a damn shame and an embarassment

[SobaViolence]

Commondreams (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0801-05.htm)

This is the strange reality of Niger's hunger crisis. There is plenty of food, but children are dying because their parents cannot afford to buy it.

The starvation in Niger is not the inevitable consequence of poverty, or simply the fault of locusts or drought. It is also the result of a belief that the free market can solve the problems of one of the world's poorest countries.

The price of grain has skyrocketed; a 100kg bag of millet, the staple grain, costs around 8,000 to 12,000 West African francs (around £13) last year but now costs more than 22,000 francs (£25). According to Washington-based analysts the Famine Early Warning System Network (Fewsnet), drought and pests have only had a "modest impact" on grain production in Niger.

The last harvest was only 11% below the five-yearly average. Prices have been rising also because traders in Niger have been exporting grain to wealthier neighbouring countries, including Nigeria and Ghana.

[QueenAdrock]

I saw that on CNN today. It makes my heart ache to see all the hunger in the world. I wish there was something I could actually DO than just give money. Money will buy only so much food, though, and just delay the inevitable.

They need better education. And, more than that, better soils. Their slash-and-burn technique is sucking the land dry. This, coupled with intense dry spells, equals little to no food every year for a lot of the tribes. But there's not much they can do for that, either. :(

[SobaViolence]

enviromentalism.

it needs a comeback, in a big way.

[Ali]

enviromentalism.

it needs a comeback, in a big way.The world economic system needs a swift kick in the pants, too! It's this system which causes grain to be sold to wealthier neighbours, rather than given to the starving, penniless locals (who get blamed for being too fecund).

Aid agencies would have to buy the grain from the multinationals who've bought up all the fertile land and then give it to the starving locals, who've been forced off that land into the barren parts, which are of no use to the companies, which grow tobacco, tea, coffee, cotton, grain, corn, etc for export.

The locals can no longer grow their own food, graze their cattle, nor can they hunt game or gather wild vegetables, it's not their land any more. The best they can hope for is a job on a farm, getting paid a wage which barely keeps them alive.

Slavery was kinder to these people, at least they got fed.

It's the same story right accross Africa and it's the sole reason for the hardship you see on TV when the Elements turn against them.

Makes me sick.

You can see why people like Mugabe have such support, even though he's a complete nutter.

[sam i am]

[QUOTE=Ali]Slavery was kinder to these people, at least they got fed./QUOTE]

Your true colors are showing again, Ali.

Fight the true enemy....yourself. :eek: