British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday called for EU nations to cut export subsidies to farmers that undercut agricultural products from poor African nations. "We must ensure better access to our markets for poor countries," Straw told the European Parliament as a summit of the world's most industrialized countries was beginning in Gleneagles, Scotland, with poverty in Africa high on the agenda. Straw said although Africa today is poorer than it was 25 years ago, sustainable peace is taking root in countries such as Burundi and Sierra Leone, which suffered from devastating wars, and there are more than 30 democratically elected governments on the continent, compared with just three in the 1970s. He also said the economic situation in some countries, such as Mozambique, which has recorded a 7 percent economic growth, is improving rapidly and called on the EU help improve governance in Africa to make this growth long-lasting.
