By Katishi Masemola
Published in ANC Today, Volume 8, No. 20 • 23 —29 May 2008
In an article by Trevor Manuel published in ANC Today Vol 8 No 18 he said "the world has generally been able to feed itself(and)eat times, surpluses in some parts of the world have had to be diverted to cover shortages in another part of the world". We agree with this observation.
We wish to argue that there is still enough food produced by the world to still feed itself. Put differently, there is no shortage of food in the world. Therefore, the problem is with the distribution of food and commodities, particularly as determined by the commodity futures system at the Chicago Board of Trade. More...
5 comments:
The story of the ants and the grasshopper come sto mind.
Africa for Africans, i always say. Let them sort out their own problems!
Your view of the crisis is so shallow. You have got an obsession with Mugabe, instead his policies are in a way addressing the crisis, Land to the people, the majority, so that they can feed themselves.
Empty shelves in Caracas, food riots in West Bengal and Mexico Warnings of hunger in Nepal, Phillipines and Jamaica.
Record world prices for most staple foods have led to 18% food price inflation in China, 13% in Indonesia and Pakistan, and 10% or more in Latin America, Russia and India, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).Wheat has doubled in price, maize is nearly 50% higher than a year ago and rice is 20% more expensive, says the UN. Next week the FAO is expected to say that global food reserves are at their lowest in 25 years and that prices will remain high for years.
Last week the Kremlin forced Russian companies to freeze the price of milk, bread and other foods until January 31, for fear of a public backlash with a parliamentary election looming. "The price of goods has risen sharply and that has hit the poor particularly hard," said Oleg Savelyev, of the Levada Centre polling institute.
India, Yemen, Mexico, Burkina Faso and several other countries have had, or been close to, food riots in the last year, something not seen in decades of low global food commodity prices. Meanwhile, there are shortages of beef, chicken and milk in Venezuela and other countries as governments try to keep a lid on food price inflation.
Is that all because of Mugabe taking land from a minority white settler land thieves and returning it back to its rightful owners. Shame on you.
Inflation in Zimbabwe is over 2,000,000%, a 50% increase in the price of Maize over the past year would have been welcome. Zim has no forex to even buy foodstuffs from overseas so without the commercial production from those white farmers things are much worse in Zimbabwe. Like it or not it is going to take years for black Zimbabweans to produce crops on the same level as their white Zimbabwean counterparts. You don't give your 16 year old the keys to the car and expect him to be able to drive without crashing, the kid needs lessons and some driving experience using a learners permit before they can be considered good drivers. The same applies to commercial farming, thanks to Mugabe's actions these new farmers are crashing left and right.
Obviously they must not be expected to produce just like the former white farmers who were on the farms for a number of decades. With time production will increase. Even those white farmers did not start with massive production the moment they started to work on the land, it was a gradual process. The only good thing is that Zimbabwe has lived up to the saying that crime doesn't pay and it should not pay. It has corrected colonial wrongs. There is no justification or excuse regarding the process in which indegeneous Zimbabweans lost their birthright to a few colonial settlers. Right should always overcome wrong.It was wrong , if not evil. Zimbabwe should not be punished for taking the stance it took.
Sooo, the western world should feed the children of Zimbabwe, because of the stance Zimbabwe took.
I cry for the dying children of Africa, because already the world's public opinion is turning against the endless aid being given to irresponsible leaders in Africa.
Africans, do whatever you think is right, but also take the responsibility for your actions. Stop demanding the western world to pay for your errors. That little fountain is quickly being squeezed shut.
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