• Trade rules are so unfair that cows in Europe get a subsidy from the taxpayer worth $2.20 a day at a time when half the world's population - 3 billion people - scrapes by on an income of less than that.
• In 1980 Africa had a 6% share of world trade. By 2002 this had dropped to just 2% despite the fact that Africa has 12 % of the world’s population.
• If Africa could regain just an additional 1% share of global trade, it would earn $70 billion more in exports each year – several times more than what the region receives in foreign aid.

Fairer trade is essential if we are to make poverty history. You may not be aware of them, but trade rules control how countries do business with each other. They are agreed at an international level and are supposed to ensure nations compete openly and fairly.

In reality they don't. That's because the rules are rigged - loaded in favour of the wealthiest countries and their business interests. So no matter how hard people work in the developing world, or how much their countries produce, trade relationships benefit wealthy countries the most. The situation is so dismal, half the world's population now lives on less than US$2 a day - less than the cost of a cup of coffee.

The result is misery for hundreds of millions of people who just want the chance to make a living, feed themselves, send their kids to school and create a better future for the next generation. Instead they are stuck in the trade trap.

With around 70 to 80 per cent of the world’s poor working in the agricultural sector, ensuring there is fair trade in agriculture must be at the heart of the international trade agenda.

Between them, these major international organisations are forcing poor countries to open up their markets to foreign imports and businesses and sell off public services like electricity - even when this isn't in their best interests.

Trade rules allow big agribusiness to export agricultural goods like wheat or cotton at below cost (dumping). This drives down world prices and ruins the opportunity for poor farmers to make a living. Trade rules discourage poor countries from moving into higher value goods, which would improve their returns from trade. Rules also stop poor countries from supporting vulnerable farmers and industries, while wealthy nations continue to support their own. All this is being done in the name of 'liberalisation' - and 'free trade'.

The result is that livelihoods are going to the wall, as farms and businesses go bust, unable to compete with a flood of cheap, subsidised imports. Governments are losing control of basic public services, as they're snapped up by profit-hungry investors. And workforces are being cynically plundered for cheap labour by powerful, under-regulated transnational companies, leaving thousands open to abuse and exploitation.

There is a tendency to argue that “trade not aid” is the solution to economic growth in developing countries. However, alleviating the needless suffering caused by poverty can only be achieved with trade, aid and debt relief together. A farmer cannot get his goods to market unless the appropriate infrastructure – such as roads – is in place. Health and education are also vital to ensure a healthy and skilled workforce.

Trade is essential but is not enough in itself, as economic growth does not always flow down to the poorest of the poor. For example, India has had 11 years of GDP growth of 8 per cent or more, yet a recent official report revealed the number of people living in poverty had declined a mere 0.74 per cent in the 11 years to the end of 2004/05. According to the World Bank in India some 47 per cent of children are malnourished and some 20 per cent of children don’t go to school. In China it is estimated that 42 per cent of the population still live on less than $US2 a day.

There's an obvious solution - challenge and change the rules so they work for poor countries. Re-write them in favour of the poorest countries so they can develop, protect crucial food crops that people depend on for their lives, build their own industries, grow stronger, and hopefully compete as equals.

Until the dumping of all subsidised crops and products on poor countries’ markets is ended, small-scale farmers face worsening poverty. However, developing countries also need to have a say in the rate and extent of the liberalisation of their markets to ensure that they are protected against sudden surges of agricultural imports which would undermine food security, rural development and the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people.

Australia has a better record than many on trade liberalisation. We’ve led the Cairns Group, a coalition of 18 agricultural exporting countries that account for over 25 per cent of the world’s agricultural exports, in calling for an end to unfair subsidies in agriculture. However, Australia must continue to push for fairer trade on the international stage.

Sadly, Australia has been part of an offensive by some developed countries to coerce developing countries into rapid and potentially damaging liberalisation in services and agriculture. To counter this damaging trend, Australia must recognise the right of developing countries to determine the pace and extent of liberalisation in order to protect food security and promote poverty reduction and human development goals.

We urge the Australian Government to continue to play a leadership role by advocating for fairer trade at the international level. In particular, maintaining pressure on rich countries, such as the US and Japan, and organisation such as the European Union, to significantly reduce or eliminate agricultural subsidies, and ensuring that developing countries have the right to decide the pace and extent of trade liberalisation.

Governments are listening - the call for fairer trade rules grows every day and it's becoming impossible to ignore.

Governments can actually do something. They have ultimate control over the WTO, IMF and World Bank - because they have more say in negotiations than anyone else.

Resources from Make Poverty History members:

Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand