NEWS,10.01.2013

Greek unemployment rate tripples

Greece's unemployment rate climbed to a record 26.8% in October as the debt-laden country remained sunk in recession, data showed on Thursday.Greece's jobless rate has almost tripled since it started rising in September 2009 as the country's debt crisis became apparent, and is more than double the average rate in the 17-nation eurozone, which stood at 11.8% in November.Unemployment among youth aged 15-24 also touched a new record of 56.6% in October, compared with 22.1 percent in the same month four years ago, statistics service ELSTAT said.A record 1.34 million Greeks were without work in October, up 38% from the same month in 2011, it said.After months of uncertainty over its future in the eurozone, Greece has managed to avoid bankruptcy but its economy is still sinking under austerity policies imposed by foreign lenders as the price for continued aid. The influential IOBE think tank on Thursday projected the economy would shrink 4.6% this year, taking a slightly more pessimistic view than the government, which expects the contraction at 4.5%, and the country's foreign lenders, who see it at 4.2%.IOBE also predicted unemployment would rise further to 27.3% this year, which is set to be the sixth consecutive year of recession.However, spending cuts helped narrow the country's central government budget gap by 30% in 2012 to €15.91bn ($20.75 billion), the finance ministry said. The central government budget figure excludes key elements of the general government budget, which is the figure used by the European Union to assess Greece's fiscal performance under its latest EU/IMF bailout programme.

Up to half of world's food wasted

Up to half of all the food produced worldwide ends up going to waste due to poor harvesting, storage and transport methods as well as irresponsible retailer and consumer behaviour, a report said on Thursday.The world produces about four billion metric tonnes of food a year but 1.2 to 2 billion tonnes is not eaten, the study by the London-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers said."This level of wastage is a tragedy that cannot continue if we are to succeed in the challenge of sustainably meeting our future food demands," said.In developed countries, like Britain, efficient farming methods, transport and storage mean that most of the wastage occurs through retail and customer behaviour.Retailers produce 1.6 million tonnes of food waste a year because they reject crops of edible fruit and vegetables because they do not meet exacting size and appearance criteria, the report by the engineering society said."Thirty percent of what is harvested from the field never actually reaches the marketplace (primarily the supermarket) due to trimming, quality selection and failure to conform to purely cosmetic criteria," it said.Of the food which does reach supermarket shelves, 30-50% of what is bought in developed countries is thrown away by customers, often due to poor understanding of "best before" and "use by" dates.A "use by" date is when there is a health risk associated with using food after that date. A "best before" date is more about quality - when it expires it does not necessarily mean food is harmful but it may lose some flavour and texture.However, many consumers do not know the difference between the labels and bin food after "best before" dates.Promotional offers and bulk discounts also encourage shoppers to buy large quantities in excess of their needs.In Britain, about £10.2bn ($16.3bn) worth of food is thrown away from homes every year, with £1bn worth being perfectly edible, the report found.By contrast, in less developed countries, such as in sub-Saharan Africa or South East Asia, wastage mostly happens due to inefficient harvesting and poor handling and storage.In South-East Asian countries, for example, losses of rice range from 37-80% of their entire production, totalling about 180 million tonnes per year, the report said.The United Nations predicts global population will peak at around 9.5 billion people by 2075, meaning there will be an additional 2.5 billion people to feed.The rising population, together with improved nutrition and shifting diets will put pressure for increases in global food supply over the coming decades.Rising food and commodity prices will drive the need to reduce waste, making the practice of discarding edible fruit and vegetables on cosmetic grounds less economically viable.However, governments should not wait for food pricing to trigger action on this wasteful practice, but produce policies that change consumer behaviour and dissuade retailers from operating in this way, the study said.Rapidly developing countries like China and Brazil have developed infrastructure to transport crops, gain access to export markets and improve storage facilities but they need to avoid the mistakes made by developed nations and make sure they are efficient and well-maintained.Poorer countries require significant investment to improve their infrastructure, the report said. For example, Ethiopia is considering developing a national network of grain storage facilities which is expected to cost at least $1bn."This scale of investment will be required for multiple commodities and in numerous countries, and co-ordinated efforts are going to be essential," the report said.

US pumps record high into govt coffers

The Federal Reserve pumped a record $88.9bn into the US Treasury last year, the spoils of big profits made on its vast holdings of securities, the US central bank said on Thursday.The Fed said the money was earned primarily from interest payments on the securities in its multi-trillion dollar portfolio of US government debt and bonds related to the housing industry.Each year, the central bank sends its earnings, minus operating costs and other expenses, to the Treasury.The 2012 figure eclipsed the prior record of $79.3bn deposited into government coffers in 2010.The Fed estimated its net income for last year at $91 billion.

US jobless claims rise

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, but seasonal volatility makes it difficult to get a clear picture of the labour market's health.Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 4 000 to a seasonally adjusted 371 000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The prior week's figure was revised to show 5 000 fewer applications than previously reported. Claims tend to be very volatile around this time of the year because of the holidays and seasonal layoffs. While they increased last week, there was nothing in the data to suggest a deterioration in labor market conditions. The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, increased 6 750 to 365 750, still at a level consistent with steady job gains.A Labour Department official said there was nothing unusual in state level data and that no states had been estimated. He noted, however, that jobless claims on an unadjusted basis tend to peak in the second week of January and the rise in the week ended Jan. 5 was a build-up to that.The labor market has been gradually improving, with job gains last year averaging 153 000 per month, little changed from 2011. That has not been enough to significantly cut the unemployment rate which ended the year at 7.8%.The claims report showed the number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid tumbled 127 000 to 3.11m in the week ended Dec 29, the lowest level since July 2008.The weekly decline was the largest since January 2011.The insured unemployment rate fell to 2.4%, its lowest since July 2008.

Gold worsens global health

High gold prices are driving up the use of toxic mercury in small-scale mining in developing nations, spreading a poison that can cause brain damage in children thousands of miles away, a UN study showed on Thursday. Negotiators from 120 nations will meet in Geneva next week for a final round of talks meant to agree a treaty to reduce the use of mercury. It is mainly emitted by gold mining, where it helps separate gold from ore, and by coal-fired power plants. A leap in gold prices to almost $1 700 an ounce from $400 less than a decade ago has spurred a surge in small-scale gold mining in South America, Africa and Asia which employs up to 15 million people, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Workers risk acute poisoning and, released to the air or washed into rivers and the oceans, mercury emissions spread worldwide. Mercury, a liquid metal also known as quicksilver, can cause harm especially to the brains of foetuses and infants. "Exposing infants and mothers to mercury is a cruel and increasingly unnecessary risk," Achim Steiner, head of UNEP, told Reuters by telephone from Nairobi, adding that there were cleaner alternatives to mercury in mining. "A Chinese baby born today, just like an American or a Japanese or a Brazilian one, really shouldn't be condemned to have neurological damage as a result of mercury," Steiner said."The very high gold price has ... brought more people, especially at the poorest end of society, into the gold mining sector," Steiner said. UNEP said damage to health and the environment was increasing as a result. Emissions of mercury from artisanal and small-scale gold mines more than doubled to 727 tonnes in 2010 from 2005 levels and now made up 35% of the global total, UNEP said. Part of the surge reflected better data - some mines in operation for years had been unknown, such as in West Africa.Eating fish is the main way mercury builds up in humans. It enters rivers and the oceans and accumulates as methylmercury in the bodies of fish, especially big predators such as swordfish, shark, king mackerel, tuna and sea bass.The report estimated that human emissions of mercury totalled almost 2 000 tonnes in 2010, mostly from Asian nations led by China. It said that level had been roughly stable for the past 20 years despite efforts for deeper cuts after a peak in the 1970s. Mercury also comes from natural sources such as volcanoes.The UN plan is to hold an international conference in late 2013 in Minamata, Japan, the site of one of the worst industrial releases in the 1950s, to approve a new convention to restrict mercury based on texts to be agreed in Geneva. Steiner expressed hopes that a UN convention would spur innovation by companies to cut mercury use. Technologies include filters for coal-fired power plants or substitutes in products such as thermometers, light bulbs and dental fillings. Many nations have tightened laws - the United States barred exports of mercury from January 1, 2013. The European Union, until 2008 the main global exporter, barred exports in 2011.UNEP's study did not provide an estimate for the overall health and environmental damage caused by mercury. UNEP spokesperson Nick Nuttall said that limiting dangerous metals such as mercury could have huge benefits. He noted that one study in 2011 put the benefits from phasing out another poison - lead in gasoline - at more than $2 trillion a year by reducing pollution linked to heart disease, diminished intelligence and even high crime rates.

ECB holds rates at record low of 0.75%

The European Central Bank held interest rates at a record low of 0.75% on Thursday, refraining from a cut following fledgling signs of life in the eurozone economy and with inflation still above target.The 17-country eurozone is in recession but recent data points to some stabilisation. Last month, ECB President Mario Draghi said there was "a wide discussion" on reducing rates - a comment that fed expectations a cut could soon follow. But hawkish remarks from a clutch of senior policymakers since have dampened that talk."This is not a surprise given some of the recent comments from the board, which did seem to play down the recent focus on interest rates," Nomura economist Nick Matthews said of Thursday's rate decision.The euro rose against the US dollar after the decision to $1.3115 from $1.3096 beforehand.New ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch said last month he did not see the logic of a debate about the ECB cutting its main rate and Peter Praet said there was little room to cut.Stronger survey data appeared to have strengthened the resolve of those at the ECB against a rate cut, Matthews said.An improvement in eurozone business morale in December, when a survey also pointed to a slowing service sector contraction, suggests a modest turnaround in the bloc after a grim fourth quarter.Another cut of the refinancing rate would raise the question of whether the ECB would also lower its deposit rate - already at zero - by the same amount, which would push it into negative territory, essentially charging a fee for banks to park money with it, for the first time.Even though Draghi has said the bank was "operationally ready" for such a step, it has grown increasingly wary of the idea, a source with knowledge of the ECB's thinking said.Negative deposit rates could deal a hefty blow to money market funds, which have already seen cash outflows since the ECB cut the deposit rate to zero in July. The rate is a peg for short-dated money market rates and it is already almost impossible for funds to generate a return for their investors.Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said last month he would be "very reluctant" about the ECB cutting the deposit rate any further. ECB staff projections published last month saw inflation at about 1.4% in 2014, which would usually justify another interest rate cut. The central bank also sees inflation falling below 2% this year with underlying price pressures remaining moderate.But inflation has eased more slowly than the ECB initially expected and as long as it misses the target - it has been above 2% for more than 2 years - a rate cut could be difficult to justify. In addition to gauging whether the ECB is entertaining another cut or not, Draghi will be pressed on other policy options, particularly to improve lacklustre bank lending. ECB data showed last week that bank lending to the private sector fell at an annual rate of 0.8% in November.At his December news conference, Draghi attributed the drop mainly to demand factors, but added that in a number of countries, credit supply is restricted.A move by global regulators to give banks more time and flexibility to build up cash reserves is expected to do little to support a recovery in Europe, where recession-hit firms and households have scant appetite for more debt. "One thing the ECB needs to engineer is recovery in lending," Rabobank economist Elwin de Groot said.A further question for Draghi will be how close he believes Ireland is to achieving the normalised market funding that would make it eligible for the ECB's new bond-buying programme."I would make the case but I'm not sure that the ECB would accept that case, but it's very close to it," John Corrigan, chief of Ireland's National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) said on Wednesday.Meanwhile, the Bank of England also left its monetary policy settings unchanged on Thursday while it awaits clearer signals on the state of Britain's economy and more news on the progress of a key scheme to boost lending.After a two-day meeting, the BoE's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said its main interest rate would stay at a record-low 0.5% and it would not buy any government bonds on top of the £375bn purchased so far.

Global food prices drop 7% in 2012

Global food prices fell by 7% in 2012 from the level the previous year, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Thursday, assuaging worries a few months ago that the world could be heading for a food crisis. The FAO added that prices had fallen in December for the third month in a row. The Rome-based FAO's Food Price Index averaged 212 points in 2012, a drop of 7% owing largely to falls in the prices of sugar, dairy products and oil.According to the FAO's index, a monthly measure of changes in a basket of food commodities, prices dropped in December by 1.1% to 209 points, down for the third month from the 263 points registered in August."The result marks a reversal from the situation last July, when sharply rising prices prompted fears of a new food crisis," said Jomo Sundaram from FAO's Economic and Social Development Department."But international coordination...as well as flagging demand in a stagnant international economy, helped ensure the price spike was short-lived and calmed markets so that 2012 prices ended up below the previous year’s levels," he said.The sharpest declines registered in 2012 were sugar (17.1%), dairy products (14.5%) and oils (10.7%), while price declines were much more modest for cereals (2.4%) and meat (1.1%).

French labour reform talks deadlock

French employers will consider some concessions in labour reform talks on Thursday but remain opposed to a key union demand to raise welfare charges on short-term contracts, their chief said as negotiations entered a final stretch.President Francois Hollande has called on business leaders and worker groups to strike a "historic deal" to overhaul France's labour market, helping firms to adjust their wage burden in a downturn and giving workers more job security.His Socialist government is pressing the parties to conclude a deal by January 15 as talks restart. A previous round broke up without an accord, with both sides accusing each other of making unacceptable demands.Hollande will introduce a draft law in the first quarter of 2013 regardless of whether a deal is struck. But without support from unions and employers, any law may face street protests and unions may push left-wing lawmakers to water it down."Tonight, we can reach a deal that puts France on par with the highest international standards in terms of flexi-security," Laurence Parisot, head of the Medef employers union, said on Europe 1 radio. "Anything less, there will be no deal."Flexi-security refers to a cooperative approach to labour relations widely used in northern Europe in which employees accept a degree of flexibility in working arrangements in return for employer commitments on job security.France wants to emulate that to address high unemployment and to eradicate the split in its jobs market between unflexible permanent contracts and short-term contracts increasingly used by employers but which offer workers little or no job security.Parisot said the Medef and its negotiating partner, the CGPME small- and medium-sized business group, would consider giving unions a voice and votes on company boards, and favoured making complementary health benefits automatic for workers.Unions say they could accept in-house deals allowing firms to temporarily cut work-hours during downturns, similar to arrangements in Germany. They may also accept the creation of new long-term job contracts with less iron-clad terms.However, union demands to impose higher welfare charges on short-term contracts remained a sticking point. Parisot said Medef was not prepared to extend talks beyond this week.Bernard Thibault, head of the hardline CGT union, said his group would not sign any deal in favour of de-regulation."What I can tell you is there is no way the CGT will approve the spirit of proposals from management's camp," he said.

Call for laws to protect domestic workers

Laws are "urgently" needed to give greater protection to domestic workers, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said in its latest report on the state of domestic workers worldwide.In the report Domestic Workers Across the World, the ILO said the very nature of their work in private homes makes domestic workers less visible than other workers, and therefore more vulnerable to abusive practices.The report released on Wednesday showed significant growth in the sector in the 15 years from 1995 to 2010, with the number of people employed increasing by almost 20 million to 52.6 million.In 2010 domestic workers, 80% of whom are women, accounted for 1.7% of global employment.Despite this, many domestic workers are still not protected by laws that regulate working time, grant a minimum income or provide maternity protection, according to the report.It estimates that only about 10% of all domestic workers, about 5.3 million people, are covered by labour laws to the same degree as other workers.About 30% have no legal protection at all, the report said.The report however acknowledges that many countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the industrialised world have already extended the same minimum protection which applies to workers generally to domestic workers. South Africa, for example, already regulates working times and respective hourly, weekly and monthly minimum wage rates, the report noted.The South African government last year announced a pay rise for all domestic workers with effect from December 1 2012. However, the SA Domestic Service and Allied Workers' Union accused the state of letting down domestic workers by not ratifying Convention 189 of the ILO. The convention advocates standardised working conditions, including minimum wages, rest hours, and leave for domestic workers. The report said the right to maternity protection is a key area of concern. “Women domestic workers are not entitled to maternity leave and associated maternity cash benefits. This poses a substantial obstacle for women domestic workers who wish to combine work with their own family responsibilities,” said the ILO.In addition to the lack of maternity benefits, the report highlights that there are no legal limits on weekly working hours for over half of the world's domestic workers, 45% are not guaranteed any weekly rest period and almost 50% have no minimum wage. South Africa, with more than 1.1 million domestic workers working for private households in 2010, is the biggest employer of domestic workers in southern Africa. The majority of workers are concentrated in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, according to the report. The sector was also the third-largest employer for women in 2010, employing about 15.5% of all women workers.Employers from all races hire domestic workers. Although the government sets minimum wages and working hours, employers should also ensure they pay their workers a fair wage, said Dennis George, general secretary of the Federation of Unions of SA.George said employers should discuss realistic increases linked to the rising cost of living with their workers, as the minimum wage set by the government was only a guideline.Yendor Felgate, CEO of Emergence Growth Services, said the company's research into why so many employers fail to legalise their domestic service arrangements shows this is due to ignorance. “While most employers are keen to do the right thing, few are aware that that their two-day-a-week domestic worker qualifies as an employee," said Felgate.“Ultimately, it will be joint actions taken at the national level by governments, trade unions and employers that will bring decent work to the millions of domestic workers across the world,” said the ILO.

NEWS,18.09.2012

Dangerous Misconceptions About Sanctions on Iran and Its Nuclear Program

 

On August 27, 2012, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), an organization whose stated goal is to serve the interests of Iranian Americans, released a report discussing the impact of U.S. sanctions on Iranians and Iranian Americans. The report, while laudable in its efforts, makes a number of unsupported conclusions about U.S. sanctions and Iran's nuclear program. The report provides an opportunity to highlight four major misconceptions the public has about Iran's nuclear program and the impact of sanctions on Iranians and Iranian Americans.

1: Iran has a nuclear weapons program

The PAAIA report initially stated that sanctions have created "challenges in developing nuclear weapons" and still notes that "many experts still doubt that severe and sustained economic pressure will be sufficient to persuade Iran to abandon its drive for nuclear weapons capability." These assertions create the underlying assumption that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapons program, a misperception commonly used by advocates of military strikes. The reality is far more complicated. Both Israeli and U.S. intelligence agencies have consistently found that Iran has not made the decision to pursue nuclear weapons. In remarks to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on January 31, 2012, James R. Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence noted that "We do not know . . . if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons." A few months later, in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haartz, General Benny Gantz, the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, explained that while "[Iran is] going step by step to the place where it will be able to decide whether to manufacture a nuclear bomb. It hasn't yet decided whether to go the extra mile." While Iran's nuclear hedging is certainly a cause for serious international concern, a nuclear program does not necessarily equate a nuclear weapon, a misconception created by the sensationalized statements in the report. That Iran has not decided to develop nuclear weapons also emphasizes the importance of exhausting all diplomatic means.

2: Iranian-Americans have not been impacted by sanctions

The report states that "Though there are many anecdotal stories about the effect of sanctions on Iranian Americans, there is minimal scientific data to support these stories." This unsupported finding is outright incorrect and is incidentally contradicted by PAAIA's own poll, which found 44% of Iranian Americans reporting that sanctions are "somewhat burdensome or a very burdensome impact on their ability to support their families." Indeed, the effect of sanctions on Iranian Americans is far more serious than that claimed by PAAIA. Companies have refused to sell goods and services to Iranian Americans, even when such sales would be permitted by law. Numerous banks have refused to open checking or savings accounts for Iranian Americans. Some U.S. employers require background checks and prior approval from the Department of Treasury before hiring Iranians (regardless of their citizenship status). Furthermore, Iranian Americans have become the target and victims of federal prosecutions and investigations for transferring innocuous goods or services to or from Iran, such as donations to assist impoverished children in Iran or family remittances. The impact the sanctions have had on Iranian Americans is real and significant. Minimizing the effects also supports a pro-sanctions approach while also preventing sorely needed remedial measures. Indeed, this was the effect when PAAIA first issued a press release discrediting claims of Apple's discrimination against Iranian Americans (a statement picked up by Fox News) even though it later demanded that Apple cease discriminatory practices

3: The impact felt by Iranian civilians is minimal

PAAIA's 35-page report minimizes the devastating effects sanctions have had on ordinary Iranians to a few sentences which concludes that Iranians are "reluctant to obtain much needed medical care" due to the soaring cost of basic procedures. The reality is far worse, as has been extensively documented by the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), the Iranian Hemophilia Society, and others. As Al-Monitor reported, "an ever more complex web of US sanctions is depriving Iranians with life-threatening conditions of the drugs and other medical products they desperately need." As ICAN noted, the costs of both domestic and imported medicines skyrocketed, becoming increasingly unavailable. The ICAN report notes the harrowing fact that "Patients with poorer prognoses or those who cannot afford it are forgoing treatments and opting for an early death so they don't burden their families financially." A report by the Financial Times similarly found that "cancer patients and those being treated for complex disorders such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis and thalassemia, as well as transplant and kidney dialysis patients" are dying because of the sanctions. A comprehensive picture of the sanctions policy requires an analysis of its success in achieving its strategic goals and outlining its collateral effect on Iranian civilians.

4: Diplomacy has failed and/or will not succeed

The report states that evidence supports the view that economic sanctions are the only means, short of military action, that could persuade Iran to change its position on the nuclear issue "primarily because of the Iranian government's potential willingness to make concessions on the nuclear issue if the economic sanctions are removed." The Report notes "[h]owever, whether the Islamic Republic of Iran will reach an agreement and actually uphold the commitment remains to be seen and is unlikely based on the failure of the recent P5+1 negotiations." The report feeds into the perspective of pro-war pundits who allege that diplomacy has failed. PAAIA's own board member, former senior advisor to the State Department, Vali Nasr, has noted that "Obama's critics on the right will look for the slightest opening to dismiss diplomacy as having failed and again push for war." The Obama administration has disputed that misperception, noting as recently as last week that "there remains time and space" for diplomacy and sanctions "to bring about a change in behavior from Iran."

Whitewashing the effects the sanctions have on Iranians and Iranian Americans while also making unsubstantiated claims about Iran's nuclear program or that diplomacy is likely to fail only serves one purpose: it furthers misconceptions held by the public while paving the way for an unnecessary and preventable conflict with Iran. As tensions between Iran and the U.S. reach fever pitch and as the conflict in Syria threatens to spill onto the rest of the region, the need for an informed public is greater now than at any other time in recent memory. Tackling misconceptions is necessary to ensure we have an informed society before and not after another avoidable and tragic U.S. war in the Middle East.

Can Africa Feed Africa? 

