*There are dozens and dozens of reasons why Africa struggles to move out of poverty. Even with billions of dollars in aid and expertise, little progress is achieved and, in many cases, they are still moving in reverse. Just one of those reasons is a distrust of the West.
*For all my fellow college football lovers, Sam Bradford of Oklahoma won the Heisman Trophy today.
*It's been a slow day.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Time Article Numero Dos
Last night (as I sweated my ass off in 90+ degree temps, where's my aluminum?!?!) I mentioned a second article in the Time magazine that caught my eye. This one, entitled "Pain Amid Plenty" is about a topic that gets little attention, but that I find strangely fascinating: Food aid to Africa.
It is something that gets little attention when people talk about foreign policy. A couple weeks ago I asked a good friend who is very bright what she thought about the subject. After a long pause she confessed, "I dunno, I haven't really thought about it much."
The article says that the world has spent billions of dollars in food aid to Africans which has not necessarily been money well spent. Instead of teaching people how to grow their own food, we've simply provided it for free. Not only has that created dependent societies, it has also undermined the existing farmers: they have gone out of business because it is impossible to compete in a market flooded with free food. Not only that, but populations have continued to grow in areas that cannot sustain so many people.
So what to do? It appears one option, and perhaps the best, is to shift resources to agricultural training so that Africans can sustain themselves. I'm all for it. Western nations won't forever be available to ship food to these nations, so let's help them achieve self-sustainability sooner rather than later.
At only a few hundred words it's a quick read, go check it out.
It is something that gets little attention when people talk about foreign policy. A couple weeks ago I asked a good friend who is very bright what she thought about the subject. After a long pause she confessed, "I dunno, I haven't really thought about it much."
The article says that the world has spent billions of dollars in food aid to Africans which has not necessarily been money well spent. Instead of teaching people how to grow their own food, we've simply provided it for free. Not only has that created dependent societies, it has also undermined the existing farmers: they have gone out of business because it is impossible to compete in a market flooded with free food. Not only that, but populations have continued to grow in areas that cannot sustain so many people.
So what to do? It appears one option, and perhaps the best, is to shift resources to agricultural training so that Africans can sustain themselves. I'm all for it. Western nations won't forever be available to ship food to these nations, so let's help them achieve self-sustainability sooner rather than later.
At only a few hundred words it's a quick read, go check it out.
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