Food Shortages in Africa - Essay Example

Taking Charge of African Hunger: Removing Despair from a Continent's Drift into Political Defeat Cindy Sandel Academia-Research November 19,2005Taking Charge of African Hunger:Removing Despair from a Continent's Drift into Political Defeat In order for Africa's starved millions to live through drought, AIDS, and insufficient technological advancement, there must be a creative endeavor to challenge outdated attempts at provisional patchwork as a means of surviving crisis management. What this means is: famine and helplessness are rooted in a relationship which needs to be broken with biotechnological breakthroughs that transcend politics.

According to The Famine Early Warning Network, "famine strikes African countries the hardest." (Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine, Nov. 18, 2005), with seventy percent of its population dependent on agriculture to survive (Council for Biotechnology Information, http://www.whybiotech.com/index.aspid=3790, Nov. 18, 2005). Unfortunately, this fact alone impedes its recovery due to the horrific growth of AIDS victims in farming communities. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has studied the growth in AIDS and its impact on rural families.

The disease is ruining agricultural households. The study shows that 45% of respondents from HIV/Aids-affected households said they had reduced the area under cultivation. Even more -60%- said they had reduced the number of crops grown. (Mail and Guardian online, http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspxarea=/breaking_news_africa&arti, Nov. 18, 2005).Such statistics lead us to a path which holds the key to resuming prosperity in nations afflicted with relentless poverty and starvation under conditions that defy current global networks.

If food shortages are a multifaceted issue, then single-lined responses to its dilemma no longer serve to provide solutions. In essence, starvation will continue if both governmental policies and global initiatives cannot blend strategies to establish alliances that offer solutions to this cyclical problem. Nic Maunder, a specialist at the Famine Early Warning Center in Nairobi, described a few of the main concerns that need to be addressed as a stepping stone to greater achievement. "I think people tend to overestimate the importance of climatic factors as causes of food insecurityIt's usually an access question, not an availability question." (CNN.com/WORLD, http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/02/08/fightinghunger.ap/, Nov. 18, 2005).

Insufficient storing facilities, bad roads, and lack of access to fertile areas due to fighting, are all major players in preventing adequate food supplies from reaching starving populations. While we continue to battle the AIDS epidemic, African farmers are toiling in fewer numbers than ever before. It is expected that as much as 25% of Africa's agricultural labor force will be lost through AIDS by 2010. (The Dominion, http://dominionpaper.ca/international_news/2004/09/30/aids_exace.html, Nov. 18, 2005).

How then can we use the resources available to their highest capacity Perhaps education is key to promoting higher yields and better support to those who remain to face an obstacle which needs a global bulldozer to break it down. Biotech's scientific breakthroughs offer many benefits that need proper personnel for their integration (Dickson, Nov. 18, 2005). And while the FAO estimates that Africa's population suffers greater malnutrition than thirty years ago (Council for Biotechnology Information, http:/www.whybiotch.com/index.

aspid=2756, Nov. 18, 2005), there is hope that proper tools for change can advance this continents' resources towards a better future. New varieties of rice, rich in beta-carotene, can become gold to those who suffer needlessly at the hands of indecisive bureaucracy (Council for Biotechnology, http:/www.whybiotech.com/index.aspid=journalists, Nov. 18, 2005). ReferencesCNN.com/WORLD (2003, Feb. 8). Food Shortages Grip Africa Again. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/02/08/fightinghunger.ap/.Council for Biotechnology Information.

Biotechnology Helps Women Farmers Provide for Their Families in Africa. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.whybiotech.com/index.aspid=3790.Council for Biotechnology Information. New Variety of Golden Rice has Increased Levels of Healthful Betacarotene. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.whybiotech.com/index.aspid=journalists.Council for Biotechnology Information. Plant Biotechnology in Africa. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.whybiotech.com/index.aspid=2756.Dickson, David.

(2004, June 28). No Quick Fix to Africa's Food Problems. SciDevNet. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/index.cfmfuseaction=readEditorials&itemid+9.The Dominion. (2004, Sept. 30). Aids Exacerbating Food Shortages in Africa. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://dominionpaper.ca/international_news/2004/09/30/aids_exace.html.Mail &Guardian online (2005, Nov.18). Aids Threatens Africa's Agriculture. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspxarena=breaking_news/breaking_news_afri.

Wikipedia. Famine: Characteristics of Famine. Retrieved Nov. 18, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine.