In a renewed campaign, African trade ministers have urged the United States to remove agricultural subsidies that are hurting African farmers. "We need to maintain pressure on the U.S. to remove agriculture subsidies because this is an impediment to our development," said Kenya's Vice President. "The removal of these subsidies will be a clear demonstration of the ability of the multilateral trading system to respond positively to the genuine cry of the many poor African farmers who live on less than one dollar a day," he said. The 20 trade ministers, who met under the auspices of the 53-member African Union (AU), called on the United States to indicate when it would stop subsidising its farmers, as the Doha round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations get close to conclusion in 2006.