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Free Hunger Essays
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The Politics of Hunger | Foreign Affairs
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The politics of hunger - Le Monde diplomatique - English edition
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The Politics of Hunger: A Review
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Richard Manning: The Economy of Hunger
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BBC NEWS | South Asia | 'Hunger critical' in South Asia
13 Oct 2006 ... A report released by a US-based group says South Asia continues to face "critical" levels of hunger.
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BBC NEWS | South Asia | Ignoring India's 'republic of hunger'
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Hunger in South Asia is at 40-year high: UNICEF - The China Post
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Haq's Musings: Persistent Hunger on World Food Day in South Asia
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Asia Times: Hunger in a land of plenty
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South Asia Investor Review: India's War on Hunger Takes a Back Seat
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Hunger issues in South Asia - by Harriet Lee - Helium
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Bengal famine of 1943 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bengal famine of 1943 is one amongst the several famines that occurred in British administered Bengal. It is estimated that around 3 million people died ...
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Bengal famine of 1770 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bengal famine of 1770 (Bengali: ৭৬-এর মন্বন্তর, Chhiattōrer monnōntór; lit The Famine of '76) was a catastrophic famine between 1769 and ...
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India's Green Revolution
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The 1943 Bengal Famine
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THE GREAT HOLOCAUST OF BENGAL
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Bengal famine of 1770 - Background
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Bengal Famine of 1943
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Timeline results for Bengal famine
1770 As the Bengal famine approached its most severe stage in April 1770, the Company announced a further increase of the land tax to 60% of potential ...
www.atimes.com1943 In 1943, the Bengal Famine put Zainul in the role of an artist who had little energy to live in the aesthetised world of beauty and grace. What he ...
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Great Chinese Famine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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China - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
About 35 million overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia today. The famine in 1876-79 claimed between 9 and 13 million lives in northern China. ...
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Case-studies: Chinese famine
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WHAT CAUSED THE GREAT CHINESE FAMINE?
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The Chinese famine of 1959–61 resulted in the deaths of up to 30 million ... the causes of the Chinese famine. They find that both the absolute level of ...
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China's great famine: 40 years later -- Smil 319 (7225): 1619 -- BMJ
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Horror of a Hidden Chinese Famine - The New York Times
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SSRN-Food Availability, Entitlements and the Chinese Famine of ...
SSRN-Food Availability, Entitlements and the Chinese Famine of 1959-61 by Dennis Yang, Justin Yifu Lin.
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Poker and the great Chinese famine : Marcus Bateman : Poker
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Formerly known as Obesity Research, Obesity is the official journal of The Obesity Society. Available in print and online, Obesity is dedicated to ...
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Should bondholders be bailed out? The best policy should categorically exclude bondholders from the set of potential beneficiaries of government bailouts. |
Unless we change the anti-people bias institutionalised through laws and end the alienation of tribals, we cannot win against Maoists.
Women entrepreneurs creating a fairy tale
Women entrepreneurs are a growing breed today, thanks to an ecosystem being created by support organisations.
Hunger Facts: International
World Hunger and Poverty: How They Fit Together
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1.02 billion people across the world are hungry. 1
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Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds. 2
- In essence, hunger is the most extreme form of poverty, where individuals or families cannot afford to meet their most basic need for food. 3
- Hunger manifests itself in many ways other than starvation and famine. Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness. 3
- Countries in which a large portion of the population battles hunger daily are usually poor and often lack the social safety nets we enjoy, such as soup kitchens, food stamps, and job training programs. When a family that lives in a poor country cannot grow enough food or earn enough money to buy food, there is nowhere to turn for help. 3
Facts and Figures on Population
- Today our world is home to 6.7 billion people. 4
- The United States is a part of the high-income group of nations, which consists of about 65 countries with a combined population of about 1 billion, less than one sixth of the world's population. 5
- In contrast, approximately 5.6 billion people live in low and lower-middle income economies. This world, earning under $3,705 GNI per capita, is made up of about 103 low and middle income countries in which people generally have a lower standard of living with access to fewer goods and services than people in high-income countries. 6
Facts and Figures on Hunger and Poverty
- In 2005, almost 1.4 billion people lived below the international poverty line, earning less than $1.25 per day. 7
- Among this group of poor people, many have problems obtaining adequate, nutritious food for themselves and their families. As a result, 947 million people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth. 8
- Undernourishment negatively affects people's health, productivity, sense of hope and overall well-being. A lack of food can stunt growth, slow thinking, sap energy, hinder fetal development and contribute to mental retardation. 1
- Economically, the constant securing of food consumes valuable time and energy of poor people, allowing less time for work and earning income. 1
- Socially, the lack of food erodes relationships and feeds shame so that those most in need of support are often least able to call on it. 1
- Go to the World Food Programme website and click on either "Counting the Hungry" or "Interactive Hunger Map" for presentations on hunger and poverty around the world.
Facts and Figures on Health
- Poor nutrition and calorie deficiencies cause nearly one in three people to die prematurely or have disabilities, according to the World Health Organization. 9
- Pregnant women, new mothers who breastfeed infants, and children are among the most at risk of undernourishment. 9
- In 2006, about 9.7 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. Almost all of these deaths occured in developing countries, 4/5 of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the two regions that also suffer from the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition. 10
- Most of these deaths are attributed, not to outright starvation, but to diseases that move in on vulnerable children whose bodies have been weakened by hunger. 11
- Every year, more than 20 million low-birth weight babies are born in developing countries. These babies risk dying in infancy, while those who survive often suffer lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities. 12
- The four most common childhood illnesses are diarrhea, acute respiratory illness, malaria and measles. Each of these illnesses is both preventable and treatable. Yet, again, poverty interferes in parents' ability to access immunizations and medicines. Chronic undernourishment on top of insufficient treatment greatly increases a child's risk of death. 11
- In the developing world, 26 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely underweight. 10 percent are severely underweight. 11 percent of children under 5 are moderately to severely wasted, or seriously below weight for one's height, and an overwhelming 32 percent are moderately to severely stunted, or seriously below normal height for one's age. 13
Facts and Figures on HIV/AIDS
- The spreading HIV/AIDS epidemic has quickly become a major obstacle in the fight against hunger and poverty in developing countries.
- Because the majority of those falling sick with AIDS are young adults who normally harvest crops, food production has dropped dramatically in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. 13
- In half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, per capita economic growth is estimated to be falling by between 0.5 and 1.2 percent each year as a direct result of AIDS. 14
- Infected adults also leave behind children and elderly relatives, who have little means to provide for themselves. In 2003, 12 million children were newly orphaned in southern Africa, a number expected to rise to 18 million in 2010. 14
- Since the epidemic began, 25 million people have died from AIDS, which has caused more than 15 million children to lose at least one parent. For its analysis, UNICEF uses a term that illustrates the gravity of the situation; child-headed households, or minors orphaned by HIV/AIDS who are raising their siblings. 13, 15
- 1 % (ages 15-49) of the world is HIV prevalent (2005 data). 5
- 1.1 % (ages 15-49) of developing countries are HIV prevalent (2005 data). 5
- Approximately 39.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Of this figure, 63 percent live in Sub-Saharan Africa. 14
- In 2006, 4.3 million people become infected with HIV and 2.9 million people died of AIDS. 14
Despite Doha, India pushes ahead with free trade |
Against the backdrop of the stuttering Doha world trade talks and the global economic slowdown, the Indian government has pushed ahead with smaller, more manageable deals with the likes of Thailand, South Korea and the ASEAN bloc of nations.
