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Starving season
World hunger is by far the worst crisis humanity faces, and it's getting worse -- especially in Africa. Until the West overcomes its apathy and works toward long-term solutions, millions of people -- many of them children -- will continue to die unnecessarily.
By Samuel Loewenberg [2006-06-13]

  • Starving Season

    What people don't understand about Africa is that one village can have food and a neighboring village can be experiencing famine. The villagers with food won't help their neighbors who are starving.

    The starving villagers then have to depend on Americans and Europeans, and other wealthy countries, sending them food, which is hardly a geographically sensible solution.

    And lest people think the village with food has barely enough to feed itself, this is often not the case. The local markets often teem with food, but they won't give it away to someone who is starving.

    Also, humanitarian aid creates perverse incentives. If the rest of the world will come to the rescue, it gives the villagers with food yet another disencentive to help their neighbors; they know the West will help. However, we, in the West, can't very well refuse to help. So it is a Catch-22.

    -- poeslygeia
    [Read poeslygeia's other letters]
    Monday, June 12, 2006 05:44 PM
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