Global Food Crisis

While I was in Malawi, my youngest sister Molly was right across the lake in Tanzania for a summer school program. She sent an email saying that she completely understood my draw to Africa, because "there is so much poverty, and so much beauty." I found this to be particularly the case in both Malawi and Ethiopia, more so than other places I've traveled to recently. There is something so basic and terrible about malnutrition, and starvation, and drought, in a world of so much plenty. It literally robs people of their dignity and ability to just live, and undermines all other areas of development because all that people affected can focus on is how to feed their children.

The issue of food insecurity (the technical term) was a constant discussion point in both Ethiopia and Malawi, where it is a major cause of the widespread poverty. I have never traveled to a country with this scale of food and water shortages, and so learned a lot about the issues on this trip. And with the rising concern about a "global food crisis," and getting several questions from friends and family, I decided to post a seperate blog entry about the issue.

Villagers harvest maize in Malawi
Articles about the global food crisis are appearing in newspapers and magazines around the world - I saw several front page stories online during my time in Ethiopia and Malawi. There have always been cycles of food shortages and abundance, but what’s different about this crisis is that it’s a global one, not just localized. Usually a harvest fails in a particular country or region due to shortage of rainfall, spreading of crop disease, war, etc. This crisis isn’t just happening in one location. It is occurring in many countries simultaneously, which is unusual.

What's also different about this crisis is that it's affecting people not usually hit by famines - not just the poorest. A recent article in the Economist captures what this will mean for different economic classes: "For the middle classes, it means cutting out medical care. For those on $2 a day, it means cutting out meat and taking the children out of school. For those on $1 a day, it means cutting out meat and vegetables and eating only cereals. And for those on 50 cents a day, it means total disaster. The poorest are selling their animals, tools, the tin roof over their heads--making recovery, when it comes, much harder."

And it's not just a matter of going hungry. Food crises are causing political instability in areas of the world where the political situation is hardly stable to begin with. Recently, food riots have erupted in countries all along the equator. In Haiti, protesters chanting "we're hungry" forced the prime minister to resign; 24 people were killed in riots in Cameroon; Egypt's president ordered the army to start baking bread; the Philippines made hoarding rice punishable by life imprisonment.


Global food prices have risen by 83% in the past 3 years. When global issues such as food insecurity occurs, it deals the most severe blow to the poorest countries in the world - mainly in Africa, where 95% of all agriculture success is completely dependent on rainfall levels - and to the poorest people in those countries - the rural population, particularly the chronically ill, women and children. Hence the affect on countries like Ethiopia and Malawi.

Taking Malawi and Ethiopia as examples, there are a lot of similarities between the two countries that explain why they are so affected. More than 85% of people in both Malawi and Ethiopia live off of the land, so their survival is very dependent on drought cycles and the harvest. Traditional agriculture systems for subsistence no longer provides adequately for household needs in most years, and there is little capacity or opportunity to develop other, more vialbe means of income. Agricultural production of one cash crop – tobacco in Malawi and coffee in Ethiopia - drives the economy in both countries, which is therefore also dependent on the harvest, as well as on global market prices.

Global market prices are falling, and harvests have been poor. Both countries have disproportionately large populations for their size, and agricultural development has been hampered by rapid population growth. Additionally, recurring droughts, which have hit this area of the world hard in recent years, deforestation and land degradation are affecting agricultural production. Malawi and Ethiopia have been unable to produce enough food in recent years to feed their populations, and the countries are too poor to import much food.

So that helps explain why a 'local' food crisis is occuring in two specific countries. But why the global one? Why are 36 countries in crisis in terms of food security, all of which will need external assistance this year? Why did the World Food Programme recently announce that, due to rising fuel and food costs, it's 2008 budget won't even cover current deliveries?

It really all boils down to supply and demand. World food consumption has actually been greater than supply for the past 5 years, gradually eroding stockpile levels to where it's just now affecting us. The demand has been increasing, primarily due to two key factors: 1) Rising per capita consumption in rich and emerging economies. In particular, emerging economies with large populations, in particular China and India, are becoming richer and are thus consuming higher quantities of food (burgeoning middle classes means rising purchases of meat and dairy products, which are highly inefficient to produce in terms of grain and water use); and 2) Use of crops to create biofuels in an attempt to move away from a dependency on oil (the U.S. alone spends $7 billion a year creating ethanol (made from corn and grains).

The supply, on the other hand is decreasing. 1) It's costing more to produce food due to rising energy costs. Fuel is used in every part of the agricultural system, both directly (cultivation, processing, refrigeration, shipping, distribution) and indirectly (manufacture of fertilizers, pesticides – the cost of urea, a fertilizer, has almost tripled since 2003); 2) Increasing water and land scarcity. The global demand for water has tripled in the past 50 years, and we're running out. 70% of all water used by humans goes into food production. As for land - only 12% of the world's land is still available for agriculture; 3) Extreme weather. In the short-term, poor rainfall levels in recent years has resulted in poor crops. In the long-term, climate change will increase the number of people at risk of hunger and will lead to an increase of between 40 million and 170 million in the number of undernourished people; 4) Trade policy. Agriculatural subsidies in the US and EU have made agriculture unprofitable for various other countries.

