Can You Beat the System?

Can You Beat the System? Oxfam Education Can your pupils beat the system? Playing this game will help them understand the global food system, and the impact it has on millions of small scale farmers who struggle as a result of its unfairness. Working in teams they will learn more about the role of the global food market, multinational companies, food and cash crops, and experience the challenges small scale farmers face first hand. This includes access to land, lack of resources, food price rises and changes to the climate. Pupils will also learn how the actions of governments, multinational companies and farmers themselves can make the system work better for everyone. Age range: 11-14 Learning Objectives Pupils will Understand more about food-related challenges faced by communities in developing countries, particularly small scale farmers Develop their skills in planning, teamwork, organization and negotiation Be empowered to communicate global food issues to others and inspired to take appropriate action Time: 1 to 1.5 hours Keywords Small scale farmers Global food market Multinational company Cash crop Climate change Land grab Resources Government Export license You will need Instructions for running the game: o Rules of the game o Setup instructions o Script for presenting the game 2 people to facilitate the game (teachers or peer leaders) A copy of the Can You Beat the System? PowerPoint or online Movie file* A means to play the PowerPoint or Movie file so that everyone in the room can see it A bell, horn or other loud device for signalling when you need to speak to the whole group. A flip chart or white board to display prices. A small basket or box to collect in corncobs each season Printed copies of the materials from the templates in the Printable Resources document (enough for the number of groups you will have) Enough of the following materials for the number of groups of pupils you will have; - Scissors - Pencils / sharpeners - Colouring pens / pencils thick felt- tips and thin colouring pencils - Small plastic bags for the harvested coffee (obtainable from www.polubags.co.uk) - Pre-coloured and cut out corncobs to stock the Global Market prior to the game *The PowerPoint is available to download, or to play as a movie file directly from the Oxfam website. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 1

Rules and operation of the game This game is designed to help pupils to explore some of the main global food issues. The game achieves this by simulating life in Centralia, a fictional developing country that could be anywhere in the world. In Centralia many families grow and sell corn and coffee. Corn (as in corn, corn-on-the-cob, corncobs, sweet corn, or maize) provides a very basic diet and coffee is a cash crop enabling them to buy more food for adequate nutrition, as well as provide education, healthcare and other materials or services. In the game, the pupils are in one of three groups (Farmers, Traders and Managers of the local branch of a multi- national Company). In those roles they have different amounts of money, equipment, resources and different access to markets - particularly the Global Market who will sell anything and buy corn from anyone, but will only buy packaged coffee from groups that have an export licence. The game takes place across 4 growing seasons. During seasons the groups can grow and harvest their crops (corn and coffee) and trade between one another. At the end of each of these the groups must give up one corncob per person (representing food that was eaten). This may be corn that they have grown and harvested or that they have bought from others or the global market. The game is managed by a leader who plays the role of Government and controls the PowerPoint which plays countdown and news videos. The news videos provide reports which have an impact on the game (such as drought, sudden changes in food prices, land grabs, investment by companies and investment by government) and thus enable the players to experience the global food issues. At the end of the game the students reflect upon the experience and the parallels with real life. They then watch a short video encouraging them to think about action that they will take as a result of their experience. The Crops Corn Both sold for cash and eaten as the staple diet. One corncob per person is collected from each group to represent food that was consumed in that growing season Corn is grown by colouring in the corncob templates (no white must be left or the cobs will be rejected by quality control) The land on which to grow the corncobs is represented by sheets of paper which have a picture of corncob, with a grey outer edge, on a criss-crossed background. Harvesting is done by cutting out the coloured corncobs from the templates (no criss-cross lines must be left, and the cob inside the grey outer line must be undamaged, or the cobs will be rejected by quality control) Corn can be traded between groups at any time and can be sold to the Global Market (at varying prices) without a licence. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 2

