Jolly by nature, always with a smile for everyone and full of energy, Amy (in addition to her job in a NGO) is a passionate Amnesty International member and activist, who campaigned heavily on their two year ‘STOP TORTURE’ campaign, focused on targeting five countries where torture is used and lobbying the governments of those countries.
But her most recent pet project is being involved with ‘Sutton Coldfield International Development Group’, or SCIDG; a local group of concerned citizens who aim to raise awareness locally about international poverty levels.
The British government has given £600 million of UK taxpayers money in the form of ‘international aid’, to a scheme called The ‘New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition’ which, it is claimed, will lift 50 million people out of poverty in Africa by 2022. In actual fact, this ‘aid’ money is benefiting transnational corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta, as it enables them to acquire large areas of African land, often pushing local farmers from land they have farmed for generations. Activists such as Amy argue that the ‘New Alliance’ is basically promoting the global corporate takeover of the food system. Aid money is being given to African governments on the basis that they make it easier for these transnational agri-businesses to operate there; this includes pressuring governments to adopt new ‘seed laws’, whereby farmers will only be allowed to purchase expensive, patented seeds from designated suppliers. Farmers may be criminalised for using their own seeds, which are not approved by these companies, and will not be permitted to swap and share seeds as per their own traditional farming methods.
Amy says: “As UK Taxpayers, we do not want our taxes to be used to cause harm to local people in other countries whilst benefiting multinational corporations. The ‘#FreeTheSeed’ campaign has been launched in opposition to this situation, promoting alternative farming methods, including traditional agroecological techniques and practices.”

Amy, Sutton Coldfield International Development Group

Amy, Sutton Coldfield International Development Group

Amy, Sutton Coldfield International Development Group