 

Africa does not produce all the food it needs. In fact, as more Africans leave their rural villages and move into cities, more maize, rice, wheat and other staples have to be shipped in from outside the continent. The cost is huge well above $20 billion per year and demand is projected to double by 2020. Yet politicians tend to worry about this only during times of crisis, when the all-too-frequent drought or war unleashes those uncomfortable images in the media of sick children with bloated stomachs and hungry adults begging behind distribution trucks. By then, there is no alternative but to bring even more food from abroad. But, why is Africa so "food insecure"? Doesn't it have some 400 million hectares of agricultural land waiting to be cultivated? A new report shows that the problem is mainly man-made you can't really blame fate or nature. It has to do with laws, regulations, policies and institutions that shut African farmers, especially small farmers, out of the urban centers where consumers are.Mind you, that's even before you consider the old handicap that has held back agriculture in the region: a land ownership structure that makes it difficult for large agricultural enterprises to set up shop and deploy the kind of modern technology and equipment that small, individual farmers can rarely access.] The entire way from the farm to the kitchen table, red-tape, monopolies and corruption block food trade within Africa, even within each African country. Here is how.First, each country has its own system to certify seeds and takes, on average, a couple of years to approve new varieties. Result: better seeds get stuck at the border, and local farmers are stuck with lower yields and sometimes without any seeds at all. Something similar is true for fertilizers, which in Burundi, Nigeria or Senegal can be five times more expensive than in Argentina, India or Turkey. To make matters worse, some African governments give away fertilizers or sell them below cost. Generous as that may sound, these schemes have mostly turned into political and fiscal nightmares, as waste and corruption make them virtually unaffordable.Then comes the problem of carrying the produce to the market. In Africa, it can cost ten times more than in the average rich country to transport one ton of food one kilometer. Much of this is simply due to a lack of adequate roads the need for investment is enormous. But much also is due to monopolistic and usually politically connected trucking companies and "informal" checkpoints from Cameroon to Kenya, governments struggle to keep locals from setting up road-blocks and charging tolls. Is there any African country that has managed to cut through this Gordian knot and reduce transport prices? Yes, Rwanda did. Hats off to it.But once farmers reach the border if they ever do their troubles really start. From one week to the next, food exports may be banned or taxed you may not know until you are about to cross. Or the country you are trying to enter may want you to prove where your products come from, or that they meet a sanitary standard which, you guessed it, is different from the one you had to meet back home. They may just want a bribe that would wipe out your, by now, meager profit. Or they may bluntly abuse their authority. How badly? Half of female cross-border traders in the Great Lakes region report to have been physically or sexually harassed by officials at the crossing points grim odds if you have to cross every week. If there is so much risk, why bother to trade food across countries in the first place? Only large, powerful traders can survive that. That's precisely the issue. Uncertainty and graft at customs agencies kill the benefits of food trade for Africa's smaller and poorer farmers, most of who are women.This all points to the potential gains from African governments acting together to free food trade within the continent of taking "collective action" towards integration. A set of rules, standards and taxes that are stable, predictable and common across countries would go a long way to convince farmers that investing in food trade makes sense. And imagine the impact that a continent-wide "Charter of Basic Rights for Traders" could have. This is not as easy as it sounds it took decades for Europe to do it. But it is beginning to happen keep an eye on COMESA, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa. By some estimates, lifting barriers to food trade, from the farm to the market, could double Africa's production of cassava and rice, triple maize, millet and sorghum, and quintuple wheat. Think of how, in just five years, Thailand tripled its exports of cassava to other East Asian countries, and picture that success in African proportions. The region could indeed feed itself. That means higher income for farming families, a more secure food supply for city dwellers, and better opportunities for women. A win-win-win opportunity, which begs the question: Why has it not yet been done? Well, that brings us back to politics.African governments have for years expressed their support for integration. Summits were held and grand free-trade agreements were signed. In some cases, customs unions were created within which people, goods and money are supposed to circulate unfettered these unions, on paper, still exist. There has been no lack of commitment in public. In practice, though, little has happened. Like any reform, freeing food trade within Africa will have winners and losers. The latter, which include intermediaries, favored companies and crooked civil servants, can stop change. The only antidote to this is a mix of enlightened leadership, participatory democracy, and lots of user-friendly information. In other words, it will take time but it will come.

NEWS,19.08.2012

Greece told to trim further €2.5bn

Greece's creditors say it must cut €14bn from its budget in the next two years, €2.5bn more than they originally demanded, German weekly Der Spiegel reported Saturday.The amount was revised upward as a result of the most recent audit mission by the country's so-called troika of bailout lenders, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, Der Spiegel said.Troika auditors visited Athens recently and are expected to return in September, when they have said they will remain for the entire month.Based on that audit, the EU and IMF will decide whether to release Greece's next loan disbursement of €31.5bn.The Greek government is scrambling to slash its budget in order to access the funds, which it needs to keep it from defaulting on its debt and crashing out of the eurozone.Der Spiegel said the troika had ordered the extra cuts because planned privatisations were not shaping up to be as lucrative as hoped and tax revenues were falling short of forecasts as the economy struggled through its fifth year of recession.The auditors also said in a report that the government had so far been unable to show how it planned to reach the €11.5bn in savings it had already pledged to find for 2013 and 2014.

Obama slams Romney on taxes

President Barack Obama hounded Mitt Romney on Saturday, saying his wealthy rival would pay only 1% in taxes on his vast wealth under a plan authored by his running mate Paul Ryan.Obama escalated his effort to use the pick of the conservative Republican congressman last week to drive votes away from Romney in swing states, including New Hampshire, where he was campaigning Saturday."The centerpiece of my opponent's entire economic plan is a new five-trillion-dollar tax cut, a lot of it going to the wealthiest Americans," Obama said. "His new running mate, Congressman Ryan, he put forward a plan that would let governor Romney pay less than 1% in taxes each year, and here's the kicker - he expects you to pick up the tab."The president is demanding that Romney, a former venture capitalist, release more than the two years of personal tax returns he has already promised, and paints his rival as the epitome of a society tilted toward the rich.On Thursday, Romney insisted that he had always paid at least 13% in taxes, but that figure could still be politically damaging as it is much lower than the rate paid by most middle class Americans.Romney, estimated to be worth around $250m, has his income taxed as investment earnings, rather than as an annual salary, hence the lower rate, complicating his campaign to deny Obama a second term on November 6.In his budget proposal, Ryan would eliminate double taxation on interest, capital gains or dividends, reasoning that greater savings would lead to higher productivity and more investment.Romney has however said he would keep taxes on capital gains, interests and dividends at the current rate, but eliminate them entirely for those earning less than $200 000 a year.Obama cited a study by the bipartisan Tax Policy Centre that said that Romney's policies would result in middle class families paying an extra $2 000 a year, while the wealthiest Americans would get a big tax cut.But the Romney campaign said that after the release of new figures showing a rise in the unemployment rates in 44 states, it was not surprising the president was launching another attack."The fact is President Obama wants to raise taxes on private investment and job creators, which will lead to higher unemployment and fewer jobs," said Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams."The Romney-Ryan plan eliminates taxes for the middle class on interest, dividends and capital gains and implements pro-growth policies to deliver more jobs and more take-home pay for middle-class families."

