|
African countries need strategies to combat drought
2006-02-02 08:10:52
By Ritah Wanza
Africa’s recent famine has been described by some authors as ’’one of the worlds biggest disasters since world war two’’. Today millions of Kenyans and Tanzanians are faced with starvation.
The world is coming to their rescue but for some of them it’s too late. In some cases, like in Kenya the delay has been caused by officials who concealed the true extent of the famine.
In March 1984, Ethiopia appealed to the world for 450,000 tons of emergency grain. This was no exaggeration, for the actual need was twice that amount.
Yet the United Nations paid little heed. Less than 100,000 tons of grain was offered, at a time when world grain surpluses approached 190,000 tons!
To make matters worse, the small supplies of food took months to arrive. Meanwhile, people were starving.
The death toll in one relief camp reached a hundred per day. Then, in October 1984 a British television crew was delayed while waiting for a change of planes in Ethiopia. They used the time to visit relief camps and filmed humans starving to death.
’’I cried when I was editing this film”, said the late cameraman Mohamed Amin. ”I actually broke down and cried’’
The film was shown throughout the world and a dramatic response followed. An angry public demanded government action. Musicians turned their lucrative trade into appeals for charity.
All this publicity resulted in one of the greatest relief efforts the world has ever seen. Shipments of surplus grain began pouring into Africa. The world’s response saved over 3million Africans.
But, sadly, Africa is still short of food. According to recent reports, millions in Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Tanzania face starvation. Why? , you may wonder is Africa is unable to feed itself? And even more important, what is the solution?
Many African farmers find it difficult to produce enough food. They plant but no rain comes. Africa is notorious for droughts and particularly vulnerable are countries in the southern border of the Sahara desert.
Africa exports tea, coffee, sugar, cocoa, groundnuts and many other agricultural products to European countries.
During the Ethiopian famine, British citizens were shocked to learn that they were eating fruits from Ethiopia. Apparently, then, drought alone is not the only reason Africa cannot feed itself.
Some Africans refuse to limit the size if their families. To them, having many children is viewed as a sign of wealth. Not surprisingly Africa has one of the biggest population rates in the world. Undeniably this aggravates the problem of hunger.
Is Africa too small to grow enough food? No suitable land is not being cultivated. I suggest that Africa is starving because of misguided advice.
Why would China with a population of over 1000million feed itself? Why does India with a large population and a fraction of land feed itself? Why can\’t Africa which is bigger in size feed itself?
Advice is one thing Africa is not short of. If the hungry could eat words, Africa would not be starving.
Advising Africa has become a major industry, with European and American consulting firms charging $500,000 for a year of an expert’s time.
These experts promote expensive farming methods that require high yield seeds, chemicals and heavy machinery. This has meant good business for overseas companies but has brought little benefit to Africa’s rural poor.
Attention is given to farms that produce crops for export and then to farms that produce food that is sold in Africa’s most affluent cities. The schemes promoted by overseas companies bring little benefit to Africa; they only make Africa look modern.
They are backed by large loans of money. This helps some African governments to satisfy rich city dwellers whose support they need to stay in power.
Thus, impressive hotels, universities, airports, cars, highways and luxuries are seen in African cities while the countryside is neglected.
Africa’s rural peasants have a name for their rich neighbours in the city; in Swahili they call them wabenzi, meaning ’’the Mercedes_ Benz tribe’’
Cheap surplus grain does not always benefit hungry Africans. Sometimes it ends up in the hands of greedy businessmen who sell it at a profit for their own gain. Recently, Kenyan members of the press were shocked to see relief food being sold in Isiolo, and Garissa while the residents are starving to death.
Rich nations also find it a heavy burden to store surplus grain, thus dumping it in Africa. Dumping of this grain has also weakened the position of rural farmers. How can a local producer compete against free foreign food?
Traditional African grown foods like sorghum and millet are fast losing their popularity. Yet they withstand drought much more than any type of grain.
City dwellers have developed a taste for wheat and rice_grains that are hard to grow in much of Africa’s harsh climate. Some advisers promote a liking for overseas foods and thereby increase Africa’s dependence on food imports.
A Chinese proverb states that ’’give a fish to a man and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’’
Food aid alone is of little value to Africans. Generally, African peasants are not helped to succeed as farmers. Peasant farmers have always been pushed off good land and forced to subsist on land that is less productive.
Left to fend for themselves African farmers have degraded fragile land by over cultivation and overgrazing and by cutting down many trees. Large portions of Africa are turning into desserts.
The question why Africa can’t feed itself is controversial and the answer is complex. Droughts, the population explosion, aid policies, greed, the neglect of rural farmers are all among the causes cited by authorities. Of these only drought can be called natural; the rest are man-made.
What hope is there for starving Africans? Let’s hope that African governments will come together and see the problem for what it really is. If the entire population dies from starvation who will vote to keep them in power?
If they can’t find solutions on humanitarian grounds then let them do it for their own good. You need voters to stay in power, and hungry people don’t vote. Address the issue of starvation if you want to keep driving State owned vehicles.
mbinyaritah@yahoo.com
|