New Delhi is also eyeing pacts with big hitters such as the European Union, to whom Indian exports jumped 29 per cent from the previous year to $34.5 billion in 2007-8, according to Indian government data.
But Doha remains the biggest prize at a time when the financial crisis has smothered exports and raised the spectre of a return to protectionism.
There are fears preferential one-on-one deals could entangle countries such as India and shrink their bargaining power in a Doha deal, still stuck after eight years.
But for India, the government says it's so far, so good. "(FTAs) will not really create handicaps for us, they don't constrain our position," PK Dash, a trade ministry official involved in FTA negotiations, told news agency.
"We believe it is in line with our issues in the multilateral forum."
Critics in rich countries blamed India for the collapse of the Doha talks last year in a row over farm and industry tariffs.
India has since made optimistic noises about reaching a deal, and a gradual lowering of barriers through FTAs could actually help prepare a country historically cautious about freeing its markets for a global pact.
"Sometimes these FTAs also serve as what you might call an immunisation or inoculation," said Rajiv Kumar, head of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations.
"The real benefit to India comes along in terms of making India more open and less protected."
The sweeping agreement covers cooperation for action to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gases, transfer of technology and in areas of energy efficiency and renewables, among others.
It comes weeks before a major climate meeting in Copenhagen in December the United Nations hopes will end with agreement on a broader pact to slow the pace of climate change that scientists say is caused by the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation.
Finding ways to get big developing nations to join is crucial, the United Nations says, with China now the world's top greenhouse gas emitter and India the fourth largest.
The deal is among several that India is sealing with rich and developing nations as proof of its commitment towards sealing a new climate pact meant to expand or replace the existing Kyoto Protocol.
"My clear understanding is that India is in no way signing bilateral deals to undermine multi-lateral negotiations. This is an expression of interest in finding common ground," said Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment.
Tuesday's agreement, which holds good for five years, was signed by India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Xie Zhenhua, vice minister at China's National Development and Reform Commission.
India signed a similar deal with Japan this week and has spoken of cooperation with South Korea, Brazil and the United States.
The India-China agreement said developed countries should take the lead in fighting climate change by reducing emissions and providing finance and technology to poorer nations.
It said: "...that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol are the most appropriate framework for addressing climate change."
The Kyoto Protocol, the first phase of which ends in 2012, obliges 37 rich nations to cut emissions by an average of five percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.
A huge gap also exists between rich countries reluctant to pay the fiscal and lifestyle costs of deep cuts in their emissions, and developing states which say they must be allowed to increase emissions so their economies can catch up.
Negotiations have stumbled on lack of clarity on the amount, sources and management of any climate funds as well as the legal nature of any new post-2012 pact.
"We have a credibility problem... these are lean times," said the ambassador of one emerging country, as he left a meeting of key delegations to take stock of the talks, which political leaders want wrapped up by next year.
"People are saying it's not just about procedure, but about substance," added a senior ambassador from a developing country.
The Doha round is now in its eighth year, but its promise of opening markets and helping developing countries to prosper through trade seems remote, with WTO members apparently unwilling to compromise enough to kickstart the stalled talks.
"My perception is that despite all the meetings there has been no progress whatsoever," Brazil's WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo said.
BACKTRACKING
Azevedo even detected some backtracking. Rich countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and other food importers wanted to step up protection for their farmers beyond levels agreed in abortive talks in July last year, he said.
At the same time they were calling on developing countries to open their markets more to industrial goods and services.
WTO members agreed only in September on an intensive work programme until the end of the year. This involved negotiations on the full range of trade issues, attended once a month by senior officials from capitals, plus informal bilateral contacts and meetings in small groups.
But many countries – led by Argentina – expressed frustration on Thursday at being left out of meetings of a dozen leading players hosted by the European Union which they say touched on topics of direct interest to them.
Many WTO members believe the blockage in the talks comes from Washington -- where free trade is hard to sell politically and trade generally is a lower priority than issues such as healthcare, the war in Afghanistan and the financial crisis.
GENEVA: Gloomy negotiators are expressing frustration at the lack of progress in the World Trade Organisation's Doha round, even as they hold an
"We have a credibility problem... these are lean times," said the ambassador of one emerging country, as he left a meeting of key delegations to take stock of the talks, which political leaders want wrapped up by next year.
"People are saying it's not just about procedure, but about substance," added a senior ambassador from a developing country.
The Doha round is now in its eighth year, but its promise of opening markets and helping developing countries to prosper through trade seems remote, with WTO members apparently unwilling to compromise enough to kickstart the stalled talks.
"My perception is that despite all the meetings there has been no progress whatsoever," Brazil's WTO ambassador Roberto Azevedo said.
BACKTRACKING
Azevedo even detected some backtracking. Rich countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan and other food importers wanted to step up protection for their farmers beyond levels agreed in abortive talks in July last year, he said.
At the same time they were calling on developing countries to open their markets more to industrial goods and services.
WTO members agreed only in September on an intensive work programme until the end of the year. This involved negotiations on the full range of trade issues, attended once a month by senior officials from capitals, plus informal bilateral contacts and meetings in small groups.
But many countries – led by Argentina – expressed frustration on Thursday at being left out of meetings of a dozen leading players hosted by the European Union which they say touched on topics of direct interest to them.
Many WTO members believe the blockage in the talks comes from Washington -- where free trade is hard to sell politically and trade generally is a lower priority than issues such as healthcare, the war in Afghanistan and the financial crisis.
PM looks to fast-track Asean talks 22 Oct 2009, 0119 hrs IST, Amiti Sen, ET Bureau |
Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, who will accompany the PM, will hold talks with Asean ministers on the execution of the recently-concluded free trade agreement (FTA) on goods, and also the investment and services pact in the works.
India is keen on getting the agreement on services and investments finalised. The reason is that as Asean's tariffs on goods were already low, India is expected to reap a much greater benefit from the agreement on services and investment than from goods.
"Since services and investments are the main areas of interest for India, the country is keen that the negotiations happen with the same enthusiasm with which the talks on goods were carried out. The PM will pass on this message at the summit," said a commerce department official, requesting anonymity.
