THIS ISSUE
> More of Bell X1 in Tanzania > Check out what we got up to at Ireland's biggest summer festivals >
Brian Crosby and Paul Noonan from Bell X1 stop for a spot of
shopping in Nyandira Market in the Uluguru mountains.
Farmers spoke of how their lives had improved due to better
access to marketplaces. Oxfam Ireland's partner MVIWATA
works closely on the development of such marketplaces.
Photo - Kim Haughton
BELL X1 VISIT TANZANIA
ON MAKE TRADE FAIR TRIP
At the beginning of August, Brian Crosby and Paul Noonan of
Irish band Bell X1 joined Oxfam Ireland on a trip to Tanzania
to visit a HIV AIDS project in Tanga,
northern Tanzania, and
a trade-related project inland at Morogoro.
Brian and Paul have been strong supporters of Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign for several years and this trip allowed them to see, first hand, just how trade has the potential to lift millions of small scale farmers out of poverty.
Before visiting the projects, Brian and Paul spent time meeting Oxfam staff in Tanzania and learning about the different social issues facing the country.
Tanzania is one of the world's poorest countries and is home to Oxfam Ireland's first country based office. The vast majority of the population is poor, rurally based and dependent on agriculture. Levels of basic social service provision in areas such as education are low. Like many countries in the region, Tanzania has been badly hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Life expectancy is around 45 years old and 36% of the population live beneath the poverty line.
The objective of the trip was to look into the issues of fairer global trade rules. Tanzania is a good example of how trade has the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty. With the suspension of the World Trade Organisation talks around the time of the trip it became very evident while in Tanzania, how exposed this breakdown had left small scale farmers.
For many of these farmers their day-to-day work consumes their lives and working to support their families is their priority - hence they are just beginning to realise how they fit into the complex global trading system. Many of the farmers Paul and Brian met through Oxfam Ireland's partner MVIWATA spoke of how access to local trading markets was enabling them to make extra money which could pay things like school fees and health costs, previously a luxury.
With the suspension of the world trade talks and the new threat of Free Trade Agreements including Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with the EU, these farmers and millions of others across the developing world are in a vulnerable position. They have been left open to an increasing number of biased trade decisions which are favourable to rich trading blocs like the EU, at the expense of developing countries like Tanzania.
Brian and Paul's trip is also tied in to a wider project which they and many others have been working on called The Cake Sale.
The Cake Sale aims to raise awareness about trade issues as well as raise funds for Oxfam Ireland's work in countries like Tanzania.
Over the next few weeks more information about this initiative will be placed on www.thecakesale.com. Stay tuned.