 

Another food crisis looms - expert

With drought parching farms in the United States and near the Black Sea, weak monsoon rains in India and insidious hunger in Africa's Sahel region, the world could be headed towards another food crisis.Asia should keep a catastrophe at bay with a strong rice harvest while the G20 group of industrialized and emerging economies tries to parry the main threat, soaring food prices."We have had quite a few climate events this year that will lead to very poor harvests, notably in the United States with corn or in Russia with soja," warned Philippe Pinta of the French farmers federation FNSEA."That will create price pressures similar to what we saw in 2007-2008," he added in reference to the last global food alert, when wheat and rice prices nearly doubled.In India, "all eyes will be on food inflation - whether the impact of a weak monsoon feeds into food prices," Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research at Standard Chartered Bank was quoted by Dow Jones Newswires as saying.Monsoon rains were 15.2% below average in mid-August, according to latest data from India weather bureau, and Asian rice prices are forecast to rise by as much as 10% in the coming months as supplies tighten.India and Thailand are two of Asia's leading rice exporters.Indian Food Minister Kuruppasserry Varkey Thomas told parliament this month that prevailing conditions "could affect the crop prospects and may have an impact on prices of essential commodities."Despite that warning however, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization expects rice output to slightly surpass "excellent results" recorded last year, though the FAO cut its global forecast for production of unmilled rice to about 725 million tons from its previous figure of 732 million.The world is feeling the onset of the El Nino weather phenomenon, which has a natural warming effect, is active in the western Pacific and expected to last until winter in the northern hemisphere, according to Japanese meteorologists.The US farm belt has been ravaged by the most stifling drought since the 1950s, and the country's contiguous 48 states have just sweltered through the hottest July on record.Corn production is probably at the lowest level in six years, the US Department of Agriculture said, and curtailed production will likely send corn and soybean prices to record highs, it added."Cereal prices have shot up, with an increase in (corn) prices of almost 40% since June 1," strategists at the CM-CIC brokerage noted.Commerzbank commodity experts said high temperatures and drought around the Black Sea "have resulted in wheat crop shortfalls on a scale that cannot yet be predicted with any accuracy."US commodities analyst, AgResource Company president Dan Basse told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation last week that the Australian harvest could play a role in easing the food shortage."We need every metric tonne of wheat and grain the Australian farmers can produce," Basse said. "Anything that the Australian farmer can do to assure or boost his production should be profitable in the year ahead."Jean-Rene Buisson, head of France's national association of food industries (ANIA) said: "All products based on cereals, including meat, will be affected by price increases, not necessarily by September, but definitely during 2013."In China, food prices are considered politically sensitive and account for up to a third of a consumer's average monthly budget, government statistics show.China has reined in inflation as its economy slows however, while its grain output stood at 1.3 trillion tonnes in the first half of the year, up 2.8% from the same period a year earlier.The Financial Times (FT) said concerns over the US harvest had prompted senior G20 and United Nations officials to consider an emergency meeting on food supply, with a conference call on the issue scheduled for August 27.The newspaper cited officials as saying the talks were not a sign of panic but rather reflected the need to establish a consensus to avoid a repeat of the riots and tensions sparked in 2007-08 by spiking food prices.Major concerns include hoarding or export restrictions by food producing countries, along with panic buying by others.Also crucial is the balance between the use of grain as a direct source of food and its role as animal feed or as a basis for motor fuels.FAO director general Jose Graziano da Silva of Brazil called in the FT for the United States to suspend biofuel production programmes to ease the pressure on food resources."An immediate, temporary suspension" of a mandate to reserve some crops for biofuels "would give some respite to the market and allow more of the (corn) crop to be channelled towards food and feed uses," he wrote.A region where food is in chronic shortage is the Sahel region of Africa, where the number of malnourished children is estimated to have hit a new high of 1.5 million as cholera and locusts emerge as new threats, UNICEF has warned.The relief agency World Vision Australia said 18 million people need food assistance in Niger, Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Senegal.

