Global Justice Now Reading

We were shocked to hear how an enormous agribusiness Kilombero Plantations (KPL), in Tanzania, supported with UK Aid money, is making life miserable for many of the local people. You can join us in emailing your MP at the following link to demand the UK ends its support for the corporate takeover of Africa’s food, and supports small-scale farmers instead: Email your MPl

We played Corporate Monopoly on our stall. It was a great success again and many people signed our campaign cards.

We had a stall at this attractive festival on the banks of the River Kennet in Reading, when the narrow boats parade in all their finery. We had fun playing Global Justice’s new Corporate Monopoly game which quickly shows players that, although it is easy for the corporates to concentrate more and more of the world’s resources into the hands of the few, it is possible for the community to fight back.

At our May meeting Matt talked about how the UK is using aid money to support the privatisation of energy in Nigeria and how the model has failed, causing price rises, loss of jobs, black-outs and dependency on fossil fuels. He pointed out alternatives. Hamburg is remunicipalising energy! Costa Rica has had a lot of success in adopting renewable energy. Nearly all their people have access to affordable electricity now. 

Saturday 25^th April, We shared a stall with the Reading Food Growing Network. They organised a seed swop while we engaged people in a discussion around the politics of seeds, including the link between corporate control of seeds and debt. In the picture the farmer shows the seeds saved from the previous harvest while the corporate rep. encourages her to take the hybrid seeds that come with pages of terms and conditions including using expensive pesticides and fertilisers.