He will also exchange views on the pan-Asian economic ties that is being planned between the Asean countries, Japan, China, Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
India is also expected to "enthusiastically" participate in the discussions on the pan-Asian economic partnership which ultimately would lead to a free trade area in the entire Asia-Pacific region. "Now that India has signed the long negotiated FTA with Asean, it can participate in the East Asia talks with a feeling of greater ownership," the official said.
The Asean countries include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
The rain has also damaged the standing crop of rice in the Konkan region. Rice, which was ready for harvesting, has been damaged over 18,000 hectare in the two districts of Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri.
State agriculture commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh who toured the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts on Tuesday told ET that in Sindhudurg, 4,800 hectare of rice, especially near rivers, is under water.
"The heavy rainfall, which was more than 400 mm on some days, has damaged the early maturing varieties of rice, which were at the harvesting stage," he said.
Jowar, gram, wheat and maize are the main rabi crops of the state. The Pune region, comprising Ahmednagar, Pune and Solapur, is the main jowar-growing area in the state. Rabi jowar sowing began a fortnight ago and had picked up momentum last week, with five lakh hectare added to the area under jowar in that week alone.
Solapur, represented by Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde, had taken the lead in sowing of rabi jowar. Till October 5, jowar has been sown on more than 1 lakh hectare in the district, amounting to 15% of the normal jowar area there. Of this 1 lakh hectare, re-sowing will be needed to be done in over 62,000 hectare. Akkalkot and Mangalvedha are the main talukas in Solapur where jowar has been damaged by the recent downpour.
In Sangli district, too, rabi jowar will have to be re-sown on 15,000 hectare. Here, the maximum damage has taken place in Jat taluka, a perennially drought-prone area.
Overall, though, the current rainfall is expected to prove helpful for the rabi season of the state as sowing of a majority of the rabi crops like gram and wheat is yet to begin. Maharashtra has 53.6 lakh hectare under rabi while sowing has taken place on 14% of this area so far.
It will take much longer for Krishi Bhavan to collate the actual damage from the recent heavy rains and floods in three states to standing paddy, cotton, groundnut, soyabean, maize and jowar (coarse cereals) crops in several flood affected districts.
Prices for several of these could go up further, as also for some spices, pulses and vegetables on the back of apprehensions of adverse impact. But the real fear is the extent to which the damage will increase pressure on Rabi output, already under heavy pressure to increase, after the extensive drought, to make for foodgrain shortfall pegged at a rough estimate of at least 18%. "We are working on releasing the first advance estimates for 2009-10 indicating production projections for key kharif crops by October 15. All the states have given their crop assessment inputs as a consequence of the poor monsoons in several districts only recently, although they were supposed to do this by end August so that the estimates were out on time by mid to end September," a farm ministry official in the know told ET.
The recent rains and floods in three states wreaked extensive damage to irrigation facilities and roads and bridges, to cattle and farmsteads etc. Apart from kharif, that will also impact on any possibility of early Rabi sowing in all these district unless farmers are supported through special loans.
The farm ministry could, in the event, push for support to farmers in these states so that they may maximise Rabi output despite the developments. We have directed the state governments to let us know early on whether any significant revision of crop estimates is needed in the flood affected districts. That will likely take another fortnight for district officials to survey the regions and report to the Centre, the official said.
However, a detailed report is only expected after the relief and rescue operations are completed, a development that has been made easier for the defence forces after water levels receded on Tuesday.
The Centre has already received massive interim damage assessment reports for infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation horticulture and animal husbandry from both state governments. What could also definitely add to the Kharif crop output woes of the government is that the floods could bring down further the current estimates of rice output, already down by 10-12 million tonnes because of a six million hectare lower acreage. Andhra Pradesh, among the affected states, is a key rice producer for the country.
The entire Krishna, Mehboobnagar, Prakasam and Kurnool beltl in AP and parts of neighbouring Karnataka that were flood-hit are paddy regions.
"Banks are advised to immediately submit their estimates of short-term production credit to farmers up to Rs 3 lakh for Kharif and Rabi 2009-10 (separately) to enable us to provide the government with an estimate of the likely amount of subvention," RBI said in a notification.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech this year had proposed continuing with the interest subsidy scheme for short-term crop loans to farmers for loans up to Rs 3 lakh each farmer at the interest rate of 7% per annum. Following the announcement, the government had said it would provide interest subsidy of 2% to public sector banks on short-term production credit up to Rs 3 lakh provided to farmers. The subsidy would be given to those public sector banks, which extend short-term credit at 7% per annum. RBI said the banks are required to submit their claims on half yearly basis.
Mr Mukherjee had also announced that the government would pay additional subsidy of 1%, as an incentive to those farmers who repay their short-term crop loans on schedule. The interest rate for these farmers will come down to 6%.
PSU banks told to lend more for infra thrust 23 Oct 2009, 0308 hrs IST, Sangita Mehta, ET Bureau MUMBAI: The Centre has urged public sector banks to increase financial support for building urban infrastructure by lending more to municipal In 2006, IL&FS, IDBI, IIFCL and Canara Bank had decided to initiate the unified framework of debt financing known as Pooled Municipal Debt Obligation (PMDO) facility, whereby these four lenders would be the key sponsors to lend to urban municipal. Each of the lenders had committed to lend up to Rs 250 crore. The sponsor banks also had received commitment from another 11 banks for Rs 2,000 crore. Under the facility, banks had agreed to provide loan for 10 years with a base rate of 9.5% with a three-year moratorium. The basic purpose of this pooled facility is to channelise the debt funds to the urban infrastructure with a common governance framework. "Earlier all lenders had agreed to commit about Rs 3,000 crore for three years. In a recent meeting between banks and senior officials from the finance ministry, it has been decided that banks will double their commitment for PMDO," said a lender present in the meeting. So far, under this facility, banks have assisted 30 projects for Rs 800 crore. During the meeting, banks have reviewed loans to municipal corporations and measures that can be taken to increase credit to them. IL&FS Urban Infrastructure Asset Managers is monitoring loans and overlooking administration work of the urban infrastructure projects that are funded through this facility. The PMDO has been financing projects like water supply and sewerage, solid waste management, road and urban transport and environmental projects. In fact, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is an initiative by the government to improve the urban infrastructure, while the PMDO facility is common platform for banks to participate in the government scheme. "Bankers have pointed out that although there are about 5,000 municipal corporations in India, very few of them have come forward to avail loan," pointed a banker, who attended the meeting. Among the municipal corporations, Surat and Nashik are given highest rating (among municipals) of corporate credit rating (CCR) AA-, while Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kolkata Varodara and Rajkot have been rated as A by rating agency Crisil. |
Relief for women buys freedom for OC - Bailed out | ||||
OUR BUREAU | ||||