NEWS,18.06.2012

Greek leaders seek coalition, want to ease bailout

Greece's conservative leader has pushed for a new coalition government after a narrow election victory, pledging to soften the debt-laden country's punishing austerity programe despite opposition from Germany.A brief relief rally on international financial markets after Sunday's Greek vote quickly fizzled out as it became clear that Antonis Samaras's New Democracy had failed to win a convincing popular mandate to implement the deep spending cuts and tax increases demanded by the European Union and the IMF.Radical left-wing bloc SYRIZA and a host of smaller parties opposed to the punishing conditions attached to the $206 billion bailout won around half the votes cast, though fewer seats because the electoral system rewards the first placed party disproportionately.Samaras received a mandate to form a coalition government from the president today, but talks looked set to run into at least tomorrow. He said the country would meet its commitments under a bailout saving the country from bankruptcy and a dramatic exit from the euro zone.But Samaras added: "We will simultaneously have to make some necessary amendments to the bailout agreement, in order to relieve the people of crippling unemployment and huge hardships."Samaras met with SYRIZA's charismatic leader Alexis Tsipras, who ruled out joining the government, and with the third-placed PASOK Socialists, who did not commit. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said negotiations "must be wrapped up" on Tuesday.The small Democratic Left party indicated it would be ready to support Samaras if the bailout deal could be softened.Greece's economy is forecast to contract 5% this year after shrinking 7% last year. Protests regularly choke the centre of Athens, some hospitals are running short of medicines, thousands of businesses have closed and beggars and rough sleepers are multiplying.During the election campaign, Samaras called for cuts in taxes, hikes in unemployment benefits, pension rises and two more years to meet fiscal targets.But Germany, already irritated at what it sees as the slow pace of Greek reform, ruled out more than minor delays to some targets in the rescue package - Greece's second since 2010.Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at a meeting of G20 leaders in Mexico, said any loosening of Greece's agreed reform pledges would be unacceptable and reiterated that Athens had to stick to the commitments it had already made.Germany says deal "not negotiable" Samaras voted in 2010 against the first $174 billion rescue because he thought it was too harsh. He now said Greece should have until 2016, not 2014, to meet fiscal targets set by under the bailout. Venizelos wants a further year to reform.German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the substance of the bailout agreement was "not negotiable", but he said creditors might be willing to offer some flexibility on timing for some of the targets, given the time lost in campaigning."We're ready to talk about the time frame as we can't ignore the lost weeks, and we don't want people to suffer because of that," he told German radio today.There was frustration in Berlin that Samaras had campaigned on a promise to renegotiate the bailout, given the scale of resistance among those stumping up the cash.European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen warned that extending the 2014 deadline for Greece to cut its budget deficit to below three percent of GDP would mean fresh money for Athens."I can only generally point out that if one is pressing to shift fiscal targets, one should be so honest to also say that as long as a country is running a primary deficit, extending the fiscal targets will automatically mean that there will be an additional external financing need," Asmussen said.With an emboldened SYRIZA bloc led by former communist student leader Tsipras at the head of a powerful opposition, the new government could face protests soon after taking office. SYRIZA almost doubled its share of the vote since a previous election on May 6, which produced stalemate.

US and EU haggle over trade barriers

The United States and the European Union, stung by past failures to liberalize trade, are struggling over how to tackle regulatory barriers in areas ranging from financial services to chemicals that pose the biggest obstacle to a transatlantic free trade pact.A joint US-EU working group is due to deliver interim recommendations this month on how to leverage one of the world's largest trade relationships to create more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic and bolster economic growth.Businesses both in the United States and Europe want Washington and Brussels to strike a deal that removes trade hurdles by requiring both to accept each other's consumer- and environmental-protection standards.They envision an agreement in which a car tested for safety in the United States would not have to be tested again in Europe, or a drug deemed safe by Brussels would not have to be approved by US government experts.There's a good chance the upcoming report from the team led by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk and European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht will be no more than a "stock-taking" of the talks so far, with the real meat of the recommendations in a final report near the end of the year.Peter Rashish, vice president for Europe and Eurasia at the US Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes for a forward-leaning document that sets the stage for ambitious talks that would begin when the final report is put out."We need a strong statement that a US-EU trade deal would be a big boost to jobs and growth, given the challenges both the US and the EU economy face right now," Rashish said.The United States and the EU have proven records of sealing bilateral free trade agreements, including deals each has struck with South Korea that some have suggested be used a template for a transatlantic pact.Also, tariffs on manufactured goods traded between the two economic blocs are generally low, and there are few sectors where dismantling the remaining tariffs would create political opposition to a pact. That has raised hopes a deal to eliminate the remaining duties could be struck quickly once talks begin.Drag on for years Even so, US and EU officials worry about launching negotiations that could drag on for years without success, such as the Doha round of world trade talks, which started in 2001 and never reached an agreement.A joint effort late in the administration of former President George W. Bush to eliminate European barriers to US poultry exports flopped so badly that the United States in frustration filed a case against the EU at the World Trade Organization."What you've got is a deep-seated suspicion on each side that the other side can't deliver," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents major US exporters like Boeing, Caterpillar and Microsoft.Reinsch noted that the United States has disappointed the EU in recent talks on allowing foreign firms to bid on more US state and local government contracts."So there's this extensive poking around to figure what can be delivered," Reinsch said.Recent consultations have driven home how difficult it could be to address regulatory differences that impede trade in areas from food to chemicals to financial services, although both sides see a potentially big payoff from achieving that."What is really bothering companies on both sides of the Atlantic right now is not so much tariffs, but the duplication of regulatory requirements," a European official said.Those are harder to tackle because they involve regulators such as the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency and the European Food Safety Authority that are outside the purview of typical trade agreements."I think the regulatory piece is certainly the most challenging and I think we have to agree on what success would look like on regulatory matters" within the 18 to 24 months both sides hope it will take to reach a deal, Rashish said.That would probably require a recognition that some issues will still need further work after an initial free trade agreement is signed, he said.The US Chamber of Commerce has proposed starting with areas, such as autos, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, where the two sides have comparable, high-level standards to protect consumers and the environment but different specific requirements for The idea would be that after determining that US and EU regulatory regimes produce similar levels of protection, agreements would be reached to recognize each other's requirements in those areas as essentially equivalent, thereby removing them as barriers to trade, and setting a foundation for moving into additional areas, Rashish said.

