Organisations like the WTO, IMF and World Bank should put social objectives such as poverty reduction and not economic objectives such as trade liberalisation at the heart of what they do. Unequal voting rights should be ended so that all countries can participate equally in these institutions. Global trade rules need to be rewritten so that they favour the poor rather than the rich. WTO rules should not defend rich countries that attempt to protect their markets while forcing developing countries to open up theirs at the expense of local producers. Multinational companies should be regulated to ensure that their actions do contribute to the elimination of poverty worldwide, and do not lead to pollution and environmental destruction.
Globalisation goes bananas.
The crisis in the Costa Rican banana industry. The livelihoods of tens of thousands of Costa Rican banana growers are under threat as multinational companies such as Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole switch to cheaper alternatives from Ecuador. According to Alistair Smith of Bananalink, one of Christian Aid's partner organisations, Costa Rican producers cannot compete with their Ecuadorian counterparts. All three companies are cutting back on the quantities of bananas they will buy from independent Costa Rican banana producers next year. Over ten thousand plantation and pack house workers have lost their jobs since this summer and the multinationals want to reduce plantations by 25 percent in 'order to compete .