Famine is a crime

A year ago I was getting ready to go to Malawi and my other blog discusses a few of the complexities of international development that I encountered. Disaster relief efforts, such as the response to the famine in Somalia can be even more complex. For example, it would be simple to imagine a boat load of surplus North American food, perhaps bags of wheat, being shipped to Somalia. But imagine being a farmer near the drought zone seeing his crop value drop as the market is flooded with free imports. Dumping a commodity in Canada would result in a trade dispute, but that dispute mechanism is not easily activated by a rural farmer in east Africa. Hopefully the dollars being directed to help people in Somalia through aid agencies in the developed world will be used to purchase food produced within east Africa so as to stimulate, not crush, their agricultural sector.

Someone recently asked me what I thought was the cause of the famine in Somalia . . . actually ... that isn't true. This person simply stated the cause was too many people. I noted that my great-grandparents lived in a society where big families were the norm and most of the developing world is based upon a similar agricultural economy. My response was perhaps a small education, but it makes me wonder how is it possible for Canadians to get the impression that the famine in Somalia is just an agricultural production problem? It seems to me that the media is explaining there is a long lasting war. But perhaps the difference of circumstance is so far beyond our cultural context that most people are incapable of imagining the situation. I went to a refugee camp when I was in Malawi and I can't truly comprehend what is happening in Somalia.

The Foreign Policy article linked here presents a more complex story of food insecurity routed in political extremism. Just like Stalin starved people to death, so too have extremists conducted a similar campaign in Somalia. Imagine being a logistics officer with Doctors Without Borders and consider what it would be like to negotiate with weapon-toting radicals as you attempt to get food to people who are starving to death. I support a couple organizations that are capable of delivering thoughtful action and I hope you will also give generously -- Doctors Without Borders and CARE