The LDCs view agricultural subsidies as one of the factors that make their commodities non-competitive in the global market. As developed countries provide subsidies to their farmers and traders, their goods tend to become cheaper than those produced in the LDCs. Elimination of such would thus imply that a ‘level playing field’ would be created that would enable traders and farmers from both the developed countries and the LDCs to compete. As a follow-up to the 2003 Maputo Declaration, the CAADP Ministerial Council for Science and Technology resolved in 2006 that African countries should strive to allocate at least 1 per cent of their GDP to research and development.