happen so often before, and I don't think I look richer than usual, so
there must be something wrong. According to what we heard on the radio
in the last weeks, the price of food has increased enormously and
millions of people won't have enough food in the next months.
I am not sure if this is the reason. If that is the case, is really
worrying. We are now in harvest time and there should be plenty of
food, and yet people don't have enough to eat. I don't want to think
what is it going like in a few months.
Probably you have notice that I don't reply emails very fast, you will
have to excuse me but I am really (really) busy at the moment..
2 comments:
Hi Antonio,
The lack of food and its price is indeed one of the biggest and most recurring subjects currently in the news in Belgian and French media, probably in other European countries as well. The price of food has increased a lot here, and I hear in the news that it's the case in African countries as well (especially all products derivated from wheat). Causes are multiple: bad harvest in Australia, higher demand in China and India, part of the ground dedicated to bio-fuel etc... I start feeling really bad when I good to the supermarket: ok prices are higher, but there is PLENTY of food, and I am pretty sure that a good part of it gets lost because nobody buys it.
Also there is something I don't get completely: if African countries are impacted by the crisis, it means that they import food: I wasn't aware of this.
Anyway, everyday we hear of social unrest in Africa, people complaining about the price of food, and everyday we heat that there is worse to come if we don't act rapidly.
Again, as an individual, I really don't know what I could do. This makes me really sad.
Hi Karine,
I think African countries get into the crisis because of the increasing production of biofuels and probably also crops like tea or tobacco that are sold in the west.. but one of the most important factors is that crops are not always good. In Malawi for example there is only one raining season. The amount of rain varies every year, and the amount of maize recovered can change too. Last year Malawi exported maize to Zimbadwe, while in 2005 5 million people needed food aid. This dependence on rain is difficult to understand since 1/3 of the surface of Malawi is water! But there are no watering systems. So, depending on their own production, African countries must import food, or rely on international aid.
We cannot sacrifice the production of food to get biofuels. In my opinion, the only thing we can do as individuals is change our style of life. Waste less fuel, consume seasonal products, and create awareness! but of course, many individuals must change their style of life to change the government policies..
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