Oct. 22: The Maoists released Sankrail officer-in-charge Atindranath Dutta around 8 tonight at Bhulagera forest village in Lalgarh after striking a deal with the state government that allows 14 jailed tribal women to walk free. After 54 hours in captivity, Dutta was led to a gathering of journalists and lawyers at Bhulagera primary school, a white paper inscribed with the words PoW (prisoner of war) pasted on a piece of red cloth hung from his neck. "I wasn't worried about myself; I was concerned about my parents, daughter and wife," Dutta told the media, whom the Maoists had called for the hand-over after the government promised the rebels safe passage under the deal. Maoist leader Kishanji, his face covered like all the guerrillas', ceremonially removed the red cloth from Dutta's neck. "You are being released…. It is up to you whether you will continue to remain with the police, but don't commit atrocities on poor people," he said. The OC left with the journalists, walking 2km to the metalled road where the media's cars were waiting. He was handed over to police at Jhargram town, 25km from Bhulagera, and will reach Calcutta tomorrow. Dutta's wife Indrani said in Calcutta: "I can't describe how relieved I am. But I shall feel sure of his release only when I see him with my own eyes, I guess." Kishanji said the release had been delayed because early this morning, the joint forces encircled part of the Punnapani forest near Dharampur adjoining Lalgarh and appeared to be shooting at what they thought might be rebel hideouts. "I wanted to release OC babu earlier, but with the police beginning their operations, the process has been delayed," Kishanji had said in the morning. "Unless the forces stop their operations and remain confined to their camps for the next 24 hours, we will not take responsibility for OC babu's life." The firing stopped soon, but government sources suggested Kishanji had no intention of releasing Dutta so early and had all along planned to do so after sunset to avoid being attacked after the release. "The Maoists had made it clear they would release Dutta only after the judge granted the Adivasi women bail, which he did in the afternoon," the officer said. In keeping with the deal, the government did not oppose the bail petition of the women who had been arrested on September 22 for allegedly attacking the police. They will be freed tomorrow after formalities are complete. The deal was struck after Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said yesterday afternoon that a "negotiation and settlement'' was needed with the "kidnappers''. The government decided to contact the Maoists through "unofficial channels". A source said: "If any harm came to the officer, the state's image would have taken a beating." A senior inspector-general got in touch with an aide of Kishanji with help from an officer of West Midnapore police around 8pm. The rebels had initially asked for the release of Lalgarh leader Chhatradhar Mahato, withdrawal of the joint forces from Lalgarh and bail for the women. But the government rejected the first two demands and the Maoists quickly climbed down under pressure. "The women were not hardened terrorists, just supporters of Mahato's (People's) Committee," an officer said. "Although their release is a huge victory for the Maoists — as they will be seen to be with the tribals, fighting for their cause — the government's message that for every policeman killed, 25 Maoists would be killed had also sunk in." It was to keep up this pressure that the morning offensive at Punnapani was launched. "The idea was to zero in on their base… to send the message that if they didn't release the OC even after the (women got bail), the forces would attack their hideout and kill or arrest several of them,'' a source said. Dutta said he was told past midnight "that I might be released today". The OC, who was in the same off-white T-shirt and trousers that he wore when he was taken hostage on Tuesday afternoon, said he had been shifted frequently. "The Maoists were initially aggressive but later they co-operated with me."
Refusing to elaborate on the deal, chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said: "We tried all possible ways to get him (Dutta) released and eventually that fetched results.'' Director-general of police Bhupinder Singh said: "I am not concerned about the means or whether our government reacted at gunpoint. I only know the results." He, however, indicated this was not the end of the anti-Maoist offensive: "We are certainly not into Gandhian philosophy." The DGP also said that bail for the tribal women did not mean action against them would cease for ever. "Bail doesn't prove their innocence. We will frame chargesheets and submit them in court. Then it is for the court to decide whether the accused will be punished," he added. Kishanji said it was a "great victory" for the people of Lalgarh. "This is the first time that we have released a PoW," he said. |
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091023/jsp/frontpage/story_11648557.jsp
Lasting legacy of Ethiopia's famine
It is now well over two decades since Mesele Adhena gave up all hope of being able to remain in his village of Bezeta, and came to this market town in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. "Had we stayed," he says, "we would all have died." As it was, three of his close relatives died in the famine of 1984, that had its epicentre in this region and at the time made the northern Ethiopian town of Korem a byword for starvation on an epic scale. I was a member of the BBC team that eventually reached here and the town of Mekelle, that resides further north, in October 1984.
It was a time when the then government had denied journalists access in an attempt to keep the rapidly worsening impact of the famine hidden from their own people - and from the rest of the world. Tens of thousands of people had already trekked to these government-held towns - that was in the midst of the protracted conflict with Tigrayan and Eritrean rebels - and many more were to follow. We found scenes that one aid worker memorably described to us as "the closest thing to hell on earth" - exhausted, often woefully thin, hungry people trying to find food. There were a few corrugated iron shelters for them in Korem and Mekelle, but they were crowded, and as many people seemed to die in the shelters as on the open ground around them. People had to bear the penetrating chill of highland nights, most in only the flimsiest of clothing. They had made heroic efforts to survive in their own communities for as long as possible. But they told us how successive droughts and failed harvests meant that to even attempt to buy food they had to sell off their livestock, and sometimes even the materials they had used to make their homes. There were also heroic efforts being made to save lives in in Korem and Mekelle, and towns like them, but they were all too often undermined because there was simply not enough food. There was also the problem of disease in these congested conditions, disease that would easily take hold. Within weeks, a shocked world was building up an unprecedented aid operation. But there were still dark, dispiriting days while reporting from relief camps and towns across the famine-affected region. I recall an occasion when 134 people died during a days reporting I spent in one such camp. There had been an outbreak of measles, and many of the victims were children. Mesele Adhena says harsh lessons were learnt from the 1984 famine Even though the population is now close to double what it was in 1984, and many people have smaller plots to cultivate, today's Ethiopian government maintains that enough progress has been made in improving the early warning signs of famine. Helping farmers withstand drought on anything like the scale of 1984 is a priority and could not happen again, it asserts. Many ordinary Ethiopians would say the same. But there are many, too, whose anxiety deepens with every crop failure, as is happening in parts of the country once again. Harsh lessons Mesele Adhena stayed in Korem after the famine rather than return home. He is 47 now and he and his wife have six children. They live in a small house that has been built on a plain on the edge of the town, where he and so many thousands of others arrived in desperation during 1984.
He grows food in the plot around the house and more in the fields beyond. And he says he has learned a lesson from the 1984 famine - how much more efficiently farmers can protect their livelihoods if they work hard. "We did not work night and day before," he says, "but we do now." An hour's drive down an escarpment near the small town of Kobo (also a relief centre in 1984) I talked to farmers who are seeing their crops wither this year - despite doing everything they could to save them. They said it was the government's food-for-work safety net scheme that had kept their children from the risk of losing their lives. Much more is known now about how the most vulnerable can be kept from the edge of deadly hunger, and it was the tragedy experienced in Korem and the surrounding region that taught the harshest lessons. But one man I have met here said he hoped that now - 25 years on - Korem would be remembered by the world as less a place of death and more where so many lives were saved. | VIDEO REPORTS Farmers struggle with fresh drought in 2009 1984: Extent of Ethiopia famine revealed 1984: Civil war hinders relief effort SEE ALSO RELATED BBC LINKS News feeds
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Page last updated at 04:10 GMT, Friday, 23 October 2009 05:10 UK HungerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search This article is about hunger as a motivational state. For other uses, see Hunger (disambiguation). "Hungry" redirects here. For other uses, see Hungry (disambiguation).