Coffee Grown as coffee cherries and harvested into coffee beans, it is not edible but is a valuable cash crop (whose price varies through the game). The land on which to grow the coffee cherries is represented by sheets of paper which have a picture of a bunch of coffee cherries with a grey outer edge on a criss-crossed background. Growing the coffee cherry clusters is done by colouring in the coffee cherry templates (no white must be left or the cherries will be rejected by quality control). Harvesting and de-husking the coffee beans inside the berries is done by cutting out the coloured coffee cherry clusters from the templates (no criss-cross lines must be left on the beans and no damage inside the grey line or they will be rejected by quality control). Packaging for export is done by packing four of the cut-up coloured coffee cherry clusters into a bag and adding the label for export. These labelled bags can then be sold out to the Global Market but only if the seller holds an export licence. The Roles Farmer Growing corn for basic food whilst seeking to develop through growing and selling coffee as a cash crop. Initially have a reasonable amount of land (corncob and coffee cherry templates) and a small amount of money. Have a small amount of equipment for growing and harvesting corncobs and for growing and harvesting coffee beans but does not have the bags and labels for packaging ready for export. Can trade with other farmers, traders and the company. Can sell corn to the Global Market but not coffee, unless they have bought a licence. Trader Like the farmers, the traders can grow maize and coffee but will probably mainly focus on trading between the farmers and the company. Initially have some land (corncob and coffee cherry templates) and a medium amount of money. Have more equipment for growing and harvesting corncobs, and for growing and harvesting coffee beans and some bags and labels for packaging ready for export. Can trade with the farmers and other traders and the company. Can sell maize to the Global Market, but not coffee unless they have bought a licence but they do have enough money to buy a licence at the beginning if they choose to. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 3

Company Manage the local branch of a large multinational company that exports, processes and sells coffee on the global market. Like the farmers and the traders they can grow maize and coffee but will probably mainly focus on trading and exporting to the global market. Initially have some land (corncob and coffee cherry templates) and a large amount of money. Have much more equipment than they need for growing and harvesting corn, and for growing and harvesting coffee beans and plenty of bags and labels for packaging ready for export. Also has an export licence for selling the labelled bags of coffee out to the Global Market. The goal for each pupil group is to ensure they can hand in at least one corncob for each member at the end of each growing season. The Two Leaders Global Market This role is played by leading pupils (or a teacher) who help facilitate the game by: Buying corn to/from anyone but refusing any that are not up to standard. Buying labelled bags of coffee (four in a bag) from anyone with an export licence but refusing any that are not up to standard. Selling land (corncob and coffee cherry templates), equipment, export licences and maize (harvested corncobs) to any of the pupil groups at the market price. Enacting price changes as specified by the news reports and as appropriate to facilitate the best learning experience for the pupils. NB Does not buy equipment or resources from anyone. Government This role is played by leading pupils (or a teacher) who help facilitate the game by: Managing the PowerPoint to control the timing of the growing seasons and the news events. Collecting one harvested corn-cob per person from each group at the end of each growing season (refusing any that are not up to standard). Managing the outcomes of the news events to facilitate the best learning experience for the pupils. Quietly advising two farmer groups to join together as a co-operative (unless this has happened without prompting). Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 4

Setting Up the game Oxfam Education Arrange tables for pupils with about five chairs around each. Ensure that everyone will be able to see the PowerPoint Screen and that there is room between tables for pupils to move about Arrange a table at the front for the leader who will take the role of the Global Market Assign and label the tables as follows: - Farmer (lots of groups perhaps 4 or 5 in a class of 30) - Trader (one or two groups) - Company (one Group) What each group needs Farmer Company Trader Table Sign 1 1 1 Name labels 5 5 5 Corn cob template sheets 6 1 2 Coffee cherry template sheets 3 1 4 Thick colouring pens 0 10 4 Thin colouring pencils 3 10 4 Scissors 2 10 3 Money $50 $400 $150 Bags - 10 5 Bag labels - 10 5 Export licence - 1 - NB These figures are set for a typical group. After trying this game in your school you may want to vary some of the amounts accordingly. Front table resources Place the following resources on the front table (Assuming a class of approximately 30 pupils) Global Market resources Table sign 1 Harvested corncobs (pre 20 coloured) Corn cob template sheets 30 Coffee cherry template sheets 30 Thick colouring pens 20 Thin colouring pencils 20 Scissors 10 Money $1,00 Bags 042 Bag labels 42 Export licences 8 Table of prices 1 Government resources Small basket or box 1 Watch or other timer 1 Flip Chart / White Board On the flip chart or white board put up the opening prices at which the Global Market will buy and sell product and resources as follows: Global Market Buys Coffee packaged - four in a bag (need export license) $150 Harvested corn cobs $10 Global Market Sells Harvested Corncobs $20 Corn cob template sheet $10 Coffee cherry template $10 Thick colouring pens $15 Thin colouring pencils $10 Scissors $15 Bags $5 Bag labels $5 Export licenses $100 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 5

Presentation Script Oxfam Education This script is to be used in conjunction with the Can You Beat the System PowerPoint or Movie file, both of which are available on the Oxfam website together with this guide. You can download and play the PowerPoint, or you can play directly from the website the Movie file. Both are exactly the same, however you will need to pause the Movie file at the appropriate points. The script shows either the slide number (from the PowerPoint) or time (in the Movie) which you need for each section. Note: For simplicity the leaders are referred to as Global Market and Government even though, at the beginning and end of the workshop, you are not actually in that role. This script begins at section 2a The orange boxes contain a transcript of the videos found in the PowerPoint. This is for information purposes only The suggested impact of the news events are set for the average type of school. After trying this game in your school you may want to vary some of these accordingly IMPORTANT: However you adjust the starting amounts, opening prices and news impacts, it is important that the players experience what it is like to be a farmer, trader or company employee; and that they feel the impact of the news events both positive and negative 1) Welcome Time: 5 min Have welcome screen displayed a. Welcome pupils as they enter the room and ask them to leave their bags in the appropriate place (it is important that they don t supplement the resources assigned to them with their own). Slide Slide 3 Time 00:11 b. Assign them to appropriate tables (if you are not familiar with these pupils you may need advice from their normal teacher regarding the composition of each group). 2) Introduction Time: 10 min a. Government: Good morning/afternoon, my name is, my colleague is... and, by the power of our imaginations and the wonders of digital technology, we re going to take you to Centralia, a fictional country that is based on many countries in the developing world today. b. Global Market: This country has a lot of farmers, some traders and a few who work for a large multi-national company that is focussed on making money. On your tables is a sign that tells you which of those different roles you are going to play today. There are also resources for you to grow and harvest food that you can then trade with one another. Please don t touch the resources yet but do put on your name label, which says Farmer, Trader or Company which should be the same as the sign on your table. c. Government: Your goal is to ensure that you have enough basic food to eat in order to survive and to make as much money as possible so that you can afford a balanced diet along with health care and education for your family. The winning group at the end of the game will be the one with the most money d. Global Market: So let s find out how you will do all of that in Centralia by watching this video and you will see how the equipment and resources on your table represent life in Centralia. Slide 4 00:20 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 6

e. Government: [Show video] Welcome to Centralia. People think we are a poor country, and yes, there is a lot of poverty but we are rich in so many ways. We have plenty of good farmland and, usually, a climate that allows us to grow a variety of crops. Our staple food is maize which some people call corn. Many families grow this in small plots of land near their homes. Once the corn has been grown it must be harvested. We really depend on a good harvest. All of us here eat corn and even the poorest must grow or buy enough to survive. But we don t just want to survive. We want our children to eat a well balanced diet and to have access to good education and healthcare. That means our people need money. So most families try to grow more maize than they need, and then sell it to others; some even manage to sell their maize on the global market. So people in places in many other countries have probably eaten Centralian corn without even realising it! And some people don t just grow maize, they also grow coffee. We can t eat it, but these days it does fetch a much better price than it used to and higher than maize. The coffee begins as cherries which grow on small trees. We then harvest the cherries which contain the coffee beans. Some people sell the coffee like this still in the cherries. But the coffee will fetch more money if it is processed first. That means removing the coffee beans from the cherries, drying them, sorting them and packing them into export bags. The problem is, we can only sell this coffee in the export bags to the Global Market if we have an export licence and that costs a lot of money. Some of our people work for a big multinational company which has plenty of money and an export licence. But most of our people are farmers with very little money or equipment, they don t even have export bags, let alone licences. In between the farmers and the multinational company there are traders who have more money and equipment for processing the coffee. So farmers usually sell to them and they then sell it on to the company management. f. Government: Now you know a little bit more about Centralia we want you to play out your role as a farmer [point to those who are farmers] a trader [point to those who are traders] or as employees of the multinational company that is located there [point to those who are company employees]. g. Global Market: Let us just take a moment to explain what you can do. First, those of you who are farmers [point to farmer s tables]. You have plenty of land (represented by the sheets of paper) some resources (represented by the scissors and pens), and some money. You will find that you have to grow maize (that is the corn cobs) in order to eat and survive. You could grow more than you need and can sell that to other people. Growing the maize is represented by colouring in the corncobs on the sheet [hold up the corncob template sheet] but be careful because if you leave any white areas then these are not properly grown and they will be rejected. Then you can harvest them by cutting them out [hold up a coloured and cut out corncob] but, again, be careful because if there is any criss-cross paper left or any damage to any of the corncob inside the grey line these will be rejected. You might decide to also grow coffee, which you can t eat but you can sell to make money. This means colouring in the coffee cherry clusters [hold up a coffee cherry template sheet] but again it will be rejected if any white areas are left. You can then harvest these by cutting out the coloured clusters [hold up a coloured and cut out coffee cherry cluster] but, again, be careful because if there is any criss-cross paper left or any damage to any of the coffee cherries inside the grey line these will be rejected. You only have a few pens and scissors. You can use your money to buy Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 7

