West Africa is one of the countries that are tormented
from the global food crisis. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in West
Africa around two hundred sixty four million people are suffering from hunger. As
stated by the website ActionAid, “West
Africa is facing its third food crisis in less than a decade.” (ActionAid,
2012). Furthermore, they explained that the communities from Sahel have not
even recovered from the last food crisis in 2010. One of the biggest reasons
this country has been devastated, is due to the “crop yields in West Africa,
that are low and food prices are abnormally high, heightening food insecurity
across this country.”(ActionAid, 2012).
ActionAid interviewed
a farmer from the Upper River Division of Gambia. Gelajo Jallow states, “This
year, the rains have failed us. As the rice and other crops were about to do
well, the rains stopped coming and the crops began to die. At most times, my
wives and I go without food to allow the children to have just enough to eat
for the day.” (Jallow, 2012). In accordance with ActionAid, the food crisis in The Gambia and Senegal, is a result
of a number of factors, including a “widespread of crop failure as a result of
inadequate and erratic rains. The problem has been aggravated by rising food
prices, chronic underlying poverty and government policies which have failed to
invest sufficient resources in agriculture.” (ActionAid, 2012).
ActionAid
believes that the food crisis will deteriorate and “it is also likely that
water for both human and animal consumption will become scarce in the worst hit
areas.” The positive outcome of ActionAid
is that this organization has been working for many years to help Senegal and
The Gambia. With the collaboration of local partners, they provide “food
supplies for over 15,000 people in the North Bank and Central River regions.”
They believe in the “food of work”, in which “people receive food in return for
work on community projects like building dykes around rice fields to reduce
salt intrusion.” This great organization has reached over 15,000 vulnerable
people. Their great dynamic to help those in need and distribute food for young
children, will help West Africa be a better place to live. Also, if people want
to contribute with this great cause, they have donations that will help deliver
emergency supplies of food and water to support African families.
The
second country that is suffering from food crisis is Latin America. According
to the summary report, Latin America:
Beyond the Food Crisis, the experts explain, that one of the biggest
factors is the “increased demand for corn an oilseed for use as biofuels
feedstock, and the rising cost of fuel and fertilizers.” In addition, Ben
Bradford explains that the United States government “requires a certain amount
of the nation’s annual corn crop be converted to the clean-burning,
domestically produced fuel – just over 13 billion gallons this year.”
(Bradford, 2012). However, to be able to cover this demand, many food tables
will remain without corn.
Being
a Latin American woman, I recognize that one of the biggest agricultural products
consumed by the Latinos is corn. Furthermore, corn is the main base to make
tortillas, tacos, tamales, tostadas, pupusas, arepas, gorditas, and let me stop
because I’m getting a little hungry. In addition, the issue of rising corn
prices because of the biofuel will be affected to the poor people, because
their main food is based in corn. Also, most of the farmers in Latin America
are devastated because they need to sell their harvest in extreme low prices,
having no profit to support their families. In addition to the article, Right to Food, “7 out of every 10 poor individuals
lived in a household where agriculture represented the main occupation of the head,”
(WB, Global
Economic Prospects, 2009), and if their investment and time in
agriculture does not leave a positive profit, they will leave to the big cities
to find a better job.
According
to the Latin America: Beyond the Food
Crisis, “Biofuels and monetary policy in the USA are key drivers in rising
food prices; biofuel subsidies create a negative externality by raising the
opportunity cost of food and feed; using foodstuffs for biofuels can be
questioned on moral grounds, but multilateral organizations have little or no
leverage to change policies in U.S. and the EU or in reducing non-renewable
energy prices.”
Many
scientist and technical assistants research measures to strengthen food
availability and access. Experts explain the “trade barriers, meaning export
restrictions; bilateral trade, meaning from government-government; reduction of
consumer and production taxes; strengthening of institutional framework to
enhance competition and protect consumers; and strengthening commercial relations
and value chains to improve access.” If
the Latin American government accomplished these proposals, we might have a
change in the agricultural production.
Finally,
the essential vital crops are corn, wheat, soya beans, and because of the
volatile prices in the international food market resulted in food riots. Zahrah
Nasir explains that at least 30 countries have suffered from foot riots,
including “Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mauritania, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Morocco,
Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bangladesh and South Africa. Unsurprisingly, some
governments actually collapsed as a direct result of this global unrest.”
(Nasir, 2012).
At
the end, maybe some countries just need to follow the food steps of Brazil, to
implement better ways to fight hunger and malnourishment. The President Lula,
“launched Fome Zero [Zero Hunger], by developing farmers’ markets, community
kitchens, programs to prepare food for the very poor and other initiatives, a
new localized food system was rebuild from the bottom up in ways that later
became a source of inspiration for social programs across Brazil.” (Lappe,
2011). Until the government of each country, makes a vital change to help, perhaps
it will lead to the end of global food crisis.
Angelica Romero
Sources:
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