Peter Robbins (born 1946) is a British author whose published works include '' Stolen Fruit'' and a range of specialist books on related topics including precious metals markets, tropical commodity markets, trade sanctions, access to market information, and on support for
rural communities
Sociologists have identified a number of different types of rural communities, which have arisen as a result of changing economic trends within rural regions of industrial nations.
The basic trend seems to be one in which communities are requir ...
.
He was a commodities trader in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
for 30 years. He was able to retire from the business early and became a consultant to the United Nations on trade relations between African countries and multinational companies. He worked also as an advisor to the
African National Congress
The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
on trade sanctions against
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.
Since then he has worked for many development agencies on issues relating to agricultural trade policy and its impact on small scale farmers.
In 1971 he brought together specialist British metal traders to form the
Minor Metals Trade Association The Minor Metals Trade Association (MMTA) is a world-wide industry association whose members are involved in over 49 metals that are not traded on exchanges. The MMTA membership includes around 150 companies from 30 countries that trade in excess of ...
.
He was a founder member and Chair of the World Gold Commission from 1988 to 1995. This anti-apartheid pressure group was successful in curtailing the import of newly mined South African gold into the United States, Italy and Britain.
He was the founder member of the London Equality Group - an organisation which campaigns for the reduction of wealth and income inequality in Londo in 2010 and served as Chair of My Fair London until 2013.
In 2014 Peter made a contribution to ideas in Neuroscience - Dirty Walls: An evolutionary theory of the dream function, which was published in the International Journal of Dream Research re International Journal of Dream Research /ref>
Selected publications
''Guide to Non-Ferrous Metals and their Markets'' – ( Kogan Page – 1979, 1980 and 1982)
''Guide to Precious Metals and their Markets'' – ( Kogan Page – 1979)
''Trading in Metals'' – (
Metal Bulletin
Fastmarkets MB, previously known as Metal Bulletin, is a specialist international publisher and information provider for the global steel, non-ferrous and scrap metals markets.
History
What was later known as ''Metal Bulletin'' was started in 191 ...
– 1984)
''Gold and Post-Apartheid South Africa'' – (
Review of African Political Economy
The ''Review of African Political Economy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering African political economy. It was founded with the help of Lionel Cliffe and is published quarterly by Taylor & Francis since 1974. It focuses in particular ...
– Vol. 19 No.51 – 1991)
''Tropical Commodities and their Markets''
( Kogan Page – 1995)
''Review of market information systems in Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zimbabwe''
( Technical Centre for Agriculture – 2000)
''Review of the impact of globalisation on the agricultural sectors and rural communities of ACP countries''
( Technical Centre for Agriculture – 1999)
''Design of market information systems for small-scale producers and traders in three districts of Uganda'' ( Technical Centre for Agriculture – 2000)
''Stolen Fruit: The tropical commodities disaster''
(
Zed Books
Zed Books is an independent non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg.
Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, co ...
– 2003)
''Advice manual for the organisation of collective marketing activities by small-scale farmers''
( Natural Resources Institute – 2004)
''Supply-side measures for raising low farm-gate prices of tropical beverage crops''
( South Centre – 2006)
''Commodity exchanges and smallholders in Africa'' ( International Institute for Environment and Development/ Sustainable Food Lab – 2011)
Contributor to:
''After Apartheid – Renewal of the South African Economy''
(
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Africa World Press Inc. – 1991)
''A Framework for Macroeconomic Policy in South Africa – Making Democracy Work''
(
Centre for Development Studies
The Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India is a premier Social Science research institute. It is also a higher education institution providing M.A. course in applied economics and PhD course in economics. It is ...
– South Africa – 1993)
''Information for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries: emerging stakeholders, new media and priority themes'' ( Technical Centre for Agriculture – 2001)
''Agricultural commodities, trade and sustainable development'' ( IIED and ICTSD 2005)