• the parallel loss of livelihoods of small farmers, and even bigger agricultural producers, in large measure through the influx of subsidised EU agricultural exports, whether directly or indirectly subsidised; • the undermining of family and community food security, and food sovereignty/security within such regions, and their increasing dependence on imports of even their staple foods; • the aggravation and deepening of poverty in both rural and urban areas, and the accompanying social stresses, including health crises, above all HIV/AIDS in Africa; • the consequent survival struggles of the poor, contributing to the environmental pressures already acute due to the extractive operations of transnational corporations in mining and agriculture, and in their fishing and (de)forestation operations, and, • It is alleged that the European Commission is trying to use the deals to encourage privatisation of basic services such as water and electricity. 434 Despite this critique, enormous pressure is being exerted on ACP governments to conclude EPA agreements. The EC argues that it will not be possible to gain yet another extension of the time in which the EU and the ACP maintain relations defined as ‘discriminatory’ against other WTO member states. 435 The threat to regional integration that EPAs pose should be taken seriously. Ethiopia should resist signing any agreements that are likely to undermine regional integration. As part of a broader, well-designed development strategy, regional integration could enhance productive capacity, intensify economic diversification, and improve competitiveness. Pooled resources and economies of scale would allow African countries to participate more effectively in the global economy. 436 There is no doubt that intra-African trade in goods is very low, but its potential for growth is high. Moreover, it should be stressed that regional trade is the stepping stone to participating in international trade. 437 The creation of several institutions for economic integration in Africa in the last two decades was expected to boost intra-African trade in goods. Such trade increased from 2.0 percent in the early 1980s to 9.0 percent of total African exports in 2007, but these statistics underestimate the actual flows as they do not include unrecorded trade, which is very important. For instance, the CRM - 175 -