Christian Aid, the British charity, complains that free trade isn't good news for Ghana's rice farmers. They are probably right. But, the needs of the many, as Spock says, outweigh the needs of the few. Free trade in rice means the price of eating is lower, which means a healthier, less hungry population. Free trade is particularly beneficial to the poorest in Ghana, many of whom would starve without it.

In a letter to Christian Aid, the British government supported Ghana's policy of free trade, saying that: "Selective tariffs such as these, which have the effect of raising the price of imported goods or intermediate inputs into the domestic production process in poor countries, can often prove a counterproductive instrument to safeguarding food security and the livelihoods of the poorest households, who are both producers and consumers."