The Fairtrade Foundation says that a recent Department for International Development (DfID) study found that removing the cap on EU beet sugar – a measure set to be introduced in October 2017 – was likely to push 200,000 sugar producers in ACP countries into poverty by 2020.
The organisation has published a “five-point agenda for trade policy coherence” and is asking people to join its “Show Your Hand” campaign, urging Mr Cameron to act to make trade fair.
Michael Gidney, the chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, said: “Trade is a powerful way to lift poor countries out of poverty, but only if it puts people first. The UK Government must make sure its rhetoric on trade policy is backed by reality. The SDGs are a unique opportunity to initiate fairer, more sustainable trade, but this will require leadership and change. Otherwise, it will be a case of giving aid with one hand and taking away through unfair trade rules with the other.”
Alexia Ludford, a sugar cane farmer from Worthy Park, Jamaica, said: “The biggest challenge for a sugar cane farmer is trying to earn enough income to provide financially for our families in the way that we would like. It is difficult when you are unable to access good health facilities, and when you are unable to access education for yourself and your children, which could teach you how to work smarter, not just harder.
“We want to be paid what we deserve for the hard work we have put in over a 12-month period to produce our sugar cane.”
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She said the survival of the 1,700 members of the Worthy Park smallholder association depended on sales to Europe. The proposed EU reforms would push them out of that market and “push us back to poverty”, she said.
Worthy Park became Fairtrade-certified in 2012 and sold 7,660 tonnes of sugar last year on Fairtrade terms, earning a Fairtrade Premium of $60 (£38) a tonne on top of the price received for the cane. The extra money is spent on improving productivity and benefiting the community.
Ms Ludford said: “Fairtrade goes beyond extra payments. It’s about creating new opportunities. The farmers benefit, the community benefits, kids benefits, everyone benefits.”
Mozambique and Swaziland are forecast to lose more than $40m from the EU reform, which will reduce the revenue earned from sugar exports by 5 to 7 per cent, according to research published by the charity last week. Producers will also face greater price volatility as they become more exposed to the world market.
The situation is compounded by a slump in global sugar prices which has caused the price to fall from £141 to £129 per tonne.
Dumisani Matsenjwa, a farmer from Swaziland, said the EU reform would mean the end of sugar cane production for his association. He said: “We grow sugar cane only, we don’t grow anything else. If we go out of business, we won’t have money to buy food.”
Mr Matsenjwa said the capital required to begin growing other crops instead of sugar would be hard to obtain, because banks were reluctant to lend farmers money.
“My life depends on growing sugar cane. Sugar cane was once called Swazi gold. But as time goes on and prices reduce, we don’t feel like we are holding gold. We feel uncertain, like in darkness, as we don’t know what the future holds for us.”
Sugar has seen a slump in global prices, which has caused the price to fall from £141 to £129 per tonne (Teri Pengilley)
More than 40 per cent of Swaziland’s sugar was exported to Europe last year.
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Mr Matsenjwa has a message for Mr Cameron and other European leaders: “I would ask them to feel for the poor Swazis, to feel for the poor Africans, and think about them. They must think what to do to keep the price stable and allow us to export sugar cane rather than making decisions that kill us.
“I think there is a fight between them and that fight affects us, poor innocent people. The people who have power should think about us, the poor guy.”