For those of you interested in reading more in detail about these issues, here are two useful links: Click here to read a short list summarizing the key issues driving the food crisis. Click here to read a more in-depth paper on the issues. Or, really, just google "global food crisis." The New York Times, the Economist, and bunch of others have recently run good articles - most drawing on the research and statistics from the above papers.

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Malawi

Click here to see my pictures from Malawi.

Malawi is an incredibly beautiful country, covered by broad, rolling expanses of yellows, greens and purples, mountains and the huge Lake Malawi, which is more like an ocean. It is also an incredibly poor country. The average annual income per person is $160, making it one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. And because it suffers from one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics, with around one million people infected and half a million children orphaned by parents dying of AIDS, the workforce is increasingly being decimated. The average life expectancy is only 37 years old.

Rarely for such a state of poverty, Malawi is a very peaceful country. 1/4 of the population is Muslim and the rest are Christian, but there are no major religious or ethnic divides. In fact, our taxi driver told us that "things like that are other countries’ problems – we don’t understand it here!' There is a growing political divide between the current government and the opposition, however, which is to be watched because of everything else going on in the region. Neighboring Zimbabwe isn't exactly a success story. So the upcoming elections may be a concern.

Unlike my time in Ethiopia, I was really able to get out of just the capital city and see different parts of the country. I arrived on Saturday afternoon and two of my colleagues and I took a day trip on Sunday to Lake Malawi. The hour and a half drive from Lilongwe through the incredible scenery was almost as enjoyable as our time on the lake, with its beautiful beaches and crystal blue water. I had some of the most delicious food there – fresh chambo, a white fish only local to Lake Malawi, and mounds of maize. This was really my only “local” meal – the other local food, “Malawian sausages,” or rats being roasted on the side of the road, didn’t look too appealing!!

When I wanted to have chambo again a few nights later back in Lilongwe, I discovered a striking example of the lack of development in the country. The man I was with explained that it wasn’t readily available, and if it was, it wouldn’t be fresh. As for the huge quantities only an hour and fifteen minutes away in the lake? The systems and infrastructure aren’t in place to pack the fish, transport them in a refrigerated truck, and deliver them to Lilongwe.

My next trip was for work. I drove north of Lilongwe, once again through the beautifully endless savannas, to work with one of the CARE projects improving food security and nutrition in one of the poorest areas of the country, Ntchisi. The project focuses on several areas to increase livelihood sustainability for rural families, with a specific focus on chronically ill and single woman-led households: providing basic assistance with seeds, crop diversification and updated agricultural techniques; enabling community members to access microcredit; and bringing together farmers, local organizations, chiefs, village councils, international organizations to advocate to the government about certain food issues. I spent the day with the staff working in the area and learned a lot about the successes and shortcomings they’re facing with their work, and then they gave me a tour of the village and explained a lot of the issues facing farming communities.

85% of the population live in rural areas like Ntchisi and live on what they can grow to eat (called subsistence farmers). Their survival is therefore very dependent on the harvest and the level of rainfall, and even during good harvests food security never really exists. Alarmingly, over half of all children under 5 are chronically malnourished. Besides growing food for consumption, the major cash crop in Malawi is tobacco. Tobacco is Malawi’s main export, accounting for 60% of the country's earnings. It’s really hard on the land and expensive to grow, and farmers are 4 times removed from the actual profit. They grown the tobacco, harvest it and dry it, and then a buyer comes to the villages and purchases the plants that he wants, then takes the purchased plants to Lilongwe and sells them to a trader, who sells it on the trading floor to the tobacco companies.

The tobacco harvest had just occurred, so I was able to watch the villagers drying, packing, selling and shipping the tobacco to Lilongwe for the trading floor. So as you can imagine, the farmers themselves make next to nothing for their work, and they and the overall economy of the country are at the mercy of international tobacco prices. And with one of the lowest 3 GDPs in the world, Malawi doesn't seem to be profiting much from all of the labor and cost and land use that goes into producing tobacco.

I had a great trip, especially because I had several opportunities to see the country. Although the traveling part of it wasn't so great - I had to fight my way onto the plane headed home, they lost my bag, and I sat next to an 85 year old elephant poacher from Texas who talked to me the entire 19 hour flight back to Atlanta! I arrived back just in time for Joshua's graduation.

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Ethiopia

Click here to see my pictures from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, where the oldest remains of a human were found (Lucy) and cultural remnants date back to 1000 BC, is referred to as the cradle of humankind. As the oldest independent country in Africa, Ethiopia has retained such a distinct culture and rooted sense of history and identity. It feels very different from most of the countries I travel in that were colonized.

I arrived in Addis Ababa on the morning of the Ethiopian Orthodox Easter. Yes, Easter - their calendar is different than ours due to the way they calculate the dates of various biblical events. They just celebrated the millennium last year, and they still tell time differently (never quite figured it out - I think they start at 1 at sunrise and go through 12 at sunset and then start back at 1 -12 again). From the dates and time to the art and decorations, the influence of the Ethiopian Orthodox religion can be felt everywhere. My boss is Jewish and he was having such a difficult time finding gifts to bring back home - everything has a cross or Jesus' face on it!

Another central part of the culture is the food. One of the best parts of the trip was just wandering through the city and happening upon little restaurants and coffee shops with menus only in Amharic, baskets for tables, and young men performing traditional music on drums and some type of string instrument. We ate at people's homes two nights, with amazing huge spreads of food. The raw meat was a bit much (!) but actually really tasty, except that one of the women I was traveling with got quite ill. They serve the food on huge table sized pieces of injera, a type of spongy bread used to eat the food with instead of utensils, and ladle portions of goat meat, cabbage, bean puree in front of each person. It's all incredibly spicy and delicious. And oddly, they bring big bowls of popcorn after every meal as dessert.

And best of all - the coffee. Oh lovely country where I wasn't served Nescafe instant coffee every morning! Coffee is 60% of country's exports and by far their most important industry. It is incredibly good. I attended a traditional coffee brewing ceremony, where the raw coffee beans are brought in and roasted right here in front of you, giving off an amazing smell, and then filtered with water and spices.

Addis is definitely one of the few cities that I've visited overseas that I could live in. I pictured it as being dry and dusty given the famine and drought issues, but it is incredibly green and lush and surrounded by hills. Apparently the rest of the country is exactly as I had pictured, however; it becomes incredibly dry and dusty about 10 miles outside of Addis. Not quite sure why I liked the city, though - there aren't any street names or addresses, there's no center to the city, and it's big and sprawling. But it somehow manages to have a lot of charm. Everyone I met was really friendly and engaging, I was not once approached on the street for money or stared at, and it's safe to walk everywhere, even late at night.

I was working like crazy for most of the trip, so didn't get to do any sightseeing outside of Addis. I will definitely make time for it the next time I go - northern Ethiopia is a fascinating mix of half Muslim, half Christian, dotted with religious monuments and ancient kingdoms dating back to medieval times. Even though I spent most most of my time in the head office in Addis, I did spend a lot of time working with the Ethiopian staff and discussing development issues in the country.

Ethiopia ranks 169 (out of 177) out of all the countries in the world in regard to poverty and level of development. It is plagued by constant drought and famine, causing major issues for a population of primarily rural farmers and herders. Women are some of the most marginalized people in society, and CARE focuses on working to empower them in various ways. For example, tradition holds that a bride price must be provided in order for a marriage to occur. The groom’s family pays a high price to the bride’s family and an even higher price for the wedding. This practice is causing a major issue that CARE is working to reduce: bride abduction. Men who can’t afford the bride price abduct young women and rape them, rendering them unmarriageable to anyone else and helpless to do anything about it. Ethiopian law was finally amended in 2004 to penalize abduction, but the law is largely ignored by law enforcement and the judicial system. A shocking 69% of marriages in Ethiopia result from abduction, with young women forced into marriages based on violence that exposes them to HIV infection, much less psychological trauma.

CARE does some very innovative work fighting against this practice, with their interventions based on the success they’ve had in Ethiopia and other parts of Africa to reduce the harmful traditional practice of female genital cutting. I had heard a lot about the work with genital cutting and some of the successful changes made in communities, but wasn't as aware of the extent to which bride abduction is an issue in Africa - I had only heard about it in Central Asia.

So after a whirlwind of a trip mainly spent eating and working, I flew down from Addis to Lilongwe, Malawi for another week.

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A Day in Paris

I unexpectedly had a 14 hour layover in Paris, which didn't turn out to be all that bad! I arrived at the airport for my flight to Lagos, Nigeria and then on to Ethiopia and they wouldn't let me on the plane. Apparently you have to have a visa to even land in Nigeria, and I was only going to have a 3 hour layover! Turns out that several people I knew told me, after the fact of course, that they knew of instances where people were thrown in jail for arriving without a visa. So I suppose I'm thankful that Delta wouldn't let me on the plane!!

Rerouting issues and long waiting time in airports aside, the day in Paris was lovely! I've been three times, but it was the first time I've been there since I graduated from college and the first time I was able to just walk around and enjoy the city without engaging in a whirlwind of sightseeing. The weather was beautiful and I spent the day wandering through neighborhoods, drinking wine and coffee at cafes and eating delicious French food and desserts. It makes such a difference spending time in a city without having to feel like a tourist!

I only took a few pictures, but click here to see them.

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