Making Trade Fair

I remember a few years ago when the Make Poverty History (MPH) campaign took hold of the UK. My work colleagues and friends were wearing wrist bands branded with the MPH logo, aiming to show their solidarity with this movement. However, I disagreed (and still do) with the general idea of MPH. With a growing world population, and limited resources, it is very unlikely that we can ever make poverty ``history". An alternative campaign that I would support would be to Make Trade Fair (MTF) -- rather than Make Poverty History. The MTF campaign has much more interesting and sustainable ideas -- which encourages people in developing countries to undertake trade with the developed work on more equitable basis. A case in point is the PhytoTrade Africa -- an organization promoting fair and environmentally sustainable trade. Recently, PhytoTrade has been promoting the import of fruit of the baobab tree from Africa into Europe. According to a recent BBC Report, "...the fruit, contained in a hard nut, has six times more vitamin C than oranges and twice as much calcium as milk. African people have eaten the fruit for thousands of years, but Europeans will consume its pulp as an ingredient in smoothies and cereal bars." PhytoTrade had been fighting an EU legislation to bring this fruit into Europe -- with an estimated market worth of over £500 million per year. An excellent example of how fair trade and a gap in the market can be used to support developing nations, and eventually help them eradicate poverty.