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What a plonker, got the title wrong!

Today we started to look at an example of a local-global link to Ilkeston. We started by discussing what might link Afghanistan and Ilkeston. Many you realised that

• there was a link in terms of two ex-students, both Geographers, fighting in the armed forces, to help expel the Taliban from the South of the country.

But we also discussed the link with Opium production in Afghanistan and the supposed Heroin problem in the town.

We watched a short video and discussed the process of how Opium is grown in Afghanistan, then manufactured from a primary to secondary product called Heroin, thus commanding a higher price. We then discussed the Heroin Trail, the name given to the smuggled route the Heroin takes from the Middle East, across Europe and finally to the United Kingdom, and began to annotate this on a map.

We need to understand the impacts of Heroin production on both communities. We spent some time listening to an Afghan farmer, who explained how the Heroin had made addicts of young people in his country, but he still continued to grow the Opium because

• It commands a high price, much more than wheat.
• He needs to provide a quality of life for his family.
• He has no money to start an alternate business.
• The lack of development in the area means that there are few other jobs.

Hopefully, some of you started to understand the irony here, the poor farmer produces the drug that ends up on the streets of Ilkeston, but there must be a demand, young men and women from Ilkeston go to Afghanistan to destroy said crops….

You’ll continue this tomorrow and consider how the relationship affects the people of Ilkeston.

Many people are blogging about Fair Trade today, I did my bit with year 11, we ate some chocolate biscuits, then discussed some of the finer points. :) For those of you unaware of the movement/concept, it is when a producer is paid an amount that covers their cost of production, as well as an additional social premium.  This social premium is used to fund social projects aimed at raising  the quality of life of the producers. So yes, you effectively buy products that are more expensive, knowing the producers in L.E.D.C countries will benefit. Some interesting comments did come up as we discussed the negative points of Fair Trade,

• Instead of tackling unfair trading rules, by active democracy, we believe we can encourage greater equality with a ‘one-off’ guilt purchase.
• It is a niche market, therefore a wider expansion could see prices fall. A niche market is specialised and therefore commands a higher price. One ciggie on the Redgar…. how much would you sell it for? Hence, niche market.
• It is unfair trade, because it basically continues to promote unrealistic trading patterns. What if there is no Fair Trade co-operative in your region?
• Supermarkets and some multi-nationals are racking in a profit on Fair Trade products, by adding steep mark-ups, which aren’t passed on to the producers on the ground. One Fair Trade chocolate bar passes a huge 2p more to the producer!

Don’t get me wrong, we think that Fair Trade is good, but as  Geographers, we must balance the evidence. I might buy you a chocolate bar to celebrate, but at your present work levels, I wouldn’t hold out much hope.

I won’t be around tomorrow afternoon, because I will be providing a session in the second half of the Year 11 mini-revision conference. The PowerPoint I will use is now on Radical Geography. Miss Fallows will take the lesson and I’ll surmise the main points tomorrow, if I have the energy. Miss Fallows will also take in any outstanding homework.

After completing the Drugs work, you have some steel coming your way…

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