The impact of multinational corporations, global trade and extreme weather in West Africa: Difference between revisions

The international trade generates an incredible wealth. In economic theory this trade is beneficial for both sides, but this only works when the rules are the same for everybody. Sadly this is not true because the rules controlling trade heavily favor the rich nations that set the rules. Developed countries limit and control share of the world market by charging high taxes on imported goods. As a result, many developing countries can only afford to export raw materials, which give far lower returns than finished products.For example, the developed world buys cheap cocoa and turns it into expensive chocolate. At the same time, developing countries are threatened with having loans withheld unless they open their markets to rich countries' exports.  

Developed countries subsidize their agricultural produce, driving down the price, this protects their farmers but the farmers from developing world can't compete with the subsidized prices .This has made many poor farmers even poorer, or forced them off their land completely. The developed countries tell the poor world to get rid of subsidies, but they continue to spend $1 billion a day subsidizing its own farming enterprises. Thanks to all these factors the developing countries serve as reservoirs of cheap labor and raw materials. As an example of the impacts of global trade we can take fishing in West Africa. Fishing has historically been central to the local economy. Beginning in 1979, the European Union began brokering fishing rights contracts off the coast of West Africa. This continues to this day. Commercial unsustainable over-fishing from foreign corporations have played a significant role in the large-scale unemployment and migration of people across the region. This stands in direct opposition to United Nations Treaty on the Seas which recognizes the importance of fishing to local communities and insists that government fishing agreements with foreign companies should be targeted at surplus stocks only.  

<br>