Hunger is a feeling experienced when one has a desire to eat. Satiety is the absence of hunger. The often unpleasant feeling of hunger originates from the hypothalamus releasing hormones that target receptors in the liver. Although an average nourished individual can survive weeks without food intake,[1] the sensation of hunger typically begins after a couple of hours without eating and is generally considered quite uncomfortable. The sensation of hunger can often be alleviated and even mitigated entirely with the consumption of food. Hunger is also the most commonly used term to describe the social condition of people who frequently experience, or live with the threat of experiencing, the physical sensation of hunger.
[edit] Malnutrition, famine, starvation
[edit] Hunger pangsWhen hunger contractions start to occur in the stomach, they are informally referred to as hunger pangs. Hunger pangs usually do not begin until 12 to 24 hours after the last ingestion of food. A single hunger contraction lasts about 30 seconds, and pangs continue for around 30–45 minutes, then hunger subsides for around 30-150 minutes.[2] Individual contractions are separated at first, but are almost continuous after a certain amount of time.[2] Emotional states (anger, joy etc.) may inhibit hunger contractions.[2] Levels of hunger are increased by lower blood sugar levels, and are higher in diabetics.[2] They reach their greatest intensity in 3 to 4 days and may weaken in the succeeding days, though hunger never disappears.[3] Hunger contractions are most intense in young, healthy people who have high degrees of gastrointestinal tonus. Periods between contractions increase with old age.[2] [edit] Biological mechanismsThe fluctuation of leptin and ghrelin hormone levels results in the motivation of an organism to consume food. When an organism eats, adipocytes trigger the release of leptin into the body. Increasing levels of leptin results in a reduction of one's motivation to eat.[4] After hours of non-consumption, leptin levels drop significantly. These low levels of leptin cause the release of secondary hormone, ghrelin, which in turn reinitiates the feeling of hunger. Some studies have suggested that an increased production of ghrelin may enhance appetite evoked by the sight of food, while an increase in stress may also influence the hormone's production.[5] These findings may help to explain why hunger can prevail even in stressful situations. [edit] Behavioral responseHunger appears to increase activity and movement in many animals - for example, an experiment on spiders showed increased activity and predation in starved spiders, resulting in larger weight gain.[6] This pattern is seen in many animals, including humans while sleeping.[7] It even occurs in rats with their cerebral cortex or stomachs completely removed.[8] Increased activity on hamster wheels occurred when rats were deprived not only of food, but also water or B vitamins such as thiamine.[9] This response may increase the animal's chance of finding food, though it has also been speculated the reaction relieves pressure on the home population.[7] [edit] Hunger statisticsMain article: Malnutrition On June 19, 2009, it was reported that world hunger hit one billion people,[10] about a sixth of the world's total population. There were 923 million hungry people in the world in 2007, an increase of 80 million since 1990.[11] The world already produces enough food to feed everyone - 6 billion people - and could feed the double - 12 billion people.[12]
[edit] Hunger mortality statistics
[edit] Hunger in the United StatesThe Meals On Wheels Association of America Foundation (MOWAAF) has found that hunger is a serious threat facing millions of seniors in the United States, and that understanding the problem is a critical first step to developing remedies. In 2007, MOWAAF, underwritten by the Harrah's Foundation, commissioned a research study entitled The Causes, Consequences and Future of Senior Hunger in America.[23] The report was released at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in March 2008 in Washington, D.C. The study found that in the United States, over 5 million seniors, (11.4% of all seniors), experience some form of food insecurity (i.e., were marginally food insecure). Of these, about 2.5 million are at-risk of hunger, and about 750,000 suffer from hunger due to financial constraints. Some groups of seniors are more likely to be at-risk of hunger. Relative to their representation in the overall senior population, those with limited incomes, under age 70, African American, Hispanic, never-married, renters, and seniors living in the Southern United States are all more likely to be at-risk of hunger. While certain groups of seniors are at greater-risk of hunger, hunger cuts across the income spectrum. For example, over 50% of all seniors who are at-risk of hunger have incomes above the poverty threshold. Likewise, it is present in all demographic groups. For example, over two-thirds of seniors at-risk of hunger are Caucasian. There are marked differences in the risk of hunger across family structure, especially for those seniors living alone, or those living with a grandchild. Those living alone are twice as likely to experience hunger compared to married seniors. One in five senior households with a grandchild (but no adult child) present is at-risk of hunger, compared to about one in twenty households without a grandchild present. Seniors living in non-metropolitan areas are as likely to experience food insecurity as those living in metropolitan areas, suggesting that food insecurity cuts across the urban-rural continuum.[24] [edit] Similar cravingsA food craving is an intense desire to consume a specific food, as opposed to general hunger. Similarly, thirst is the craving for fluids. Withdrawal craving is a "hunger" for administering addictive drugs. [edit] See also
[edit] Organizations
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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A car bomb attack in Pakistan's north-western city of Peshawar has wounded at least 15 people, police say. The explosion occurred in the parking area of a restaurant. It was the first attack in Peshawar since Pakistan launched an offensive against militants in the nearby troubled region of South Waziristan. The explosion came hours after a suicide bomber killed six people near an air force facility near the capital, Islamabad, amid rising violence. Attacks in Pakistani cities have killed nearly 180 people in October alone. The earlier bombing on Friday took place near the Kamra aeronautical complex, 60km (35 miles) south-west of Islamabad. At the weekend the army launched a major assault against Pakistani Taliban militant strongholds in South Waziristan, near the Afgfhan border. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the conflict zone since the operation began, according to the army. The offensive has raised fears militants will step up their bombing campaign in cities.
