East Africa Food Crisis 2011
Into mid-2011, the world’s worst food crisis is being felt in East Africa, in Ethiopia, Somalia
and Kenya. Despite successive failed rains, the crisis has been criticized as avoidable and
man-made. This is because the situation had been predicted many months before by an
international early warning system. Both the international community and governments in
the region have been accused of doing very little in the lead up to this crisis. In addition,
high food prices have forced food out of the reach of many people, while local conflicts
exacerbate the situation. As the international organization Oxfam describes: 12 million
people are in dire need of food, clean water, and basic sanitation. Loss of life on a massive
scale is a very real risk, and the crisis is set to worsen over the coming months, particularly for pastoralist communities.
Global Food Crisis 2008
The global food crisis that has made headlines in 2008 has been simmering for a
while. The rise in food prices, affecting the poorest the most, has a variety of
causes, mostly man-made. It has resulted in riots, an overthrow of a Prime
Minister and many deaths, around the world. It has been common to attribute
causes to things like overpopulation but that seems to miss the real causes as food
levels continue to outstrip demand even in a growing population. While media
reports have been concentrating on some of the immediate causes, it seems that deeper issues and causes have not
been discussed as much.
Causes Of Hunger Are Related To Poverty
There are many inter-related issues causing hunger, which are related to economics and other factors that cause
poverty. They include land rights and ownership, diversion of land use to non-productive use, increasing emphasis
on export-oriented agriculture, inefficient agricultural practices, war, famine, drought, over-fishing, poor crop
yields, etc. This section introduces some of these issues.
Population And Feeding The World
Last updated Monday, July 09, 2001.
The food scarcity part of the argument in the population debate is an interesting one -- people are hungry not
because the population is growing so fast that food is becoming scarce, but because people cannot afford it. Food
may be scarce, but it is international trade, economic policies and the control of land that have lead to immense
poverty and hunger and therefore less access to food, not food scarcity due to over population.
Beef
Beef, like sugar, is another vivid example of using resources wastefully,
degrading the environment, contributing to hunger, poor health and more. More
than one third of the world’s grain harvest is used to feed livestock. Some 70 to
80% of grain produced in the United States is fed to livestock. A lot of rainforest
in the Amazon and elsewhere are cleared for raising cattle — not so much for
local consumption, but for fast food restaurants elsewhere. There are enormous
related costs of what is an inefficient process when considered as a whole. Subsidies in farming in the US and
elsewhere end up encouraging unhealthy foods to be cheaper than healthy foods. Just factoring in the cost of water
alone, a more realistic estimate of the real cost of common hamburger meat would be $35 a pound! As with sugar,
beef was a luxury turned into an everyday item. Like sugar, it is also an example of how people’s tastes are
influenced and how demands can be created (or very much expanded), rather than meeting some natural demand.
Bananas
Posted Friday, September 07, 2001.
The banana industry in Latin America and the Caribbean also touches many
other issues. Rainforest destruction is one effect of the banana industry.
Dependent economies is another, where bananas are grown not to feed local
people and meet their demands, but to create exports for Europe and America.
The recent trade disputes between those two regions have received the most
attention. However, the focus of the debate is limited. It continues to leave both
dependent Latin American nations, and the Caribbean nations in poverty and
hunger, while Latin American nations, large multinational American banana
corporations and the American government seek to destroy the Caribbean
banana economy, via the World Trade Organization, in order to gain dominant
access to the European markets. So many resources are poured into the banana
industry, and like the sugar and beef examples, there is a lot of unnecessary use
of resources that could otherwise be freed up to help local people in a way that is also less degrading to the
surrounding environment.
Third World Debt And Disaster Recovery
When poor countries face natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and fires, the cost of rebuilding
becomes even more of an issue when they are already burdened with debt. Often, poor countries suffer with many
lost lives and/or livelihoods. Aid and disaster relief often does come in from international relief organizations, rich
