Aid and Development Overview

"Over the past 35 years governments have failed to follow through on their pledges to deliver aid, condemning many millions to unnecessary suffering. Even in the light of international commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and a range of measures to increase development funding, it is extremely unlikely that the global community will come close to halving poverty by 2015. Yet only 10% of the annual global military expenditure would be required to meet the MDGs. The goal of international aid must be to ensure that food, water and medicine are available where most needed. A global economy that can secure these basic human rights needs to be established. The existing aid regime does not work, and needs to be transformed to include a system of sharing essential resources to meet basic human needs. The priority of such a system must be an emergency redistribution of essential resources in order to address extreme poverty.
Below we examine these issues in greater detail and present a list of related resources for those wishing to research further. Additional information about a global economy based on the principle of sharing can be found in the STWR Global Focus section. ""

The World Bank cares for the poor

Question: What do you say to those World Bank types who hold a humanitarian-closet leftist discourse and want to convince you the the Bank really cares?

Answer: You show them this article.

"The Bank is killing thousands of the poorest people in the world

Published: 26 April 2007 , The Independent, UK

While the world's press has been fixated on the teeny-weeny scandal over whether the World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz helped to get his girlfriend a $300,000-a-year gig next door, they have been ignoring the rancid stench of a far bigger scandal wafting from Wolfie's Washington offices.
This slo-mo scandal isn't about apparent petty corruption in DC. It's about how Wolfowitz's World Bank is killing thousands of the poorest people in the world, and knowingly worsening our worst crisis - global warming - every day.
Let's start with the victims. Meet Hawa Amadu, 70-something, living in the muddy slums of Accra, the capital of Ghana, and trying to raise her grandkids as best she can. Hawa has a problem - a massive problem - and the World Bank put it there. She can't afford water or electricity any more. Why? The World Bank threatened to refuse to lend any more money to her government, which would effectively make it a leper to governmental donors and international business, unless it stopped subsidising the cost of these necessities. The subsidies stopped. The cost doubled. Now Hawa goes thirsty so her grandchildren can drink, and weeps: "Am I supposed to drink air?""

The New Road Map of the New Middle East

"The four-day work was launched last November when more than 100 participants —American, Egyptian, Greek, Israeli, Italian, Jordanian, Macedonian, Moroccan and Palestinian delegates — met in Cairo for a workshop on ways of improving water use, food production and agricultural marketing throughout the world.
The delegates recognized that such a collaborative program can lead to multiple benefits: safe and nutritional food sustains health, and economic partnerships promote peace."

So, if I get it well, while Israel massacres chidren and women and men in Gaza, occupies Palestine, steals water from Palestinian farmers, disregards every single international human right convention, we are supposed to grow tomatoes together and make peace over a tabbouleh. Great plan.


You know why I like living in Lebanon? Check the list of countries: it's not there (please do not add "yet" in the comments section). You know why I like South Lebanon? Look at the Winograd report.

Food, farming and cluster bombs in South Lebanon

"Aita al-Shaab, as other agricultural villages in southern Lebanon, is suffering huge economic losses from their inability to farm.Hadjia Habiba has 8,000 square meters of land that have been passed down through generations. Her lands are in parcels scattered on the outskirts of the village. Now in her seventies, Hadjia Habiba has farmed all her life and, like many here, she is economically dependent on her fields.According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), agriculture makes up at least 70 percent of the economy in southern Lebanon.Residents in Aita al-Shaab say their economy is 80-90 percent dependent on agriculture, primarily tobacco and olives.Some of Hadjia Habiba’s lands are in Kallit Warda, where the Israeli soldiers were taken; the area still guarded by Israeli troops and she hasn’t been allowed there since last summer.“I didn’t harvest this year at all,” she laments. With hundreds of thousands of bomblets littering the fields, no one dared enter and the crops all rotted. Normally, farmers would be planting at this time, instead the fields are quiet.“We’re still waiting for people to check for cluster bombs, which means I also can’t plant, so there won’t be any harvest this year again either. I live from the tobacco harvest 100 percent. My husband died, so this is how I’ve raised my children.”

Lebanon's water and Israel: the Litani

"Captured water is the most important part of Israel's total water supply. The four most important sources of Israel's water at the time of this writing were: "ground water; the Jordan watershed; lesser surface waters; and recycled water and water from desalinization plants," for a total of just less than 2,000 MCM per year.(24)

Israel's significant sources of water are currently exploited, and the only other source is the Litani, which, in order for Israel to use it, would have to be in Israel's possession, which could possibly happen through seizure. The only other source of additional water would be recycled water.
...
For instance, there is a lack of domestic running water for 22 villages immediately north of the springs where the Litani rises, in the province of Biqa'a. In the south, there are 36 villages which lack domestic running water. It is easy to see that if Lebanon gave Israel the waters of the Litani, opposition from antigovernment forces, especially the fundamentalist movement, would be strengthened, and there would be continued instability in Lebanon.(43) For instance, if Lebanon gave the Litani to Israel and denied the Shia Muslims, who are predominate in the area, use of the water for agriculture and domestic purposes, they would be increasingly frustrated with the Lebanese government. An example of this is that in 1974 there were rumors that water from the Litani were being diverted to Beirut to meet predicted shortages, which caused large anti-governmental demonstrations.(44) "

Refreshing to see someone (in the US) still talks about the Israeli schemes to take Lebanon's water. This is especially relevant at a time when some of the Lebanese are preparing the institutional arrangements for "sharing" the Litani water with Israel if their plans for normalization go ahead. Remember: selling the water starts with its commodification and its privatisation. You have been warned.

Note: My friend Anna informs me that this is an article dating back to 1997. Most of it is still relevant today. Thanks Anna.

What's in your hot dog?

"The Department of Agriculture confirms that hot dogs contain skeletal muscles, parts of pork stomach, snout, intestines, spleen and lips. "

Free trade in the Shiite crescent

"Iranian economic attache to Lebanon and Lebanese head of Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture in Beirut on Saturday explored the avenues to expand trade cooperation. Mehdi Bornaie told IRNA that he took part in the session at the invitation of Qazi Qaritem, Head of Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture. The two sides studied ways to dispatch trade and commercial delegations and pave the way for heads of chambers of commerce to explore grounds for cooperation.

The current volume of trade between Iran and Lebanon stands at about dlrs 100 million, including dlrs 90 million of Iran-made commodities such as construction stones, machinery, health and construction materials, autos, carpets, and pistachio. Lebanon also exported half-built goods or reexported European-made commodities worth dlrs 10 million. Lebanese merchants have also decisive role in reexporting Iranian-made goods to African countries."

I dont know who Qazi Qaritem is, must be the farsi pronunciation. But the article begs the question: are we creating the alternative to WTO? or to bilateral FTAs? Note the imbalance in the trading. Note also what Lebanon exports to Iran: European goods. And what it imports: stuff to be reexported to Africa. Who makes the money in this triangle? the big traders which also doubles up as the ruling class.

Corporate social responsibility: cheats!

"Leading supermarkets and a top London store were among retailers yesterday identified as misleading consumers after selling "wild" fish that in reality was farmed, while others were criticised for failing to provide accurate labels on how and where their fish was produced.

Scientific tests by the Food Standards Agency on premium-priced fish sold by Sainsbury's, Asda and Harrods revealed that some of the animals were from farms and had not been wild. The snapshot survey in 15 local authority areas across Britain found that 15% of supposedly wild salmon, 11% of sea bream and 10% of sea bass were farmed.

Consumers typically pay double the retail price for wild fish, reputed to have health benefits as well as a better flavour.

The tests were done on fish bought anonymously at supermarkets, fishmongers, fish auctions and specialist food shops. Oil extracted from the samples, as part of a pioneering testing regime, revealed whether the fish were wild-caught or had been farmed. "

The corporations implicated in the scandal have "serious" corporate social responsibility programs, which they advertize freely to get us to trust them. R

Starbucks vs Ethiopia

"The long-running dispute between Starbucks and the Ethiopian government was close to being resolved last night after the two sides said they had reached an outline agreement over the country's ownership of its premium varieties of coffee.
A deal could represent a significant victory for the impoverished east African country. It had been thwarted by Starbucks in its attempt to get a higher price for its coffees, which would earn its farmers tens of millions of dollars extra each year.
Oxfam welcomed the news but looked forward to a final agreement. It launched a campaign against Starbucks last October because of the Seattle-based coffee chain's effective blocking of Ethiopia's attempts to trademark its coffee beans in the United States."

Mark my words: Starbucks will squeeze out of this one.

Sustainability? What sustainability?

"Under the proposals, novel crops and farming practices would be assessed for any detrimental effect on the environment, but these would be considered alongside the benefits they may also have on biodiversity, yields and soil quality. If the crops were judged to have an overall benefit, they would be approved for planting.
Chris Pollock, committee chairman, said the future sustainability of British farming would be in grave jeopardy if farmers were not permitted to adopt new technologies that were proven to increase yields or have other benefits. "If we are serious about sustainable agriculture, we have to be open to new technologies. This is the first shot in what I expect will be a long war."
Anti-GM campaigners voiced concerns that the report will see untested GM crops facing less scrutiny before being allowed on to the market. Claire Oxborrow, of Friends of the Earth, said: "It should absolutely not lead to a reduction in the rigorous application of legislation to test GM crops for their safe use.""

Fungal disease threatens Koura's olive trees

The Koura area of North lebanon is one of the most productive olive regions of the country, and one of the most beautiful too. Favorable climatic conditions have encouraged the spread of virulent fungal disease, threatening to eradicate up to 1 million trees, and to endanger the livelihoods of countless smallholders. Lebanese government act NOW! Trust me this is more important than your political entrechats. Lebanese opposition WAKE UP! Say something that is not about more seats in the next elections/government/presidency.

AUB student protest against Starbucks

American University of Beirut students held a protest against Starbucks at the AUB Job fair in protest of Starbucks support to Israel. What ever happened to Universities' disinvestment campaigns?

Land tenure and inequalities in Lebanon

Daily Star article by my friend and bright journalist Yasmine Ryan. Sinai (not Sini, Yasmine!) is my village.

"The arrival of large-scale farming techniques and increasing efforts on the part of farmers to comply with international export standards represent promising developments for Lebanon's agricultural sector as a whole. But pressure to get the most out of Lebanon's arable ground poses a threat to family farmers, who, despite having worked the same land over generations, in many cases do not have clear ownership rights to that land.

Due to a framework of Ottoman-era land ownership, Lebanon's family farmers face the possibility of being evicted from their property to make way for more capital-intensive farming. And there may not be much they can do about it.

Formal land titles were not instituted until the French Mandate in the 1920s. The process distributed land in bulk to elites across the country.

"The peasants didn't know how to talk to the French. It was the intermediaries who decided who the land belonged to," said Zurayk, who is a professor at AUB's Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.

Ibrahim Akeel is an elderly farmer in the Southern Lebanese village of Sini, located some 10 kilometers west of Nabatiyeh


A feudal lord named Hussein Derwich brought Akeel's grandfather and family to Sini from Marwaneeh around 1870, as serfs to work the land. Successive landowners had absolute authority over their workers and at least one, Yousef "Beq" Zein, even ran a tribunal, dishing out punishments to locals in the 16 villages he controlled.

Ever since, the Akeel family, like other families in the village of Sini, has worked land owned by somebody else and given a share of their crops or profit to an absentee landlord. "

Interesting comments string you may have missed

I'm posting here a series of comments on a post of May 2 by my friend Ms Levantine and my answers.

Ms Levantine said...

Holy Ashrafieh! Quoting John Cale now? Are you trying to get me on your side?Regarding your previous posts (Fawwaz Traboulsi and such), the 70's are over, Lebanon has changed and so has the world around us. Turns out God is not dead but Karl Marx is.

I think Souk el Tayyeb is amazing, but if the big corporations have a plan to exploit us, we should have a plan to defeat them. The crunchy granola/organic farmer of the world unite and takeover/kiss my Bierkenstock stuff is great but of limited use.According to the DS article, Youmna Ziade won the prize for best organic products. If am not mistaken her father was the MP from Keserwan. Not exactly representative of the rural masses.

If we have a comparative advantage for quality agri. products in Lebanon we need to insure quality control, come up with branding and start advertizing in countries with Leb. communities. You have to take a page from the conglomerate game book, fight fire with fire. The part on organic agri. fostering peace, love and understanding is great, but that and a token will get you on the subway.

As you pointed out, Italian specialized agri. took off in the 60's with aggressive branding and marketing. To this day, most of their wines and olive oils are ntg to write home about.

Time to get to the next level before we are gobbled up. Don't forget that fear is man's best friend.
May 2, 2007 9:54 PM

Rami Zurayk said...

I wrote a long reply, but somehow the blog swallowed it. In brief, it said the following:

1. I knew the Cale bit will make you flip, I thought about you when writing it.

2. I fully realize the limited impact farmers markets have on the big picture, but at least the granola types are nice. In a place like Lebanon today, trust me, you need as much nice as you can get.

3. About exports: I've written about this before. You use (my example) of Italy. True, but Italy is given as an example of a success that was not centrally planned. Easy to believe, you know the Italian governments. People got on doing their little things, and before you knew, they had sold balsamic vinegar to the world. But remember two critical advantages they had: a) Subsidies, subsidies and subsidies, and b) their products were successful in Italy before being exported. Quality control and all the rest was implemented in Italy first because of local consumers demand. Demand on specialty products grew in Italy before moving out. In Lebanon, people are moving away from the local diet. If the Lebs stop eating their own products, why should the rest of the world consume them? If we stop eating shanklish (great cheese) why should the rest of the world want it? If the French did not eat Camembert, would the world import it? I doubt it. Gastronomy alone is not enough, although it is an important asset. Perhaps Lebanon's true competitive advantage. That and the diaspora. But the locals must want it first: they are the people who keep the food culture alive and evolving.
May 3, 2007 3:51 PM

Ms Levantine said...

Do you really think Lebanese are moving away from their local food? Forget the Monnot/Gemmayzeh/Downtown axis, what do people eat at home? Hamburgers? Yakhneh sounds closer to reality.We have been touring the country for a while, what did we eat in Denniyeh, 'Ainata, Adonis' village, Douer, Tripoli, Saida? Western supermarket foods are conquering the world, but they have not won yet.

Central gov. and subsidies are not as important as they used to be. An Indian dentist from New Jersey has been lobbying to raise the ban on Indian mangoes in the US, and he succeeded, it is front page news here.I might be mistaken, but it seems to me that all the pieces of the puzzle to support small growers are available, but we need to put them together. Stick Haifa Wehbe smiling with a bottle of Leb. olive oil on a few bilboards in Dubai and watch the result. It might not be PC for some people, but it would work.

And my reply is:

We're not too far from each others, but...

1. About the erosion of local foods. Sure, Lebanon is not New York yet, but look at our foods imports bill, several folds higher than the value of what we produce. Origin of the imports: US, France, Germany. Surely we are not importing yakhneh (local Lebanese stews). And while our street food is stil doing OK (shawarma, falafel), it is quickly being replaced with fajita and quick burgers. The traffic jam on Bliss street any time of the evening can prove that.

