Africa alone could feed the world

As some have said, I think one of Africa's biggest problems is political corruption. Oh well, # them then! No point helping if the money just goes to criminals, right?
We could examine how those people get &/or maintain power. A lot of corrupt African regimes are friendly to some international interest or other, many of them western. Royal Dutch Shell is a classic example: www.independent.co.uk...
Perhaps if we didn't arm such 'friendly' regimes (read puppets) or turn a blind eye to development funds being spent through shady international arms dealers, these people would not be in a position to blatantly rip off their own populace. Ah, but we need the resources & if we didn't secure them through corruption, somebody else would.
If only food were a Human Right. The UN would have every justification to oversee the improvement of land for smallholders directly, thus bypassing the tendency of politicians to divert funds to their own/family's/friends' pockets. In a decade the place could be booming.
Just imagine, an emergent Africa: a whole new consumer goods hungry continent for capitalism to drool over & jobs for people making them. It even makes sense for rabid freemarketeers!

reply to post by Gorman91


I don't recall who was called 'stingy', but the US diverted two battlegroups to the area immediately, and aid began flowing from Europe immediately, but again, your point was that aid is to assuage causal guilt, which had nothing to do with it.

Yes, the UN, that paragon of efficiency, not. This thread is not about the UN, but let's look at the UN in action, as it does relate back.
1) The 'Green Revolution' was a UN initiative. How did it work out?
2) UN peacekeepers raping, stealing, and yes, many of these incidents involve African troops, so it does link back to the underlying issue.
3) UN bureaucrats who jet around the world, eating extravagant meals at 'world hunger' meetings
4) Former GS Khofi Anan and his son, hip deep in oil for food, which is a good example of an African kleptocracy on a global scale (which also relates to this thread).

reply to post by Viking04


I see where you're coming from. And don't get me wrong, I know that it's not only out of guilt, but it has to play in for Europe someway. I mean, they literally raped and pillage and entire continent for a century, then drew up borders poorly, and did nothing to prevent wars between forces when they left.

England did a few good things with Nigeria, South Africa, and it's other colonies, and hence they are the most stable, but everywhere else is crap.

I don't believe in feeling guilty for your ancestors deeds, but even I look at Africa and see such horrid things, that I thing I would feel some sadness.

reply to post by Gorman91


Gorman:

Naturally, I am not looking to cut the tap off absolutely, but more money after bad (particularly in the current domestic environment) is not the answer.

I do agree that there is some degree of paternal feeling/guilt involved from the old Colonial powers. However, how much is enough? When do the Africans take full ownership of their destiny?

As a passing observation, that Nigeria and South Africa qualify as 'stable' is a very sad commentary upon the socio-political state in Africa.

I will be heading out shortly for a few days away with my family, so if my posts stop abruptly, that is the reason, and no offense is meant.

reply to post by Viking04


I know, Nigeria ans S Africa are poor examples, but we don't have a lot to work with in terms of quality.

I liked how Europe was working directly with the African Union's army to help develop it, but they have to do the same government wise.

I do hope they can take their own destiny, but the problem is this. There's a lot of conflicts created by colonizers for extortion that still goes on today.

I wish there was a way to show them that these conflicts are create,d not going back forever.


Education perhaps is the only answer. But it sure as hell is hard to change all the people.

Also, again, I am disgusted by people crying about ancestors. When black groups want reparations, it's pathetic, as no one lives guilty of the actions.

But Africa is a different story. In America we have a government to allow all people to reach heights. Africa is in a state of civil decay. Sad really.

It is necessary to pay for improvement, or the whole continent will be in hell forever.

[edit on 2-7-2009 by Gorman91]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Are you personally going to build the infrastructure needed to support 9 or 10 billion people?

If not, stop whining that some of us actually have a clue about the dangers overpopulation presents.

Every ecosystem has its breaking point, whether it be an overpopulation of ants, or of deer. Why do you think humans are any different?

reply to post by SurvivalGearDepot


Because humanity's population limit is nonexistent. We're the only species who have means of leaving the planet.

You don't have to plan on Earth for 10 billion people in an era when we could right now build giganourmous farms in space, sucking up the vast energy of the sun without the atmosphere blocking it.

reply to post by TheOracle

The tragedy is that the africans are the one suffering most from hunger and misery. And this is done by design, so we can plunder their natural wealth and slow down their progress.

Sounds like you need to do a little studying about Africa.

I lived for over a year in Senegal so I will confine most of what I say about there and West Africa.

The Senegalese are in charge of their own destiny and have been since independence (from France). That is the situation in most African nations. Many western countries have tried to help Senegal along to way to little avail. When I was there I was trying to help with their agriculture.