countries and international institutions, but sometimes poor countries are still paying millions of dollars a week
back in the form of debt repayment.
Japan Earthquake, Tsunami And Nuclear Crisis
The earthquake off the coast of Japan on March 11, 2011 was one of the
biggest recorded, measuring 9 on the richter scale. It was the resulting
tsunami, however, that caused the most destruction. It devastated the
northeast of Japan, leaving many thousands dead or missing, and
hundreds of thousands homeless or evacuated from the area. In addition,
various power generators failed. Some older nuclear power stations
risked meltdown and suffered explosions and radioactive leaks. Workers
have battled for weeks to try and bring the situation under control.
Radioactive material has been detected in various places. It is thought
that the cost of the earthquake and tsunami could be over $300 billion — the world’s most expensive natural disaster
on record. There are global economic repercussions as well, given Japan’s key position in the world economy. There
are so many issues that this tragic event has caused. This page presents news coverage from Inter Press Service on
many of these inter-related issues.
Conflicts In Africa—Introduction
Last updated Wednesday, May 12, 2010.
There have been over 9 million refugees and internally displaced people from conflicts in Africa.
Hundreds and thousands of people have been slaughtered from a number of conflicts and civil
wars. If this scale of destruction and fighting was in Europe, then people would be calling it World
War III with the entire world rushing to report, provide aid, mediate and otherwise try to diffuse
the situation. This article explores why Africa has been largely ignored and what some of the root causes of the
problems are.
Stress On The Environment, Society And Resources?
Last updated Tuesday, September 18, 2001.
Does population affect and put stress on the environment, society and resources? Existing consumption patterns as
seen in Europe and North America can put strain on the environment and natural resources. But how much of the
environmental degradation we see today is as a result of over-population and how much is due to over-exploitation
due to consumerism and geopolitical interests? Especially when considering that "[g]lobally, the 20% of the world's
people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20%
a minuscule 1.3%", according to the United Nations Development Programme's 1998 Human Development Report.
Public Protests Around The World
Last updated Monday, November 07, 2011.
The global financial crisis has spawned a global protest
movement campaigning against things like inequality, corporate
greed, lack of jobs, etc. Although these protests have occurred for
decades, they have typically been in the developing countries, or
about the situation in developing countries. As such, many
Western nations, who have strongly influenced the conditions in
developing countries, have typically not paid much attention to
such protests, no matter how large (even the famous Battle for Seattle was more about violence than the underlying
issues, for example). However, this time, the global financial crisis has hit the ordinary citizens of Western nations
quite hard, and inspired by the Arab Spring and protests in Spain, a global movement seems to have sprung up.
Energy Security
Last updated Sunday, May 15, 2011.
Energy security is a growing concern for rich and emerging nations alike. The
past drive for fossil fuel energy has led to wars, overthrow of democratically
elected leaders, and puppet governments and dictatorships. Leading nations
admit we are addicted to oil, but investment into alternatives has been lacking, or
little in comparison to fossil fuel investments. As the global financial crisis takes
hold and awareness of climate change increases, more nations and companies are
trying to invest in alternatives. But will the geopolitics remain the same?
War On Terror
Last updated Saturday, September 24, 2011.
It was with disbelief and shock that people around the world saw footage of the
terrorist attacks in the US on on September 11, 2001 when the planes-turnedmissiles slammed into the World Trade Center towers and damaged the
Pentagon. This ultimately resulted in the US declaring and waging a war
on terror. Osama Bin Laden was eventually tracked down and killed some 10
years later. But the way the war on terror has been conducted has led to many
voicing concerns about the impact on civil liberties, the cost of the additional security focused changes, the
implications of the invasions and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more.
Iraq—2003 Onwards; War, Aftermath And Post-Saddam
Last updated Sunday, December 12, 2010.
Regardless of international opinion and their failure to secure a second UN resolution authorizing war, the U.S. and
U.K. decided to invade Iraq anyway. The Iraqi regime was hardly able to resist and the war ended quickly. However,
numerous issues turned up, including,

