by David Nuttle

Created on: October 05, 2008   Last Updated: March 16, 2010

Tahlequah, OK, November 9 (One World): In the developed nations where I often live and work, over 800 million people have been living on the brink of starvation. With rising food prices, that number is expected to soon increase to nearly 900 million. Another billion people must live on less than US$1.00 per day, so that rising food prices mean they can now buy even less healthful foods (United Nations' data). These people attempt to cope with rising food prices by hunting wild animals for food, gathering wild edible plants, gleaning fields, planting larger gardens, hoarding and stealing of foods, bartering for food, eating less, and/or taking their own lives when conditions become too horrific due to lack of food.

More poor families now require their children to work rather than attend school. Less food, and higher priced foods, have resulted in increased levels of frustration and anger among the world's poor. Increasing levels of anger have resulted in more support for terrorist, narcoterrorist, and insurgent groups in several developing nations. Global warming, with the resulting increases in extreme drought and floods, as well as expanding deforestation and desertification, have reduced overall food production and further increased food prices. Food riots are now common in some developing nations. Extreme, prolonged drought in Darfur (in the Sudan) caused water and food/feed shortages that caused the start of that conflict (genocide) where over 400,000 people have been killed, and some 2.8 million people forced from their homes. Yes, in some areas of the world people are killing each other due to food shortages and rising food prices. The above facts were confirmed to me by Gacii, an African friend living in Kenya while working to help resolve food production issues throughout Africa.

The World Food Program (WFP) is forced to buy less food, for the poor, as a result of rising food prices. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is now helping poor farmers in Africa increase food production with the idea of growing enough extra to sell some (at for reasonable prices) to the WFP, so Africa's poor will receive enough food. The Gates Foundation is providing US$76 million to support this effort. However, this solution will take time and it only helps the poor in Africa. In brief, there is a shortage of efforts to increase food production so food prices will return to a reasonable level. To many of the "aid" dollars given to help increase food production,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>