PRESS RELEASE

Tuesday, July 8 2008

Time to give bouquet to the EU says TEAR Fund NZ

TEAR Fund New Zealand has greeted the news that the European Union will channel 1 billion euros in unused farm subsidies to African farmers as part of its joint response to the global food crisis, with enthusiasm.

"European and North American farm subsidies have been partly to blame for the current high food prices pushing the poor to brink of starvation. They undermine farming in developing countries by exporting food cheaply to developing countries that otherwise could be produced locally at a lower cost, " comments TEAR Fund's Executive Director Stephen Tollestrup.
"It is indeed ironic that the average European cow has received more subsidy than the average yearly income of the African poor. It was about time this inequity was addressed positively."

The proposed funding comes on top of 550 million euro previously pledged for emergency aid in response to the food crisis. The new injection of aid for Africa is still to be ratified by the EU and will be used for seed, fertiliser, food security, emergency rations and other agriculture projects in Africa.

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