Media reporting of the war once again proving controversial as did the intelligence used by US/UK governments;

That even though democratic transition has been attempted, it has not worked out;

That religious and ethnic factions have turned on the occupation forces, and on each other as the power vacuum was not
fully filled by the coalition-backed new democratic government. Into 2006, for example, some 100 people per day have
been dying from suicide bombings, roadside attacks, and other aspects of sectarian violence, and what looks increasingly
like civil war;

The geopolitical aftermath of the attacks, which will have a long lasting effect, especially as Iran and Syria start to gain
more influence.
Children As Consumers
Last updated Sunday, November 21, 2010.
The market for children’s products and food is enormous. Parents
on the one hand have a hard time raising children the way they
want to, while on the other hand, kids are being increasingly
influenced by commercialism that often goes against what
parents are trying to do.
Dominance And Change In The Arctic
Last updated Sunday, June 06, 2010.
The Arctic region has long been considered international territory. Five
countries—Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Norway, Russia, and the United
States—share a border with the frozen Arctic Ocean. Some of these nations have
claimed parts of the region to be their territory. Underlying the interests in the
area are potentially vast oil, gas and other resources, as well as the opening up of
lucrative passages for trade and economic activity as climate change reduces the
amount of ice in the region. As a result, these nations have been vying for dominance in the Arctic. Climate change
provides an additional threat — not just to the local wildlife and indigenous populations that are already seeing their
surroundings change rapidly, but to the rest of the planet, too. While retreating sea ice may open up shipping routes,
the regions ability to reflect sunlight back into space would diminish, further increasing climate change effects.
Military Aid
Posted Monday, May 03, 2010.
Military aid can be controversial. Its stated aim is usually to help allies or poor
countries fight terrorism, counter-insurgencies or to help suppress drug
production. Military aid may even be given to opposition groups to fight nations,
which was commonplace during the Cold War where even dictatorships were
tolerated or supported in order to achieve geopolitical aims. The aid may be in the
form of training, or even giving credits for foreign militaries to purchase weapons
and equipment from the donor country. It is argued that strengthening military relationships can strengthen
relationships between nations and military aid may be a way to achieve that. But it seems some aid goes to
oppressive regimes which may help with geopolitical aims but may not necessarily help people of the recipient
nation.
Women’s Rights
Last updated Sunday, March 14, 2010.
Women’s rights around the world is an important indicator to understand global well-being. A
major global women’s rights treaty was ratified by the majority of the world’s nations a few
decades ago. Yet, despite many successes in empowering women, numerous issues still exist in
all areas of life, ranging from the cultural, political to the economic. For example, women
often work more than men, yet are paid less; gender discrimination affects girls and women
throughout their lifetime; and women and girls are often are the ones that suffer the most poverty. Gender equality
furthers the cause of child survival and development for all of society, so the importance of women’s rights and
gender equality should not be underestimated.
Effects Of Consumerism
Last updated Wednesday, August 10, 2005.
Because consumption is so central to many economies, and even to the current forms of globalization, its effects
therefore are also seen around the world. How we consume, and for what purposes drives how we extract resources,
create products and produce pollution and waste. Issues relating to consumption hence also affect environmental
degradation, poverty, hunger, and even the rise in obesity that is nearing levels similar to the official global poverty
levels. Political and economic systems that are currently promoted and pushed around the world in part to increase
consumption also lead to immense poverty and exploitation. Much of the world cannot and do not consume at the
levels that the wealthier in the world do. Indeed, the above U.N. statistics highlight that very sharply. In fact, the
inequality structured within the system is such that as Richard Robbins says, some one has to pay for the way the
wealthier in the world consume.
Obesity
Last updated Sunday, November 21, 2010.
Obesity typically results from over-eating (especially an
unhealthy diet) and lack of enough exercise. In our modern
world with increasingly cheap, high calorie food (example, fast
food — or junk food), prepared foods that are high in things like
salt, sugars or fat, combined with our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, increasing urbanization and changing modes
of transportation, it is no wonder that obesity has rapidly increased in the last few decades, around the world. The
number of people overweight or obese is now rivaling the number of people suffering from hunger around the world.
Obese people were thought to be mainly from richer countries or wealthier segments of society, but poor people can
also suffer as the food industry supplies cheaper food of poorer quality. Environmental, societal and life-style factors
all have an impact on obesity and health. While individuals are responsible for their choices, other actors such as the
food industry are also part of the problem, and solution. Unfortunately, the food industry appears reluctant to take
too many measures that could affect their bottom line, preferring to solely blame individuals instead.
Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?
Last updated Wednesday, April 06, 2011.
Why is Biodiversity important? Does it really matter if there aren’t so many
species? Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no
matter how small, all have an important role to play. For example, a larger
number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species
diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy
ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters. And so, while we dominate this planet, we
still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.
Climate Change And Global Warming
Last updated Sunday, March 03, 2013.
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific
consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and
species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are
diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet.
Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what
governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as
well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.
Corporations And Human Rights
Last updated Thursday, September 19, 2002.
Large, transnational corporations are becoming increasingly powerful. As profits are naturally the most important
goal, damaging results can arise, such as violation of human rights, lobbying for and participating in manipulated
international agreements, environmental damage, child labor, driving towards cheaper and cheaper labor, and so
on. Multinational corporations claim that their involvement in foreign countries is actually a constructive
engagement as it can promote human rights in non-democratic nations. However, it seems that that is more of a
convenient excuse to continue exploitative practices.
Pharmaceutical Corporations And Medical Research
Last updated Saturday, October 02, 2010.
For a while now, pharmaceutical companies have been criticized about their priorties. It seems the
profit motive has led to emphasis on research that is aimed more at things like baldness and
impotence, rather than various tropical diseases that affect millions of people in developing
countries. Unfortunately, while a large market therefore exists, most of these people are poor and
unable to afford treatments, so the pharmaceutical companies develop products that can sell and hence target
wealthier consumers. In addition, there is concern at how some pharmaceutical companies have been operating:
from poor research and trial practice to distorting results, and politically lobbying and pressuring developing
countries who try to produce generics or try to get cheaper medicines for their citizens.
Today, Around 21,000 Children Died Around The World
Last updated Saturday, September 24, 2011.
Around 21,000 children die every day around the world.
That is equivalent to:

