Augustine Adongo is the chief executive of the Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters. His job is to help Ghana's manufacturers, particularly the 70% of the population involved in agriculture, gain a bigger share of the international trade market. But "non-tariff" barriers conceived and imposed by the European Union have made that task a difficult one.
The globalization lobby insists that trade is now the best way for impoverished countries to work their way out of poverty: they must open their markets to imported goods, deregulate, ensure openness to foreign entities and practice good 'governance'. Anti-globalization advocates oppose this viewpoint, arguing that trade is simply not working for the poorest of the poor. They say that the rules of trade are rigged in favor of the developed world by subsidies, regulations and penalties intended to marginalize exports from countries like Ghana.
THE TRADE TRAP follows Adongo as he visits farmers and business owners across his country, exploring both sides of the globalization issue along the way.
With the support of the European Commission Directorate General for Development to promote better understanding of development issues; and the Directorate General for the Environment.
The other titles in this series are:
1. The Road from Rio - Questions the relevance and success of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
2. Danger: Children at Work - Guatemalan agencies try to discourage child labor and fireworks production by poor families.
4. Kosovo: Rebuilding the Dream - Assesses the success of UN efforts in rebuilding Kosovo.
5. The Perfect Famine - Examines the causes of, and solutions to, severe famine conditions in Malawi.
6. It Takes a Village - A cyclone in Bangladesh results in the construction of an experimental community health center.
7. Seeing is Believing - Zambia begins a nationwide program to deliver Vitamin A to its population.
8. Cheated of Childhood - The International Labor Organization tries to rescue and rehabilitate the street children of St. Petersburg.
9. Patents and Patients - India battles HIV/AIDS using generic drugs.
10. The Doctor's Story - The US debate over abortion has severe consequences for health care in rural Nepal.
11. Sowing Seeds of Hunger - The AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has crippled the agricultural community while forcing children to undertake the responsibilities of farming.
12. Up in Smoke - Dependence on tobacco crops and manipulation by the tobacco industry has stunted the economy of Malawi.
Grade Level: 7-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2003
Copyright Date: 2002
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-119-3
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-002-2
Reviews
"Free trade, or economic freefall? An exasperating account of Ghana's desperate struggle to survive in the face of international 'fair trade' regulations that its fat cat trading partners slant to their overwhelming advantage." Prof. Timothy McGettigan, PhD, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University-Pueblo
"A simply outstanding documentary. The film successfully makes the leaps between the impacts of globalization on the worker to the rationale of the policy makers, by interviewing a good representation of both groups...an excellent film w
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