Reduce and invest
I strongly feel the need for a raise in charity, not arms. The G8 countries defence budget for 2005 was $677,600,000,000,000.00 ( Military Expenditures ). If only 5 % of that amount is donated to the World Bank; and in turn invested back into developing countries, a drastic improvement of life will be seen across the world. By reducing the budget and investing in education for small independent farmers, agricultural and irrigation/water purification technology, billions of people in the world who suffer from chronic hunger will be saved.
In developing countries people still use tools that date back to the 19th century. People are using steel ploughs attached to an animal to cultivate land and hand tools to plant their seeds. Productivity can be time consuming and at minimal levels. These people need tractors, cultivators, and grain trucks. They need computers for online resources such as pest information sites, seed estimators and revenue estimators to help plan which crops to produce the highest profits.
Technology must be supplied to help irrigation and purify water. Every day 3,900 children die from water-borne disease. In 80 countries, 40 % of the world’s population suffer from water shortages and 90 % of waste water is discharged without treatment into rivers and streams. People are drinking, bathing and cooking with this untreated water. The lack of water prevents crops from growing and causes starvation to occur. Basic plumbing and irrigation systems must be implemented by sanitizing the water first and dispersing it amongst the land.
Education is one of the most important tools an individual can have. Investing in agricultural education will make a vast improvement in the cultivation of land. Schools of this nature already exist in countries such as Guyana and Kenya. The curriculum in such schools consists of:
- Cultivation and crop production
- Production management and land use management
- Fundamental knowledge of soils for sustainable production
- Plant production; crop damages and loses by insects pests, diseases, weeds
- Plant breeding; Increase crop production yield increases
If agricultural schools can be placed abroad in developing countries, the knowledge obtained can help prevent the food crisis.
Invest in small farmers
A good example of investing in small farmers is micro crediting. Through banking facilities small loans can be given out to the impoverished. Bangladesh has already implemented this system and helped millions. Lack of credit, employment and collateral keeps these people in a vicious cycle of poverty. Monetary funds must be invested into micro crediting.
Biofuels
At first glance biofuels give the impression of a natural alternative to using petroleum and fossil fuels as a source of energy. The methodology can be simply broken down into a few components. The procedure is utilizing corn, sugarcane, soybeans, wheat and other provisions to produce biofuels for energy; for instance, corn transpiring into a source for ethanol-blended fuel. This substitute encompasses an alternative that is economical and beneficial for the environment. However, a closer examination of the totality of the effects of biofuels leads one to question the alternative.
The production of biofuels has had an immediate negative influence on the world’s food reserve for particular provisions. The United Nations has reported that the demand for corn, sugarcane, wheat and other food classifications for biofuels are restricting access to these provisions for deprived individuals around the world. The U.N. is witnessing an increase in the numbers of people suffering from hungry and “many people being priced out of the food markets for the first time”.
In essence, what is being created is turmoil for millions of people around the world who depend on essential staples of food as part of their daily nourishment. Food crops are being limited in access due to escalating prices. One must give thought to the consequences of such actions and ponder the probable outcomes. Such a scenario can undoubtedly create an environment for people to become belligerent and engage in conflict and violence.
Prevention not relief
The World Bank donor countries pledged to aid 4.8 billion dollars to Darfur by 2011. However, this could have been prevented. Before the violence, the incidents of rape and the terror, the nomadic herders (Arab) and sedentary farmers (non-Arab) of the region were able to co-exist. Even though they had their rivalries they still learned to cooperate. They shared similarities including religion, the colour of their skin and their language. Yet, a quarter century of drought instigated the beginning of a disaster.
The nomadic tribe’s desperation and starvation led them to encroach on the sedentary farmers land. Along with a drought and loss of land the farmers were being neglected basic needs such as education and economic development, by the Arab subjugated government. The frustrated non-Arabs formed an independence movement and attacked government installations including the airport. At that time the government was engaged in another conflict in southern Sudan; so they armed members of the nomadic tribes.
It was the beginning of a catastrophe. The nomads torched homes and seed bins, killed anything in their path, raped girls and contaminated the wells with dead animals. The questions that arose in the aftermath were; could it have been prevented? Instead of pledging 4.8 billion after the fact, why couldn’t just 10 % of that money have been donated prior to this crisis? How can a quarter century of droughts go on without notice?
Solutions to prevent further disaster need to be implemented. The World Bank needs to invest in prevention. People are starving all over the world and the developed countries need to take notice and action now!