"With all of these programs to help poverty, we need to question, is it a good thing? I believe that we need to make a public-private partnership to make real sustainable change."
She urged that the best way to fight extreme poverty is to support the farmers; by buying their goods and making it easier for them to sell their products.
"There are still a lot of trade barriers that the media has forgotten. It is still extremely difficult for these small farmers to do trade with western countries, with all of the tariffs, trade barriers, quotas, and so much bureaucracy, it makes it almost impossible for poor countries to be involved in trade to improve their situation."
Anna also warned that although the trend for buying locally is very big right now, many consumers are using the labels to tell them whether it's good or not. She said that unfortunately they are not getting the true picture, labels are just labels. It is often more of a business decision and there are big advertising agencies who are creating this awareness as a form of marketing.
"I am encouraging you to scratch the surface of things and keep the bigger picture in mind. All aid is not bad, all trade is not good, all labels are not bad either and it is all one big mess and it is not very easy to find out the truth, but we have the responsibility to do so. The world is not black and white, it is very colourful and we need to take advantage of that and make better choices and be better citizens in order to make real change."
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or more information:Anna Hagerman Rise
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