NEWS,07.04.2012

Hundreds attend funeral of Greek pensioner

Hundreds of people shouting defiance have attended the funeral of retired pharmacist Dimitris Chrisoula, who shot himself in central Athens this week saying government austerity cuts had left him in penury. "Forward the people, heads high, the only answer is resistance" they shouted, applauding as the coffin arrived at Athens' main cemetery, television pictures showed.Chrisoula's daughter said in a farewell speech that his act had been "deeply political," while a message from composer Mikis Theodorakis, an icon of defiance against the junta that ruled Greece in the 1970s, was also read out.Unusually for Greece, the ceremony had no religious component and the remains were to be taken to neighbouring Bulgaria for cremation, a practice forbidden by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.Chrisoula shot himself in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Wednesday, leaving a note saying his pension had been wiped out and that "I find no other solution for a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage to feed myself".His death prompted new protests and clashes with police over the government's measures aimed at resolving Greece's massive debt crisis.Athens has been forced to cut state spending drastically, and has slashed civil servant salaries and pensions by up to 40 percent to secure bailout loan payments from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs in the past year, and unemployment currently tops one million, a quarter of the workforce.Greek protesters marching in memory of a man who killed himself over financial woes have attacked a policeman. The policeman was left bloodied and his bulletproof vest was stolen.The demonstrators marched after a memorial service for Dimitris Christoulas, 77, a retired pharmacist who shot himself on Wednesday in the Greek capital's Syntagma Square. He left a note blaming politicians for his money problems and calling on "young people" to kill their elected leaders.His death has further galvanised Greeks angry over their leaders' implementation of tough austerity measures that are aimed at bringing the country out of its fiscal crisis but which have caused hardships for many ordinary citizens. Greece's economy is now also heavily dependent on international loans.Hundreds attended the memorial service for Mr Christoulas, singing and chanting slogans. Afterward, about two hundred people, escorted by bikers, marched through central Athens, ending their march at Syntagma.There, some of the demonstrators spotted two policemen who had just finished their patrol. About a dozen protesters quickly put on balaclavas to hide their faces and pursued the policemen.One managed to escape. The second was dragged down some steps, shoved to the ground and punched and kicked for about three minutes.The attackers took his bulletproof vest, as well as a bag containing a belt, a uniform and handcuffs. The attackers placed some of the items on the spot where Mr Christoulas shot himself, adding them to a makeshift memorial.The policeman, his face covered in blood, managed to make his way to a police van that had arrived on the scene. A police official said the policeman was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The official did not give his name in line with agency rules.According to a text of Mr Christoulas' note published by local media, the man said the government had made it impossible for him to survive on the pension he had paid into for 35 years. "I find no other solution than a dignified end before I start searching through the trash for food," read the note.Mr Christoulas' daughter, Emy, told media that her father, who had taken part in several protests at Syntagma Square, had intended to send a political message with his suicide. He had incurred no debts, she said."Father, you could not grasp it when they took away our democracy, our freedom, our integrity, " Emy Christoulas said at her father's memorial service."You could not grasp it when they surrounded us with a harsh social and economic apartheid."Mr Christoulas' body will be cremated at a later date, in Bulgaria, because Greece lacks cremation facilities.

NEWS,08.02.2012

Aid sent by helicopter as thousands remain cut off in Europe

Helicopters ferried food and medicine to iced-in villagers on Wednesday as Europe's 12-day-old cold snap tightened its frigid grip on the continent, where more than 400 have died as a direct result. Eastern countries such as Poland and Ukraine account for more than half this total, and dozens more have succumbed to the weather's secondary effects, such as asphyxiation by shoddy heating. Heavy snows eased in Bosnia but the bitter cold continued, especially in the south and southeast, where temperatures dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit.)Thousands struggled without power, including around the historic city of Mostar, where some 15,000 homes lacked electricity.Uma Sinanovic, a spokeswoman for Bosnia's defence ministry, said areas around Nevesinje and Berkovici in the country's south were especially hard hit."The electricity has been down for two days, phone lines are also down in that region," Dragan Stark of the Bosnian Serb civil protection service added. "It's a disaster.” Bosnian authorities on Wednesday sent civilian and military helicopters to isolated hamlets near Mostar and Kalinovic, bringing much-needed supplies and ferrying sick people to hospitals.Five choppers delivered basic foodstuffs like flour and oil, lowering the supplies down by rope when landings were impossible.The Bosnian authorities said that two more people had died from the cold in the rugged mountainous Balkan nation, raising the toll to seven, while Albania had its first victim, a man aged 37 found dead near Tirana.Russian authorities announced at least 110 people had died as a result of the cold so far this year, 44 of them in the first week of February alone.” Weather like this is only once in five years, it's usually much warmer," Moscow resident Pavel Sterlikov said.
 

Elsewhere, icebreakers were hard at work to clear parts of the Danube, one of Europe's main arterial waterways, with stretches of hundreds of kilometres (miles) frozen between Croatia and Serbia.Serbia's ministry for infrastructure and energy banned navigation along all waterways within the country, including the Danube, Sava and Tisa rivers, because they were frozen, Beta news agency reported. Deputy minister Pavle Galic told the agency the rivers could be closed for as long as 10 days.More than 70,000 people remain cut off from the outside world in Serbia and other Balkan countries. In southern Croatia more than 100 villages were still isolated for the sixth consecutive day. Miserable conditions persisted in Bulgaria, with violent snowstorms raging in the Danube plain in the northeast, where all traffic has been suspended since Tuesday and where the main border crossing with Romania was closed due to ice. Four more people were found dead under the snow in the Pernik region in the west of the country, raising the number killed by the cold to 20.At least eight people drowned Monday after rivers flooded and a burst dam sent freezing waters into the village of Biser. Authorities continued to search for two missing residents and Bulgaria announced a national day of mourning. Officials warned that heavy snow storms could trigger floods when the spring melt begins, and the government was implementing urgent measures to strengthen dams and riverbeds. Ukraine remained the worst-affected country, with hundreds of cars stranded on the Crimean peninsula and at least 131 deaths so far attributed to the cold, while three more people froze to death in Romania, bringing that country's total to 41.
The Hungarian Central Bank, meanwhile, said it literally had money to burn to help the country's homeless. The bank has been pulping wads of its retired forint banknotes and turning them into briquettes, which make useful heating fuel. Famished wolves scavenged in the isolated, snow-covered Italian village of Trasacco, while keepers at the Berlin zoo imposed a cold-related curfew on the giraffes and antelopes, which will be kept inside for all but 2.5 hours each day.

Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics and religious organisations Wednesday to show solidarity and generosity to victims of the cold. While conditions have been brutal for much of Europe, residents in the Netherlands were waiting with bated breath to see if the country's canals would freeze hard enough to allow a legendary ice-skating race to take place. For the so-called Elfstedentocht (11 city) race to take place for the first time in 15 years, the ice needs to be at least 15 centimetres (six inches) thick along the entire 200-kilometre (124-mile) route, but ice cover remains patchy along some stretches. Canals were also frozen in the heart of Paris and the city authorities brought out their only ice-breaker, a barge equipped with a snow plough.