LATEST NEWS THE TALIBAN Who are the Taliban? History of movement in Afghanistan and Pakistan FEATURES AND ANALYSIS Taliban challenge What Pakistani army is up against in South Waziristan AFGHAN ELECTIONS Uncertain future Holding a run-off will be a huge challenge VIDEO AND AUDIO IEDs: The soldier's biggest enemy Thousands flee Waziristan fighting Pakistan claim Taliban victories Civilians flee Waziristan on foot Street fighting in Taliban bases FROM OTHER NEWS SITES Reuters Suicide bomber kills eight in Pakistan - 50 mins ago Telegraph Pakistan: suicide bomber kills six at military base - 55 mins ago France24 Pakistan suicide attack kills six near air base - 2 hrs ago Times of India Suicide attack kills 7 near nuke-linked complex in Pak - 2 hrs ago CBS News Pakistan: Bomber kills 7 near nuke-linked complex - 3 hrs ago
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8321803.stm
Food securityFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is considered food secure when its occupants do not live in hunger or fear of starvation. According to the World Resources Institute, global per capita food production has been increasing substantially for the past several decades.[1] In 2006, MSNBC reported that globally, the number of people who are overweight has surpassed the number who are undernourished - the world had more than one billion people who were overweight, and an estimated 800 million who were undernourished.[2] According to a 2004 article from the BBC, China, the world's most populous country, is suffering from an obesity epidemic.[3] In India, the second-most populous country in the world, 30 million people have been added to the ranks of the hungry since the mid-1990s and 46% of children are underweight.[4] Worldwide around 852 million people are chronically hungry due to extreme poverty, while up to 2 billion people lack food security intermittently due to varying degrees of poverty (source: FAO, 2003). As of late 2007, increased farming for use in biofuels,[5] world oil prices at more than $100 a barrel,[6] global population growth,[7] climate change,[8] loss of agricultural land to residential and industrial development,[9][10] and growing consumer demand in China and India[11] have pushed up the price of grain.[12][13] Food riots have recently taken place in many countries across the world.[14][15][16] It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain food security in a world beset by a confluence of "peak" phenomena, namely peak oil, peak water, peak phosphorus, peak grain and peak fish. More than half of the planet's population, numbering approximately 3.3 billion people, live in urban areas as of November 2007. Any disruption to farm supplies may precipitate a uniquely urban food crisis in a relatively short time.[17] The ongoing global credit crisis has affected farm credits, despite a boom in commodity prices.[18] Food security is a complex topic, standing at the intersection of many disciplines. A new peer-reviewed journal of Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food is to be published from 2009.[19] In developing countries, often 70% or more of the population lives in rural areas. In that context, agricultural development among smallholder farmers and landless people provides a livelihood for people allowing them the opportunity to stay in their communities. In many areas of the world, land ownership is not available, thus, people who want or need to farm to make a living have little incentive to improve the land. In the US, there are approximately 2,000,000 farmers, less than 1% of the population. A direct relationship exists between food consumption levels and poverty. Families with the financial resources to escape extreme poverty rarely suffer from chronic hunger; while poor families not only suffer the most from chronic hunger, but are also the segment of the population most at risk during food shortages and famines. Two commonly used definitions of food security come from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA):
The stages of food insecurity range from food secure situations to full-scale famine. "Famine and hunger are both rooted in food insecurity. Food insecurity can be categorized as either chronic or transitory. Chronic food insecurity translates into a high degree of vulnerability to famine and hunger; ensuring food security presupposes elimination of that vulnerability. [Chronic] hunger is not famine. It is similar to undernourishment and is related to poverty, existing mainly in poor countries."[21] [edit] Food security in the United States[edit] Community food securityCommunity food security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice Following are six basic principles of community food security, as defined by the Community Food Security Coalition:
[edit] Food insecurityFood insecurity has been described as "a condition in which people lack basic food intake to provide them with the energy and nutrients for fully productive lives." (Hunger Task Force) In 2005, 35.1 million Americans, which includes 22.7 million adults and 12.4 million children, lived in households that were unable to afford the food they need for the year.[23] Households that are more likely to experience food insecurity are female-headed with children, those with incomes below the poverty line, and those that reside either in principal cities or within rural areas.[24] The top three states ranking in prevalence of food insecure households between 2003-2005 were New Mexico (16.8%), Mississippi (16.5%), and Texas (16.0%).[24] The USDA report cited below asks the question, "How often were people hungry in households that were food insecure with hunger?" Around 4 percent of people reported going hungry at least once a year, while on any given day the figure is estimated to be between 0.5 percent and 0.8 percent.[25] A March 1, 2009 Associated Press article cited many examples of hungry children in the United States. The article talked about all of the children's mothers, but did not mention any of their fathers. The article also said that some of the mothers were feeding their children junk food such as potato chips and hot dogs, instead of nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, and milk. [26] [edit] Stunting and chronic nutritional deficienciesMany countries experience perpetual food shortages and distribution problems. These result in chronic and often widespread hunger amongst significant numbers of people. Human populations respond to chronic hunger and malnutrition by decreasing body size, known in medical terms as stunting or stunted growth. This process starts in utero if the mother is malnourished and continues through approximately the third year of life. It leads to higher infant and child mortality, but at rates far lower than during famines. Once stunting has occurred, improved nutritional intake later in life cannot reverse the damage. Stunting itself is viewed as a coping mechanism, designed to bring body size into alignment with the calories available during adulthood in the location where the child is born. Limiting body size as a way of adapting to low levels of energy (calories) adversely affects health in three ways:
"The analysis ... points to the misleading nature of the concept of subsistence as Malthus originally used it and as it is still widely used today. Subsistence in not located at the edge of a nutritional cliff, beyond which lies demographic disaster. Rather than one level of subsistence, there are numerous levels at which a population and a food supply can be in equilibrium in the sense that they can be indefinitely sustained. However, some levels will have smaller people and higher normal mortality than others."[27] [edit] Global water crisisWater deficits, which are already spurring heavy grain imports in numerous smaller countries,[28] may soon do the same in larger countries, such as China or India.[29] The water tables are falling in scores of countries (including Northern China, the US, and India) due to widespread overpumping using powerful diesel and electric pumps. Other countries affected include Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. This will eventually lead to water scarcity and cutbacks in grain harvest. Even with the overpumping of its aquifers, China is developing a grain deficit.[30] When this happens, it will almost certainly drive grain prices upward. Most of the 3 billion people projected to be added worldwide by mid-century will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. After China and India, there is a second tier of smaller countries with large water deficits—Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, and Pakistan. Four of these already import a large share of their grain. Only Pakistan remains self-sufficient. But with a population expanding by 4 million a year, it will also likely soon turn to the world market for grain.[31][32] [edit] Land degradationSee also: Land degradation and Desertification Intensive farming often leads to a vicious cycle of exhaustion of soil fertility and decline of agricultural yields.[33] Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded.[34] In Africa, if current trends of soil degradation continue, the continent might be able to feed just 25% of its population by 2025, according to UNU's Ghana-based Institute for Natural Resources in Africa.[35] [edit] Land dealsRich governments and corporations are buying up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies. The head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of "neocolonialism", with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people. The South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics has secured a large piece of farmland in Madagascar to grow maize and crops for biofuels. Libya has secured 250,000 hectares of Ukrainian farmland, and China has begun to explore land deals in Southeast Asia.[36] Oil-rich Arab investors, including the sovereign wealth funds, are looking into Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand.[37] [edit] Climate change[edit] AgricultureAccording to a UN climate report, the Himalayan glaciers that are the principal dry-season water sources of Asia's biggest rivers - Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween and Yellow - could disappear by 2035 as temperatures rise.[38] Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers.[39] India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by severe droughts in coming decades.[40] In India alone, the Ganges provides water for drinking and farming for more than 500 million people.[41][42] The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected.[43] Glaciers aren't the only worry that the developing nations have, sea level is also reported to rise as climate changes progresses, reducing the amount of land available for agriculture.[44] In other parts of the world a big effect will be low yields of grain according to the World Food Trade Model, specifically in the low latitude regions where much of the developing world is located. From this the price of grain will rise, along with the developing nations trying to grow the grain. Due to this, every 2-2.5% price hike will increase the number of hungry people 1%.