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A Nut Can Save a Rainforest

We live in an age of wonders. From nano-surgery to space stations, networking sites to solar cells, Internet start-ups to smart capital, the world is a more connected, attractive and safe place than was dreamed possible, even fifty years ago. People live longer, healthier lives, with unprecedented social and political freedoms. Yet, in spite of these achievements, perhaps the greatest wonder is that so much of the world does not share in them. The poorest people still lose one in five children under the age of five, often to preventable diseases, drink unsafe water and have little or no access to basic education or the opportunities to better their lot. Poor women are much more likely to die in childbirth and are even less educated than men.
 
Our moral imperative to bridge these gaps is obvious and acknowledged in the 2000 Millennium Declaration, signed by 147 world leaders, to reduce poverty significantly by 2015. The resulting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) clearly spell out the world’s main development challenges that are linked to poverty, including hunger, child mortality and gender inequality. It is also clear that resources are needed to tackle these challenges, but there is debate about who should provide them and how much.
 
Trade creates wealth . As part of the United Nations family, the International Trade Centre (ITC) is committed to meeting the MDGs. For us, trade is the strongest way to break the poverty trap. Our effort to stamp out poverty and its many ills focuses on building up economic wealth by helping poor countries to increase trade. The benefits of using trade to tackle poverty and its causes are not purely financial. When people trade, they acquire skills and knowledge, as well as income. The confidence and self-worth they gain from financing their own progress is a base for further growth that no amount of foreign aid can supply, although it is an often necessary complement.
 
History, both ancient and modern, shows us that trade and prosperity go hand-in-hand. The rich ancient civilizations of Rome, Carthage, Ghana and Egypt depended on trade for their development, much as the trading powers of today. Our goal is to help more countries become integrated in today’s vast global economy, with the diverse opportunities for growth it offers.
 
Exports to new markets create new jobs and, with better incomes, individuals and Governments can send children to school, build wells, buy medicine and raise living standards generally. Taking part in world trade transforms economies; China, Brazil and India are often quoted in this respect. As their trade has grown, these countries have seen the numbers of people living on less than a dollar a day fall drastically, and a new middle-class emerge.
 
Yet, in the development community, there is still ambivalence towards using trade to fight poverty. Just 10 per cent of the United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks or country development strategies mention trade. We have to ensure that the voice of those involved in trade is heard when donors and Governments draw up country strategies.
 
Making trade part of development. With a vision and mandate of “export impact for good”, ITC aims to help developing countries choose trade paths that will benefit the most marginalized people in society, as well as those with the most advanced potential to succeed.
 
We help national policymakers understand poverty concerns in two key areas with long-term consequences. First, trade negotiations—whether it is the smallholders of India, the cotton-growers of West Africa or the food producers of Kenya—help negotiators take into account the concerns of their small and marginal enterprises when agreeing to the terms of trade treaties. Second, ITC raises awareness of the needs of small firms and poor communities with those who develop national export strategies, so that they can lay the foundations for a pro-poor approach to development.
 
We need to pay special attention to the most vulnerable. While East Asia has surpassed the target of halving income poverty, from 30 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2004, it is a different story in sub-Saharan Africa, home to most of the world’s poorest countries, where 40 per cent of people still live on less than a dollar a day, down from 46 per cent in 1990.