Time: Mr. Sachs, imagine I'm going to grocery store around corner and stealing a banana. The money I save is n transferred to a social organization in South America. Do I help peasant re?
Jeffrey Sachs: Laughs) No, y don't help anyone. The only thing you can achieve is chaos.
Time: The activists of German Peng! Collective see this differently. In a video that is very much shared in Germany, y are asking customers to steal oranges, bananas or chocolates from disco and donate money for social purposes. Your message: "I'm not stealing, I'm just paying for right one."
Sachs: But no farmer would benefit from her ft. It is not possible for this money to go directly to producers. But I admit, action is creative. And it opens debate for a very serious question: can Germany and or rich nations do more to help producers in poorer countries?
Time: In video of activists you can see price tags, which says: "Bananas: 1.15 euro incl. wages below subsistence minimum", "Oranges: 0.99 euro incl. modern slavery". Are prices I pay in supermarket to blame that farmers elsewhere are bad?
Sachs: Unfortunately, it is not that simple. It is true: we should not relax here to drink our coffee while producers are suffering. But poverty of farmers is also due to lack of schools in se countries, hospitals, infrastructure.
Claws for good cause actionClaws for good cause – this is message of Peng!-Collective. In a video, activists like this woman in raccoon costume are throwing disco-dogs to exploit farmers and violate human rights.
The manThe Economist Jeffrey Sachs is considered to be one of leading experts in development economics. He is Director of United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and teaches at Columbia University.
Time: A recent study has been published by TransFair organisation. It says that bananas in German supermarkets would have to be about twice as expensive to pay fair wages to producers and to compensate for environmental and health costs.
Sachs: Consumers can actually do a lot if y are willing to spend a little more money. Take for example 125 million mostly very poor people who are involved in global coffee production. With just a few cents, you can make m live a much better life.
Time: How?
This article comes from time No. 13/2018. Here you can read entire output.Sachs: Look, I love coffee. At Starbucks on Upper West Side in Manhattan, I pay 1.84 dollars for my mug. I would be immediately ready to pay five cents more. With a pound of coffee you can brew 25 cups. If every cup cost five cents more and money went directly to peasants, y would get 1.25 dollars more per pound. And now you have to know: a coffee maker gets only 1.25 dollars a pound on average. In or words, if we pay five cents more for a cup of coffee, we double farmer's income.
Time: But if you get money you pay, you don't determine customers. In Germany re are four large supermarket chains that dominate market. Aren't corporations that make life difficult for farmers?
Sachs: Not necessarily. Of course, re are some very irresponsible companies. And supermarkets can certainly help solve problem. But you can't just blame m for low prices.
Date Of Update: 25 March 2018, 12:02