more from the Global Market at the prices on this flipchart/whiteboard [point to the prices] but you can also buy from anyone else at any price you agree with them. h. Government: Of course you don t have to use scissors, you can tear these out by hand but be careful to make sure that they won t be rejected by those to whom you try to sell them. Remember you can sell your corn cobs and coffee cherries to any group at any time. And you can sell your corn cobs to the Global Market at the price on the board. What you don t have is bags to package up the harvested coffee cherries or an export licence to sell them to the Global Market. But you can always buy these if you have enough money. What are you going to do? Are you going to focus on growing corncobs or coffee or both? What are you going to buy and sell? There are lots of decisions for you to make. Now, what about the traders [point to the traders tables]. You can grow and harvest maize by colouring in and cutting out or tearing the corn cobs and you can grow and harvest coffee by colouring in and cutting out or tearing the coffee cherries. But you also have bags and labels to prepare the coffee for export. Each bag must contain four harvested coffee cherries and must be labelled. You can sell your harvested corncobs to anyone, including the Global Market, and you can sell your harvested coffee on its own or packaged for export to anyone. What you don t have is an export licence to sell your packaged coffee to the Global Market. What are you going to do? Will you focus on growing or trading? How can you get an export licence so that you can make more money for your coffee? Again, there are lots of decisions for you to make. i. Global Market: Now what about the company employees? [Point to the company table.] You can grow maize and coffee or buy it from others. And you have an export licence so you can sell coffee to me, the Global Market. I will accept it if the bag is properly labelled, and contains four properly coloured in and cut or torn out coffee cherries. And I will pay you the current price that is on the board. What are you going to do? Will you focus on growing and harvesting or trading? And how will you relate to the traders and farmers? Remember, your challenge is to make as much money as you can. But now, finally, a word to all of you. You all have to eat, and maize is the staple food in Centralia. So whatever you do, you need to have enough harvested corncobs to survive. As the end of each season approaches you will see this countdown clock on the screen. j. Government: Each season will last a little over five minutes [adjust this according to your group and the time available]. When that gets to the end you will need to give me one corncob for each person in your group. This could be ones you have grown and harvested, or traded with other groups, or bought from the Global Market at the price on the board. But watch out because that might change. In fact a lot of things might change in this game because there will be news bulletins from Centralia News at various points and they will affect all of you in different ways. All of the news reports you will see are based on real life events in many developing countries. In fact, by playing this game you will discover what it is like to live in many developing countries across the world right now. So, before we start, are there any questions about how the game works? k. Global Market and Government: [Answer any questions they have about the rules and operation of the game (but don t advise them on any strategy that is up to them to decide). You will need to be fully clear on all the rules and operations of the game so this is summarised for you in the appendix at the end of the leaders Guide. Oxfam Education Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 8

l. Government: You all have a sheet explaining your role and what you have to do (hold up role card) so refer to that any time you need a recap. If we are all now clear on what we are doing I want to give you two minutes to decide on your strategy. Remember that you need to give me one corncob for every person at the end of each season and your goal is to make as much money as possible so that you can provide healthcare and education for your family. Don t start doing anything yet just read through your role cards and decide together on your strategy. [If they try to start colouring or cutting you may need to ask them to sit on their hands as they discuss!] Oxfam Education m. Government: [Show video Decide your strategy /Slide 5 and give them two minutes to talk. You may need to adjust this for your site.] Slide 5 02:40 3) Season 1 Time: 8 min a. Government: Right now you can start growing, harvesting and trading Show video Start /Slide 6. Give them six minutes to grow, harvest and trade. You may need to adjust this for your situation some groups may take a while to get going. Make a special effort to circulate around groups, checking their progress, referring them to the tips on their role cards and instilling a sense of urgency b. Global Market: [If you have an assistant who can stay at the Global Market table to buy and sell, then you can circulate around the groups offering to buy and sell at the prices on the board and remind them that you can only buy coffee if it is harvested and bagged (with four coloured and cut coffee cherry clusters in a bag), and if they have an export licence. Make sure you tell groups who can afford it to buy and export license straight away. If it becomes necessary you could make minor adjustments to the prices as the game continues in order to achieve the best learning outcomes for the pupils.] c. Government: [30 seconds before the end of this season show video end of season /slide 7. IMPORTANT: Remind them that they must all have enough corncobs to give in one per person at the accept maize that is fully coloured in and neatly cut out. If any teams do not have enough corn cob for survival, you should as the Government give them food aid (end of this season if they don t have them they must buy them even if that means selling other resources to get the money. At the end of the countdown video collect these into your small basket or box. Only i.e. just the number of corncobs) they need on behalf of a foreign donor government in order to keep them alive and in the game. You then of course take the corn cobs straight back. Slide 6 Slide 7 02:44 02:50 d. Global Market: [As the corncobs are being collected in, you could ask the pupils about their experience so far.] If any groups are relying on food aid, ask them what the problem of relying on this might be. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 9

4) Season 2 Time: 11 minutes a. Government: Just before we start the next season there is an important news report. [show video Land Grabs /Slide 8.] Slide 8 03:32 Centralia News: This time last year, we thought we were bringing you a good news story when some large multinational companies announced they were investing in Centralia. But now it seems that their idea of investment is to buy up large areas of our best farmland. Farmers are complaining that they are no longer allowed to farm on land that they had always used for feeding their families. Now they are kept out by security guards and high fences. One farmer told Centralia News: We ve been left stranded. We were promised compensation and jobs but that hasn t happened. We can no longer grow the food for our families and we can t afford to buy all the food we need in the local market. b. Government: [Enact the land grab on behalf of the company. Ask pupils to sit on their hands. Then Collect from every group of farmers and traders half of their as yet unmarked corncob and coffee cherry outlines (do NOT announce that you will be taking unmarked outlines of groups will quickly mark them) (NB: This is not half the sheets containing the outlines but half of the outlines). (You may need to adjust the percentage of sheets that you collect according to your group). Give these sheets to the company.] c. Global Market: There is another announcement. The international head office of the company has also decided that they want to hold on to land in Centralia so, from now on, the company will try to buy land (in the game this is the corncob and coffee cherry template sheets) but they must not sell any land that they own of course you can still buy from me, the Global Market, at the prices on the board. [You may decide to adjust the price for corncob and coffee templates upwards at this point to reflect the value of land.] d. Government; Right, now you can resume growing, harvesting and trading (Show video continue /Slide 9, give them six minutes to grow, harvest and trade. You may need to adjust this for your situation. Check that the Company has enough equipment and give them more if they need it) e. Global Market: [If you have an assistant who can stay at the Global Market table to buy and sell, then you can circulate around the groups offering to buy and sell at the prices on the board.] f. Government: [During this season, quietly suggest to two groups of farmers that they could join together to form a co-operative, pooling their resources. You may not need to do this if some have already worked out that they would do better by joining with others.] g. Government: [30 seconds before the end show Video end of season /Slide 10] Slide 9 Slide 10 04:44 04:48 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 10

Remind them that they must all have enough corncobs to give in one per person at the end of this season if they don t have them they must buy them even if that means selling other resources to get the money. At the end of the countdown video collect these into your small basket or box. Only accept maize that is fully coloured in and neatly cut out.] h. Global Market: [As the corncobs are being collected in, you could ask the pupils about their experience so far.] 5) Season 3 Time 12 minutes i. Government: [As soon as the corncobs are collected announce ] Before we start again there is another news report coming in. [Show video Drought /Slide 11.] Slide 11 05:31 Centralia News: Centralia s farmers say that the lack of rain is threatening this year s maize harvest with many corncobs just shrivelling up. Climate experts tell us that change in rainfall patterns here in Centralia may be linked to global climate change, caused by carbon emissions in richer countries. One farmer told Centralia News: We always used to know when it would rain so we could plant our maize at the right time. Those days seem to have gone no-one now seems able to predict when the rains will come, or if they will even come at all. j. Government: [Enact the impact of the drought by collecting in any corncobs that any groups have started colouring and/or cutting leave t h e m any untouched templates and completed corncobs (fully coloured and cut).] k. Global Market: [As the corncobs are being collected in, you could ask the pupils about their experience so far.] l. Government; Right, now you can resume growing, harvesting and trading (Show video continue /Slide 12, give them four minutes to grow, harvest and trade. You may need to adjust this for your situation.) n. Government: We interrupt this season with some good news... [Show video Company Investment /Slide 13] Slide 12 Slide 13 06:31 6:36 Centralia News: Small farmers are important to big companies. That s the message being communicated by the recent move by some of the companies based here in Centralia. They have announced that they are going to invest in small farmers who supply them by providing them with more equipment and materials so that they can grow more and better food. A company spokesman told Centralia News This makes sense for the farmers and the company we will all benefit from this investment. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 11

o. Government: [Enact the impact of the company investment by asking the company to loan some of their equipment (scissors, pens, bags and labels) to some of the farmers. You will have to decide how much at the time is appropriate to the groups and the situation.] Oxfam Education p. Government; Now you can resume growing, harvesting and trading (Show video continue /Slide 14, give them another four minutes to grow, harvest and trade. You may need to adjust this for your situation.) Slide 14 07:30 m. Government: [30 seconds before the end show Video end of season /Slide 15] Slide 15 07:35 6) Season 4 Time: 11 minutes a. Global Market: After that investment, we are all ready to go with the next season. But in this world things change very fast including the price of food. So, before we start again there is another news report. [Show video Price Rises /Slide 16] Centralia News: Rising food prices are having a massive impact on households throughout Centralia. During the last few months all foods have become much more expensive but especially basic foods such as corn. It seems that these price rises are linked to events outside Centralia. They include global climate change which is affecting harvests, high oil prices, and the workings of money markets in rich countries. For those households who have to buy most of the food they need, rising food prices are pushing them deeper into poverty. b. Global Market: [Enact the effects of the price rises by changing the prices on your board double the price of the food that you sell and halve the price of the food that you buy. (You may need to vary this according to the situation of your groups.) You could also increase the price of the other resources explaining that increased food prices affect the price of everything. You could ask the pupils how they feel about this.] Slide 16 08:18 c. Government; Right, now you can resume growing, harvesting and trading you have eight minutes to make the best of your situation (Show video continue /Slide 17. You may need to adjust the timing for your situation Slide 17 09:22 d. Global Market: [If you have an assistant who can stay at the Global Market table to buy and sell, then you can circulate around the groups offering to buy and sell at the prices on the board.] e. Government: [After four minutes break into the game with this announcement.] Sorry to stop you but there is an important news flash with some good news for Centralia. [Show video Government Investment /Slide 18 Ensure that they all stop production and trade to watch you may have to ask them to sit on their hands.] Slide 18 09:29 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 12

Centralia News: The government of Centralia has announced that it is to close some of the loopholes that multinational companies were using to avoid paying tax. The government says that some of the extra money it gets from tax will be invested in Centralia s own small farmers. This will provide them with money, training and materials to help them grow more and better food. In a further bit of good news for our country s small farmers, the government has also said that it will enable them to obtain an export licence which means they will be able to sell their food directly onto the global market. Oxfam Education f. Global Market: [Enact the effects of the tax changes. Give to each farmer group two extra pens and pairs of scissors, plus $100 and an export licence. (You may need to vary this according to the situation of your groups.)you could ask the pupils how they feel about this.] g. Government: Ok, now you can resume growing, harvesting and trading you have four minutes left. [Show video continue /Slide 19. You may need to adjust the timing for your situation.] h. Government: [30 seconds before the end play the video end of season /Slide 20, at the end of the countdown video collect one corncob per person into your small basket or box.] Slide 19 Slide 20 10:33 10:39 7) Discussion and Reflection Time: 15 minutes Global Market: We are coming to the end of our time in Centralia. We have survived three seasons but what have we learned from our experience? Please tidy up your area and do a quick count of your money, crops and resources to see how you have ended the game. [Collect rubbish from each group. When materials are arranged neatly on tables, proceed ] Government: [Show Video What was it Like? /Slide 21]. Invite each group to describe their position at the end of the game and to express, in general terms, what it was like for them in their roles. There are certain real-life parallels worth drawing out]: Slide 21 11:22 The SMALL FARMER groups have less initial equipment and technology (fewer scissors and no colouring pencils) whereas the government invests heavily in the COMPANY providing colouring pencils/scissors. In the real world, governments and companies have often invested in large-scale, intensive farming, to the neglect of SMALL FARMERS. However, following a century of increases, crop yields are flat lining. So many think it's time to focus on the huge untapped potential of small-scale farmers in developing countries and especially on women, who often do most of the work for little reward. They argue that with effective government support and a focus on sustainable techniques, their productivity Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 13

The SMALL FARMERS cannot sell anything directly to the market (unless they have a license). In the real world, smallholder farmers are often simply not able to access the world markets directly and instead are forced to go through middlemen and traders that each take a profit, reducing the price that farmers get for their produce. The TRADERS can make money simply from buying, selling and maybe processing products. In real life traders acting as a middleman can make huge profits without doing much at all. Taking advantage of the position of many smallholder farmers, who can t talk to the larger companies buying the product, traders can simply re-sell produce for a quick profit. What s more, the traders can better afford equipment to process and package the crop which adds more value to the crop when they sell it.for example, in this game the traders were able to package the coffee cherries as they had the export bags Show Video Real World Challenges /Slide 22. Reflect back on the specific events that happened during the game and what it would be like to experience this in real life. Begin with looking at some of the negative events and then move onto the positive events. 1. Land grabs. In the real world, many people in developing countries have experienced such land-grabs in which land they have been using for growing food is sold over their heads to companies. Sometimes the people are promised money or jobs in return but these don t materialise. 2. Price rises. In the real world, food prices have risen suddenly in recent years and this has a devastating effect upon people who have very little money to pay for food. 3. Drought. In the real world, many people in developing countries are experiencing the impact o f climate change that means that their crops do not grow and cannot be harvested.as temperatures rise, extreme weather events like droughts, heat waves, and floods get worse and happen more often, and the seasons that people rely on to grow crops become even more unpredictable. People who rely directly on their own natural resources to eat are the first to be affected and these are often the world s poorest. Slide 22 11:28 Co-operatives. [If some of the farmers joined together and pooled their resources, draw out the value of such actions.] In the real world many have found that such a united effort gives more power as well as more resources. [Whether or not this happened, to stimulate discussion about the impact of such actions (and provide a break in the discussion time) show Video Joining Together /Slide 23] Slide 23 11:34 Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 14

Centralia News: Now for some news that could mean a new future for farmers in Centralia. Our farmers have always worked hard, and when times are tough they work harder. But now they are also finding ways to work smarter. In some parts of the country, farmers are joining together to form cooperatives. That means they are pooling their money and resources together so that they can buy more equipment and even export licences that enable them to deal directly with the global market. Could this be the way forward for Centralia s small farmers [Show video Real World Challenges /Slide 24] 4. Company investment. In the real world, international companies have found that investment in farmers makes sense for everyone. 5. Closing tax loopholes. In the real world, some companies avoid paying tax to the developing countries that provide their products, and this tax would make a real difference to the ability of those countries to invest in their own development. Slide 24 12:34 c. Global Market. [Draw the threads of the discussion together and invite the pupils to consider what they are going to do as a result of their experience today. To help with this, show video What will you Do? /Slide 25. Invite them to suggest specific actions that they can take as individuals and as a group. Perhaps choose the best group action as a follow-on activity.] Slide 25 12:40 Show them the Enough food for everyone IF video Slide 26 12:44 This promotes a campaign challenging the global food system being run by a large number of Non-Governmental Organisations such as Oxfam and Christian Aid, and which young people can get involved with. Show them more information about the IF campaign on Slides 27 and 28 Many of the issues in the video relate to the experience of people in the game. Slides 27 & 28 15:08 Which issues do the young people recognise? Explain that as a follow up to the game they could look at the schools page for this campaign and consider whether some of the actions there could help them. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 15

Acknowledgments The original Can You Beat the System? game was developed by the Education and Youth team at Oxfam GB as part of its Food for Thought schools project. http:///school-projects/food-for-thought The game was further developed by Global Student Forum, in partnership with Oxfam and Christian Aid, and this multimedia version is the result of that collaboration. http://www.globalstudentforum.org/ http://www.christianaid.org.uk/ Terms of use Copyright Oxfam GB You may use these photographs and associated information for the educational purposes at your educational institution. With each use, you must credit the photographer named for that image and Oxfam. You may not use images and associated information for commercial purposes or outside your educational institution. All information associated with these images relates to the date and time that project work took place. Copyright Oxfam GB. You may reproduce this document for educational purposes only. Page 16