While the emphasis in this paper is on practical measures to help the developing countries to overcome problems which may arise from unfavourable terms of trade or fluctuations of their export prices or earnings, it is necessary to consider briefly the nature of the problem and the prospects for the coming years. The following pages concentrate on the terms of trade, as they affect development and standards of living in the developing countries. Problems arising from fluctuations of prices of export earnings are considered at the end of this section.