I would say that if you think you could make a "bread basket" along the lines of the midwestern US in West Africa,you are wrong. No way. Where are you going to get the water? Water is the biggest limitation in most of the African countries. In wet years they do well and in dry years they starve. Well water is in short supply and you can never count on the weather.

There is no western nation carting away the wealth of West Africa! Africans are pretty much doing the bad things to themselves in the form of repressive governments.

Go to Africa sometime and enjoy the 125 degree heat of midday. Soak up some of that scorching sun. Enjoy the dust storms, the insects, the malaria, the sleeping sickness, the tsetsi flys, the parasites. There is a reason western man doesn't spend much time there.

With great leaders like Mugabe I'm sure they could

I think it is wrong and insulting to say that africans don't care about their own welfare and only greed. Most corrupt politicians in Africa, are backed by western governments. They are there to keep the status quo of little progress.

This is a horrible example of our future.

It is a disgusting example of greed, when this world can feed its people and chooses to let people starve.

I have no doubt that the planet could sustain the population, if it were not for the greed and evil behaviour of the people in power, which equals money, which itself was only created so that people could have power over others, and those people play us like puppets.

It is abhorrent, and if I was God, I would say "End it now!" Which I think He is saying.

Because of greed, corruption, and ignoring suffering, and because of waging war, obviously, we, ourselves, the human race - we have caused the downfall of the planet, and also of ourselves, even the so-called people in power - how ironic.

RIP world.

It's ironic.. I clicked on this and there was an add from world vision add of a cute little girl with sad eyes.

Yet this happened fairly recently:

www.alertnet.org...
World Vision scandal puts spotlight on efforts to stamp out aid corruption

With a $1 million alleged fraud case in Liberia, World Vision has become the latest aid agency to be embroiled in a corruption scandal. The Christian organisation has rushed to implement new systems to prevent such abuse in the future, but analysts say fear of negative publicity, lack of external monitoring and a degree of complacency are hampering efforts to stamp out corruption in the aid world.

The Liberian case involves three former World Vision officials who are accused of stealing food and construction materials meant to help people recover from the country's 14-year-long civil war. They allegedly masterminded a scam in which food aid was sold for profit in local markets.

Alot of the aid agencies are just cash cows.. the suffering is something that can be exploited so there's no real insentive to ease it.

Give a man a fish ' etc.

reply to post by Etsivä Romppainen


There are less than 30 000 thousand whites left in Zimbabwe - and a small proportion of them are farmers.
These farmers may have been part of a system that owned most of the arable land, however, now 99% of that land has been carved up and given to people who scratch in the dirt like chickens and are turning Zimbabwe from the "breadbasket of Africa" into a dustbowl.

I don't blame them, they have no training, skill or education in commercial farming so they could not be expected to fill the void. The politicians did it for votes and for land for themselves. They did it under the guise of settling past wrongs, however the true story is that they did it for their own pockets.

Now that there is nothing left anymore, they come crying to the West for handouts.

Zimbabwe may be on the right path now with a shaky government of unity, and I really hope they come right. I would love to see the country of my birth strong again.



[edit on 3/7/2009 by deltaalphanovember]

more proof that western imperium is responsible for the massive crisis Afrcia faces

reply to post by Kombatt98


Africa was a battleground between the West, Russia and China. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie ... it wasn't just the West. Heck, the Cubans were in Angola for a long while, trying to get their hands on the oil and diamonds.

Nowadays, China is still pouring in huge amounts of cash and they are succeeding ... just like they have bought the USA.

Read the book "Economic Hitman" and you will understand.

Originally posted by TheOracle
Actually Africa alone can feed us!

actually, africa alone couldn't feed us, this report is bunk.

"Some 1.6 billion hectares could be added to the current 1.4 billion hectares of crop land [in the world], and over half of the additionally available land is found in Africa and Latin America," concludes the report, compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

from the same article

what that means is if you turn the amazon and the congo into fields you could produce lots of food. well, for a year or two, maybe, before the rain stops falling and the soil erodes.

of course, provided that the people who reclaim the land from the forest, big companies with the means to do so, don't decide it's more profitable to grow coffee or palm oil.

and who cares about the other life forms on the planet, right?

Originally posted by deltaalphanovember
reply to post by Kombatt98

 

Africa was a battleground between the West, Russia and China. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie ... it wasn't just the West. Heck, the Cubans were in Angola for a long while, trying to get their hands on the oil and diamonds.

Nowadays, China is still pouring in huge amounts of cash and they are succeeding ... just like they have bought the USA.

Read the book "Economic Hitman" and you will understand.

aha , i have read the 'confessions of economic hitman'