food security

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May 21, 2012 | 2:51 PM | By  | 

Corruption investigation of key player in Obama’s plan to fight African hunger | 

Flickr, aed10e

Maybe this is getting so little media attention because it’s in Norway.

At any rate, it’s worth noting because:

Last week, at the opening of the G8 conference hosted by the United States, President Barack Obama announced a $3-billion, largely private sector plan aimed at fighting hunger in Africa.

Some celebrated it as a welcome initiative by the world’s wealthiest nations — a big win in the effort to reduce hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and a move that will “lift 50 million people out of poverty.” Obama said he regarded the public-private partnership, dubbed the National Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, as a “moral imperative.”

Others saw it more as a punt, an attempt to divert attention from the failure of the G8 nations to live up to earlier commitments of food aid and to deflect responsibility over to the private sector — to agri-business firms which already have commercial reasons to invest in Africa, some of which may do little to alleviate the plight of poor farmers.

Now we learn that the top player on Obama’s private sector plan to fight hunger in Africa is under criminal investigation over allegations of corruption – bribes paid to foreign officials.

According to the Obama Administration, specifically the U.S. Agency for International Development, as much as $2 billion of their $3 billion initiative is based on a plan by a Norwegian firm, Yara International, to build a fertilizer plant in Africa (location unspecified).

Little noticed so far are a few news reports of the Norwegian government’s investigation of Yara for criminal corruption — bribes paid to gain foreign contracts. The Wall Street Journal reported today that two Yara executives have stepped down (well, over really … since they kept their jobs) due to the probe. This, the WSJ notes, is the third corruption investigation of Yara and its work overseas.

Oxfam, which has worked to fight both hunger and corruption in Africa, noted that the Sahel region is heading right now into a food crisis and that the international community has not responded fully to this crisis.

A number of international aid advocacy organizations have criticized the Obama private-sector plan as both inadequate and irresponsible given the failure of governments to follow through on pledged aid. The fact that two-thirds of the money for Obama’s plan to fight hunger in Africa is coming from a corporation with “integrity issues” may prompt further scrutiny and critiques.

FILED UNDER: Basics, Justice, Africa, agriculture, food security, Obama Administration
March 7, 2011 | 9:23 AM | By  | 

Two views on human impact of climate change | 

Researchers at McGill University have mapped out the longer-term impact of climate change on human health and well-being.

If populations continue to increase at the expected rates, the McGill researchers report, those who are likely to be the most vulnerable to climate change are the people living in low-latitude, hot regions of the world, places like central South America, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Africa.

In these areas, a relatively small increase in temperature will have serious consequences on a region’s ability to sustain a growing population. Here’s a direct link to the map (below is screen grab):

McGill University

Human vulnerability to climate change

On a related note, here’s a recent post from my NPR colleague Heather Goldstone at Climatide providing “Two reasons why climate change could be bad for your health.”

One of the reasons is that it could increase bacterial outbreaks, as Heather notes appears to be happening with cholera worldwide. As I’ve noted before, there are some (though a minority) of scientists who believe Haiti’s cholera outbreak was fueled by climate change. The medical community is not trained to think of environmental contributors to human disease, but climate change may require a more interdisciplinary approach.

FILED UNDER: Science, cholera, climate change, disease, food security
February 8, 2011 | 9:21 AM | By  | 

Unrest in Egypt is also about food, which is about climate change | 

With Egypt and much of the Arab world in turmoil, it’s important to consider all of the dynamics and driving forces at work here.

The uprising is not (never is) just about freedom and democracy. It’s not (despite those who keep saying it is) an Islamist revolution akin to what happened in Iran. It’s both more basic and complex than that.

Al Jazeera

Taking a break, Cairo

Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, agriculture, Arab revolt, climate change, Egypt, food security
January 18, 2011 | 8:30 AM | By  | 

Eat insects — fight climate change | 

Flickr, Lida Rose

Focus on food, grasshopper

Now here’s an interesting suggestion, and perhaps not as bizarre as it might sound at first glance.

In SciDev.net, Benjamin Kolb reports on the push to farm insects instead of cows and other large mammals as an alternative source of protein-rich food that could help mitigate hunger in poor countries while also fighting climate change.

Kolb cites Dutch researchers who say:

Compared to cattle, weight for weight, insects emitted 80 times less methane — a gas with 25 times more impact on global temperature levels than carbon dioxide.

And crickets produced 8–12 times less ammonia than pigs.

According to the study’s lead author, Dennis Oonincx, an entomologist from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, 80 per cent of the world’s population eats insects, particularly in the developing world.

And for those put off by the idea that we should consider incorporating into our diets more beetles, locusts and crickets, consider the lobster. It’s really just an extra large, and very tasty, insect.

FILED UNDER: Science, climate change, food security