1 child dying every 4 seconds

14 children dying every minute

A 2011 Libya conflict-scale death toll every day

A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring every 10 days

A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every 11 days

An Iraq-scale death toll every 19–46 days

Just under 7.6 million children dying every year

Some 92 million children dying between 2000 and 2010
The silent killers are poverty, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Despite the scale of
this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.
Corruption
Last updated Sunday, September 04, 2011.
We often hear leaders from rich countries telling poor countries that aid and
loans will only be given when they show they are stamping out corruption. While
that definitely needs to happen, the rich countries themselves are often active in
the largest forms of corruption in those poor countries, and many economic
policies they prescribe have exacerbated the problem. Corruption in developing
countries definitely must be high on the priority lists (and is increasingly becoming so in the wake of the global
financial crisis), but so too must it be on the priority lists of rich countries.
AIDS In Africa
Last updated Sunday, November 29, 2009.
AIDS in Africa is said to be killing more people than conflicts. It causes social disruption as
children become orphaned and it affects many already-struggling economies as workforces are
reduced. As an enormous continent, various regions are seeing different results as they attempt to
tackle the problem. Numerous local, regional and global initiatives are slowly helping, despite
significant obstacles (such as poverty, local social and cultural norms/taboos, concerns from drug companies about
providing affordable medicines, and limited health resources of many countries that are now also caught up in the
global financial crisis).
Iran
Last updated Tuesday, December 06, 2011.
Iran has had a turbulent history in just its recent past. From a democracy in the
1950s, Iran seems to have moved backwards, from an authoritarian regime (backed
by Britain and the US) that overthrew the democratic one, to a religious
fundamentalist regime toppling the authoritarian one and taking an anti-US
stance. The US ended its support for Iran and instead supported Iraq in a brutal
war through the 1980s against Iran where over 1 million people died. More
recently, Iran was described as being part of an “axis of evil” by US President
George Bush, as part of his “war on terror.” The US has also accused Iran of pursuing
the development of nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is only pursuing peaceful development. Internally,
movements towards moderate policies and democratic values are gaining traction, but not with hardliners in power
trying to hold on. This section looks into these and related issues.
Debt And The Environment
Last updated Friday, August 24, 2001.
At first glance, it may seem like separate issues, but environment issues and poverty/debt are very much related.
Basically, the more the developing countries stay in debt, the more they will feel that they need to milk the earth’s
resources for the hard cash they can bring in, and also cut back on social, health, environmental conservation,
employment and other important programs. Responding to environmental disasters is also made more difficult
when the affected countries are in severe debt. Examples include Honduras and Nicaragua, where Hurricane Mitch
devastated large parts of those countries, as well as Mozambique and Madagascar where floods have made hundreds
of thousands of people homeless. Tackling debt-related issues would also therefore indirectly help address
environmental and other issues as well.