[45] And low crop yields is just one of the problem facing farmers in the low latitudes and tropical regions. The timing and length of the growing seasons, when farmers plant their crops, are going to be changing dramatically, per the USDA, due to unknown changes in soil temperature and moisture conditions.[46] [edit] ChildrenOn 2008-04-29, a UNICEF UK report found that the world's poorest and most vulnerable children are being hit the hardest by the impact of climate change. The report, "Our Climate, Our Children, Our Responsibility: The Implications of Climate Change for the World's Children," says access to clean water and food supplies will become more difficult, particularly in Africa and Asia.[47] [edit] Wheat stem rustAn epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 is currently spreading across Africa and into Asia and is causing major concern. A virulent wheat disease could destroy most of the world's main wheat crops, leaving millions to starve. The fungus has spread from Africa to Iran, and may already be in Pakistan.[48][49][50] The genetic diversity of the crop wild relatives of wheat can be used to improve modern varieties to be more resistant to rust. In their centers of origin wild wheat plants are screened for resistance to rust, then their genetic information is analysed and finally wild plants and modern varietes are crossed through means of modern plant breeding in order to transfer the resistance genes from the wild plants to the modern varieties.[51] [edit] Dictatorship and kleptocracySee also: Political corruption As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen has observed that "there is no such thing as an apolitical food problem." While drought and other naturally occurring events may trigger famine conditions, it is government action or inaction that determines its severity, and often even whether or not a famine will occur. The 20th century is full of examples of governments undermining the food security of their own nations–sometimes intentionally. When governments come to power by force or rigged elections, and not by way of fair and open elections, their base of support is often narrow and built upon cronyism and patronage. Under such conditions "The distribution of food within a country is a political issue. Governments in most countries give priority to urban areas, since that is where the most influential and powerful families and enterprises are usually located. The government often neglects subsistence farmers and rural areas in general. The more remote and underdeveloped the area the less likely the government will be to effectively meet its needs. Many agrarian policies, especially the pricing of agricultural commodities, discriminate against rural areas. Governments often keep prices of basic grains at such artificially low levels that subsistence producers can not accumulate enough capital to make investments to improve their production. Thus, they are effectively prevented from getting out of their precarious situation."[52] Further dictators and warlords have used food as a political weapon, rewarding their supporters while denying food supplies to areas that oppose their rule. Under such conditions food becomes a currency with which to buy support and famine becomes an effective weapon to be used against the opposition. Governments with strong tendencies towards kleptocracy can undermine food security even when harvests are good. When government monopolizes trade, farmers may find that they are free to grow cash crops for export, but under penalty of law only able to sell their crops to government buyers at prices far below the world market price. The government then is free to sell their crop on the world market at full price, pocketing the difference. This creates an artificial "poverty trap" from which even the most hard working and motivated farmers may not escape. When the rule of law is absent, or private property is non-existent, farmers have little incentive to improve their productivity. If a farm becomes noticeably more productive than neighboring farms, it may become the target of individuals well connected to the government. Rather than risk being noticed and possibly losing their land, farmers may be content with the perceived safety of mediocrity. As pointed out by William Bernstein in his book The Birth of Plenty: "Individuals without property are susceptible to starvation, and it is much easier to bend the fearful and hungry to the will of the state. If a [farmer's] property can be arbitrarily threatened by the state, that power will inevitably be employed to intimidate those with divergent political and religious opinions." [edit] Economic approaches
There are many economic approaches advocated to improve food security in developing countries. Three typical approaches are listed below. The first is typical of what is advocated by most governments and international agencies. The other two are more common to non-governmental organizations (NGO's). [edit] Westernized viewConventional thinking in westernized countries is that maximizing the farmers profit is the surest way of maximizing agricultural production; the higher a farmer's profit, the greater the effort that will be forthcoming, and the greater the risk the farmer is willing to take.[citation needed] place into the hands of farmers the largest number and highest quality tools possible (tools is used here to refer to improved production techniques, improved seeds, secure land tenure, accurate weather forecasts, etc.) However, it is left to the individual farmer to pick and choose which tools to use, and how to use them, as farmers have intimate knowledge of their own land and local conditions. As with other businesses, a percentage of the profits are normally reinvested into the business in the hopes of increasing production, and hence increase future profits. Normally higher profits translate into higher spending on technologies designed to boost production, such as drip irrigation systems, agriculture education, and greenhouses. An increased profit also increases the farmer's incentive to engage in double-cropping, soil improvement programs, and expanding usable area. [edit] Food justiceAn alternative view takes a collective approach to achieve food security. It notes that globally enough food is produced to feed the entire world population at a level adequate to ensure that everyone can be free of hunger and fear of starvation. That no one should live without enough food because of economic constraints or social inequalities is the basic goal. This approach is often referred to as food justice and views food security as a basic human right. It advocates fairer distribution of food, particularly grain crops, as a means of ending chronic hunger and malnutrition. The core of the Food Justice movement is the belief that what is lacking is not food, but the political will to fairly distribute food regardless of the recipient's ability to pay. [edit] Food sovereigntyA third approach is known as food sovereignty; though it overlaps with food justice on several points, the two are not identical. It views the business practices of multinational corporations as a form of neocolonialism. It contends that multinational corporations have the financial resources available to buy up the agricultural resources of impoverished nations, particularly in the tropics. They also have the political clout to convert these resources to the exclusive production of cash crops for sale to industrialized nations outside of the tropics, and in the process to squeeze the poor off of the more productive lands. Under this view subsistence farmers are left to cultivate only lands that are so marginal in terms of productivity as to be of no interest to the multinational corporations. It advocates banning the production of most cash crops in developing nations, thereby leaving the local farmers to concentrate on subsistence crops. In addition it opposes allowing low-cost subsidized food from industrialized nations into developing countries, what is referred to as "import dumping". [edit] World Food SummitThe World Food Summit was held in Rome in 1996, with the aim of renewing global commitment to the fight against hunger. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called the summit in response to widespread under-nutrition and growing concern about the capacity of agriculture to meet future food needs. The conference produced two key documents, the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action. The Rome Declaration calls for the members of the United Nations to work to halve the number of chronically undernourished people on the Earth by the year 2015. The Plan of Action sets a number of targets for government and non-governmental organizations for achieving food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels. [edit] World Summit on Food SecurityThe World Summit on Food Security will take place in Rome, Italy, between 16 and 18 November 2009. The decision to convene the summit was taken by the Council of FAO in June 2009, at the proposal of FAO Director-General Dr Jacques Diouf. Heads of State and Government are expected to attend the summit, which will take place at FAO's headquarters. [edit] Achieving food security"The number of people without enough food to eat on a regular basis remains stubbornly high, at over 800 million, and is not falling significantly. Over 60% of the world's undernourished people live in Asia, and a quarter in Africa. The proportion of people who are hungry, however, is greater in Africa (33%) than Asia (16%). The latest FAO figures indicate that there are 22 countries, 16 of which are in Africa, in which the undernourishment prevalence rate is over 35%."[53] In its "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2003", FAO states that:[54] 'In general the countries that succeeded in reducing hunger were characterised by more rapid economic growth and specifically more rapid growth in their agricultural sectors. They also exhibited slower population growth, lower levels of HIV and higher ranking in the Human Development Index'.As such, according to FAO, addressing agriculture and population growth is vital to achieving food security. Other organisations and people (eg Peter Singer, ...) too have come to this conclusion and advocate improvements in agriculture, and population control.[55] USAID[56] proposes several key steps to increasing agricultural productivity which is in turn key to increasing rural income and reducing food insecurity. They include:
The UN Millennium Development Goals are one of the initiatives aimed at achieving food security in the world. In its list of goals, the first Millennium Development Goal states that the UN "is to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty", and that "agricultural productivity is likely to play a key role in this if it is to be reached on time".
Notably, the gathering of wild food plants appears to be an efficient alternative method of subsistence in tropical countries, which may play a role in poverty alleviation.[57] [edit] The agriculture-hunger-poverty nexusEradicating hunger and poverty requires an understanding of the ways in which these two injustices interconnect. Hunger, and the malnourishment that accompanies it, prevents poor people from escaping poverty because it diminishes their ability to learn, work, and care for themselves and their family members. Food insecurity exists when people are undernourished as a result of the physical unavailability of food, their lack of social or economic access to adequate food, and/or inadequate food utilization. Food-insecure people are those individuals whose food intake falls below their minimum calorie (energy) requirements, as well as those who exhibit physical symptoms caused by energy and nutrient deficiencies resulting from an inadequate or unbalanced diet or from the body's inability to use food effectively because of infection or disease. An alternative view would define the concept of food insecurity as referring only to the consequence of inadequate consumption of nutritious food, considering the physiological utilization of food by the body as being within the domain of nutrition and health. Malnourishment also leads to poor health hence individuals fail to provide for their families. If left unaddressed, hunger sets in motion an array of outcomes that perpetuate malnutrition, reduce the ability of adults to work and to give birth to healthy children, and erode children's ability to learn and lead productive, healthy, and happy lives. This truncation of human development undermines a country's potential for economic development–for generations to come. There are strong, direct relationships between agricultural productivity, hunger, and poverty. Three-quarters of the world's poor live in rural areas and make their living from agriculture. Hunger and child malnutrition are greater in these areas than in urban areas. Moreover, the higher the proportion of the rural population that obtains its income solely from subsistence farming (without the benefit of pro-poor technologies and access to markets), the higher the incidence of malnutrition. Therefore, improvements in agricultural productivity aimed at small-scale farmers will benefit the rural poor first. Increased agricultural productivity enables farmers to grow more food, which translates into better diets and, under market conditions that offer a level playing field, into higher farm incomes. With more money, farmers are more likely to diversify production and grow higher-value crops, benefiting not only themselves but the economy as a whole."[58] [edit] Biotechnology for smallholders in the (sub)tropicsThe area sown to genetically engineered crops in developing countries is rapidly catching-up with the area sown in industrial nations. According to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), genetically engineered (biotech, GM) crops were grown by approximately 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries in 2005, up from 8.25 million farmers in 17 countries in 2004. The largest increase in biotech crop area in any country in 2005 was in Brazil, provisionally estimated at 44,000 km² (94,000 km² in 2005 compared with 50,000 km² in 2004. India had by far the largest year-on-year proportional increase, with almost a threefold increase from 5,000 km² in 2004 to 13,000 km² in 2005.[59] Current high regulatory costs imposed on varieties created by the more modern methods are a significant hurdle for development of genetically engineered crops well suited to developing country farmers by modern genetic methods. Once a new variety is developed, however, seed provides a good vehicle for distribution of improvements in a package that is familiar to the farmer. Currently there are some institutes and research groups that have projects in which biotechnology is shared with contact people in less-developed countries on a non-profit basis. These institutes make use of biotechnological methods that do not involve high research and registration costs, such as conservation and multiplication of germplasm and phytosanitation. [edit] Risks to food securityFurther information: More factors leading to food insecurity and crisis. [edit] Fossil fuel dependenceFurther information: Agriculture and petroleum and Peak oil's effects on agriculture While agricultural output increased as a result of the Green Revolution, the energy input into the process (that is, the energy that must be expended to produce a crop) has also increased at a greater rate, so that the ratio of crops produced to energy input has decreased over time. Green Revolution techniques also heavily rely on chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, some of which must be developed from fossil fuels, making agriculture increasingly reliant on petroleum products. Between 1950 and 1984, as the Green Revolution transformed agriculture around the globe, world grain production increased by 250%. The energy for the Green Revolution was provided by fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation.[60] David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell University, and Mario Giampietro, senior researcher at the National Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), place in their study Food, Land, Population and the U.S. Economy the maximum U.S. population for a sustainable economy at 200 million. To achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster, the United States must reduce its population by at least one-third, and world population will have to be reduced by two-thirds, says the study.[61] The authors of this study believe that the mentioned agricultural crisis will only begin to impact us after 2020, and will not become critical until 2050. The oncoming peaking of global oil production (and subsequent decline of production), along with the peak of North American natural gas production will very likely precipitate this agricultural crisis much sooner than expected.[11] Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that coming decades could see spiraling food prices without relief and massive starvation on a global level such as never experienced before.[62] However, one should take note that, (numbers taken from the CIA World Factbook), the country of Bangladesh achieved food self-sufficiency in 2002 with both a far higher population density than the USA (~1000 inhabitants per square kilometer in comparison to just 30/km2 for the USA - so this is more than 30 times as many), and at only a tiny fraction of the USA's usage of oil, gas, and electricity. Also, pre-industrial Chinese mini-framers/gardeners developed techniques to feed a population of more than 1000 people per square kilometer (cf. e.g. F.H. King's 1911 report, "Farmers of Forty Centuries"). Hence, the dominant problem is not energy availability but the need to stop and revert soil degradation.[citation needed] [edit] Price settingOn April 30, 2008 Thailand announces the project of the creation of the Organisation of Rice Exporting Countries with the potential to develop into a price-fixing cartel for rice.[63][64] [edit] Treating food the same as other internationally traded commoditiesOn October 23, 2008, Associated Press reported the following:
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