More importantly: many of the rural food stuffs are disappearing. Freek, the smoked green wheat that is cooked like rice, but is much healthier, is now mostly imported from Syria. The demand on it is low. The peasant cheeses, like serdaleh and ambariss and darfieh have also almost dropped out of the table. Here's the importance of Souk el Tayyeb and the slow food connection by the way (and of NGOs work, among them the Moawad Foundation), because this last October Darfiyyeh became a Slow Food presidium (check the slow food site for details about presidiums). Through the SEAL-funded program in South Lebanon, we are also working on identifying and re-popularizing food products that risk disappearing, latest is the Jrish Milleh, a flat crunchy pancake made from coarsely crushed whole wheat, burghul, whole sesame and oil. It used to be carried by travellers who went to Mecca in camel caravans, and had to take food with them for several weeks, because the Jrish milleh does not spoil and remains fresh for weeks. We're also doing that with other products. here too, Souk el Tayyeb is important as a venue because it offers the initial marketing step. When the demand increases (if there is demand) then other marketing channels can be explored.

2. I like your bit about "taking a page from the conglomerate book..." I adapted it: "Take a page from the corporate book and use it to fan the fire to fight them" How's that as a sound bite?

3. Please do not try to convince me that the dentist from New jersey changed the trade relations between India and the US single handedly. India is politically aligning with the US, and small (reversible) rewards of this sort are good for publicity. But the public loves the bit about one individual changing the world in isolation from global politics and trade relations. Part of the American dream.

Small holder farming: welfare, culture and society

Throughout Lebanon, the small holder family farming sector is ailing. Support to the agriculture sector, when it exists, like the Export-Plus program for export subsidies, targets preferentially industrialized, large-scale export oriented producers and traders rather than small holders. Yet, there are over 150,000 small scale farmers in Lebanon, many of whom produce for subsistence and some minor trading. They form the bulk of the vulnerable population and are geographically and economically at the margins of the country. They live in the North (Akkar), the North East (Hermel), the East (Baalback), the South East (the West Bekaa) and the South (Jabal Amel). They operate without any form of state or aid support, and in the absence of social welfare such as health insurance or retirement funds. Many among them maintain that they practice farming at a loss. To survive as farmers, they use the income from non-farm sectors in which they are also engaged to cover the costs of farming. Why do they stick with it?

Small scale farming occupies a crucial role in the lives of the rural poor: it is their social security fund. Research by a team from the American University of Beirut in the Bekaa and in the South has shown that both rural and urban-with-rural-roots small holders invest into agriculture as their retirement fund. This is especially critical for the self employed (mechanics, taxi drivers, etc…) who have no access to governmental or company retirement plans. Farming (especially fruit and olive trees) is a long term investment that provides them with part of their food requirement (oil and olives, fresh and dried fruits) and some cash income. When they retire, many of those who work in cities move back to the villages where life is cheaper. They tend their lands, and sometimes acquire a few heads of livestock, which they use for food (eggs, milk) or as a contribution to the daily income. Often, this is the sole source of income for the retirees, bar some occasional remittances from family abroad or in the city.

In addition to enhancing the livelihood of the poor, small scale farming renders services to the nation at large. Small scale farming preserves the integrity and typicity of the Lebanese landscape. Without farming, ours would be a desolate, degraded and dry environment. It is farming, rather than forests, that makes it green. Lebanese forests cover only 6% of the total territory, while olive groves cover another 7%, and fruit trees a further 7%. Together, they add up to 20% which is what is commonly recognized as an acceptable figure for tree cover in a country.

Where small scale farming has declined, the result has been the dilapidation of the landscape. Mount Lebanon has born the brunt of this degeneration, and in many places its age old stone terraces have degraded and have been replaced by waste lands. Landscape are not only esthetically pleasant, they have evident economic value. This value is expressed at various levels which include: direct value, such as land prices, agricultural yields, and water yields; as well as indirect value such as biodiversity value, cultural value, social value and aesthetic value. Using a range of techniques, environmental and resource economists are able to allocate price tags to each of these dimensions. The landscape is part of the national wealth. Protecting small scale farming means protecting this wealth.

Local farming is not only esthetically pleasant, it is important for food culture and for health. Due to decades of poor food policies based on the encouragement of imports, Lebanon's food habits have changed. Lebanese cuisine is widely acknowledged to be healthy and tasty, and to share the life-prolonging benefits of Mediterranean cuisine. There are Lebanese restaurants in all major cities of the world, and they promote Lebanon’s image and culture. But in Lebanon, the diet has become westernized, and people eat increasingly poorly, a diet based on meat and fried foods. Our main food imports are live animals, meat and meat products, as well as processed foods from the US, France and Germany. The erosion of Lebanon’s food culture has consequences that go far beyond cultural or nationalistic considerations: obesity and cardiovascular diseases are proven outcomes of a western meat-based diet. These diseases are major killers in Lebanon, and they express the malnutrition of both rich and poor. The human side of the problem is tragic, but there also is a strong economic component to the issue. Health bills associated with these diseases place a heavy burden on both individual and state funds. While Western nations have adopted strict policies on food and diets, and recommend a Mediterranean diet for longevity and health, the local Lebanese diet is disintegrating.

Thus, in addition to serving as a social security fund, small scale farming is also vital for environment, culture and food heritage. Yet, successive Lebanese governments have failed to take action to preserve and protect rural life. Instead, they have declared agriculture a non-viable sector, and have deliberately marginalized it. There are socio-political reasons to this neglect, and they have been discussed elsewhere.

Privatization is good for business- all sorts of business

"While there is certainly a case to be made for public-private partnerships, as these arrangements are often called, there are numerous public policy questions that have yet to be adequately addressed. One, as Business Week points out, has to do with the "quality of service on deals that can span 100 years.”

The newly private toll roads are being managed well now, but owners could sell them to other parties that might not operate them as capably in the future. Already, the experience outside of toll roads has been mixed: The Atlanta city water system, for example, was so poorly managed by private owners that the government reclaimed it."

While the Business Week piece provides a comprehensive and appropriately skeptical take on the privatization push, it fails to mention a key issue. These deals are rife with the possibility of corruption and cronyism and conflicts of interest. On the latter, Goldman is a prime example. Beyond its persistent lobbying efforts to open U.S. infrastructure to private investment, the firm has acted as an outside financial advisor to states considering public-private partnerships (ostensibly providing disinterested advice to their clients), while simultaneously raising a $6.5 billion fund whose sole purpose is to buy infrastructure on the cheap. Last fall, at a privatization conference in New York, I had the opportunity to ask Goldman's Mark Florian about the firm’s various roles in the emerging infrastructure market. When I asked him whether Goldman wants to be an adviser or an investor in the road business, he replied, simply, "both."

Jordan takes steps towards water privatization

"The greatest long-term challenge for Jordan is the creation of a sustainable water supply, USAID Mission Director Anne Aarnes told an executive club launch on Monday.

"Affordable clean water is essential not only for maintaining a healthy population, but also for the future economic growth of all sectors of the economy," she said in a presentation entitled: "USAID Support in Jordan's Economic Development."

"Even now, a shortage of water is limiting the ability of businesses to be globally competitive. And the cost and availability of water is discouraging some businesses from setting up shop in Jordan," Aarnes added. "I cannot overemphasize the seriousness of this issue. Jordan's scarce water supply is already facing extreme pressure."

Noting that twice as much water is extracted as is recharged into the ground, the USAID mission director stressed: "We must use and reuse each precious drop of water as efficiently as possible, not only in our homes, but in our workplaces."

"And the private sector can and must do its part to conserve water and create conditions that ensure maximum productivity from each drop of this precious resource," Aarnes elaborated."

Saudi Arabia, the great example

"Saudi Arabia began privatising water services after shortages sparked riots last November in Jeddah. Loay Bin Ahmed al Musallam, the deputy water minister, said the first contract to manage water supplies for Riyadh would be awarded this year. By 2010, private companies would provide water for half the population, he added. Saudi Arabia plans to invest $37bn over five years to improve water pipelines. Even after putting contracts out to tender, governments still face politically sensitive decisions. In Saudi Arabia, for example, water tariffs are among the lowest in the world. Mr Musallam said Saudis consumed twice as much water as Britons."

Who's going to get all the contracts and make all the money? Who? Tough question, right?

Let's privatize water, it has been so successful everywhere!

"The World Bank’s investor arbitration court and bilateral trade agreements have given Global 500 companies unprecedented power over low- and middle-income developing countries. This “corporate rule” undermines governments’ authority to protect human rights and natural resources, according to a new report released today by Food & Water Watch and the Institute for Policy Studies. The report was released just after a case was heard in which British investor Biwater is demanded $25 million from Tanzania, the 15th poorest country in the world, over a failed water project.

"When contracts fail, as they inevitably do when private corporations are unwilling to provide the needed investment to maintain, build and expand the water systems, investor protections allow the companies to demand outrageous settlements from the countries they failed to serve,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “The Biwater case is a perfect example of how bilateral investment rules are skewed against poor countries like Tanzania. Biwater is demanding compensation for lost potential profits despite the company’s failure to provide water for Dar es Salaam.”

Should we believe them?

Listen to the big corporations appropriating the development lingo and using it to enhance their business:

"Mary Vizoso, head of fruit and vegetable buying at Waitrose, said although some of the farming methods endorsed by the scheme were becoming well known in the UK, in developing countries they were often groundbreaking.
"This scheme will make an enormous difference to the long term future of farming communities," she said.
"Many communities in the developing world rely on trade in fruit and vegetables for their livelihoods.
"That is why we are working at grass roots level to raise environmental standards on farms and plantations around the world through widespread adoption of the Leaf marque scheme.""

With small gestures like these, they offer us the conscience white wash we all need to justify going to the supermarket instead of buying from local producers and strengthening the local supply chains. Meanwhile, they proceed with their other business in the usual, exploitative manner (see many previous posts). Of course, it has been argued that one should not be cynical, and that sincere efforts deserved to be given a chance, and that the consumer should ask for fully transparent means of ensuring the truth of those claims. There was a leader's comment in the latest (April 27-May 3) Guardian Weekly to that effect. I only have a print issue, it's on p 11. I'll post it if I can find it.

It is our fault (development practitioners) if our vocabulary has been hijacked by big corporations. We have used it and abused it for our own self interest, so much that it has become devoid of any true meanings. Words like "sustainability" "grass roots" or "local community" have been used and abused in so many different contexts by ourselves that they have become meaningless. And, of course, we have become guns for hire by large corporations, who have used us to give themselves credibility and "social responsibility". Why did we accept? A Jordanian-Chechen friend told me a story dating back to the Azeri-Armenian war over Nagorno-Karabach. The Azeris and the Armenians were passing time during a cease fire by hurling obscenities at each others across the front lines. The Azeris were cursing in Azeri and the the Armenians in Armenian. Then, all of a sudden, insults in Chechen started coming from the Armenian side. The Azeris engaged conversation with the Chechen voice and one of them asked: "How can you fight with the Armenian infidels against your Muslim brothers?" The Chechen replied: "They pay in dollars". So do the large corporations. (This story is only told for illustration purposes. I do NOT identify the Armenians with the corporate world and the Azeris with the downtrodden).

"Mercenaries are useless
Disunited, unfaithful
They have nothing left to keep them in a battle
Other than a meagre wage
Which is just enough to want to kill for you
But not enough to want to die for you"

John Cale "Ready for War" from the album "Sabotage", mid seventies