StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Food Shortages in Africa - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
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live through drought, AIDS, and insufficient technological advancement, there must be a creative endeavor to challenge outdated attempts at provisional patchwork as a means of surviving crisis management.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…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.8% of users find it useful
Food Shortages in Africa
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Food Shortages in Africa"

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live through drought, AIDS, and insufficient technological advancement, there must be a creative endeavor to challenge outdated attempts at provisional patchwork as a means of surviving crisis management.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.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Food Shortages in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
Food Shortages in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/sociology/1500426-food-shortages-in-africa
(Food Shortages in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
Food Shortages in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1500426-food-shortages-in-africa.
“Food Shortages in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1500426-food-shortages-in-africa.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Food Shortages in Africa

Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Sahara Africa

About 840 million people globally are malnourished, the biggest proportion of these numbers being found in africa.... The degree of the crisis in africa has currently reached unparalleled crisis levels; World Food Summit (2002) that several 38 million people, in africa face "an urgent and impending threat to their security, stability and peace". The reasons as to why action plans addressing food security in africa have continued to fail can be accredited to defective analysis and defective actions....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay

How Renewable Energy Sources Are Better Feasible and Ethical Option for the African Country of Belina

So they have to be taken care to optimally tap the sources and this is what we as part of Karlsson team should consider when we advise the Belizean government regarding the choice of energy projectAfrica being a large continent with different geographical features and physical features, each part of africa has different energy profiles and energy needs.... Countries all over the world are facing energy shortages due to the rising demands brought on by the rising population, rising industrialization, or raising commercialization....
8 Pages (2000 words) Coursework

Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Throughout world, about 840 million people are malnourished and most of them are in africa (Clover 5-7).... Chronic food insecurity affected 38 million people, and hunger claimed 24,000 lives daily in africa during 2003.... Failure is identifying the intervening the developing issues are probably the major causes of africa's persistent vulnerability.... food insecurity as a result of drought, famine, political instability, economical inadequacy, conflicts, and HIV has exposed 38 million African people to immediate threats of stability, security, and peace (Morris qtd....
5 Pages (1250 words) Article

Persuasive speech; Motivated sequence

Instability in africa may lead to increase in oil prices, worst still can be the breeding ground for religious extremism due of lack proper governance structures.... Food crisis worsens in West Africa, Southern Africa food shortages worsen, millions of people are at risk of drought in East Africa, Africa drought sparks food shortages these are the headlines we wake up to every morning across all major news networks.... From the CNN to the BBC… These headlines are often accompanied by pictures of malnourished children and women begging for food and water. The problem of food shortage cuts across sub Sahara Africa affecting states in West, East, Central and Hunger amidst plenty Lecturer: Food crisis worsens in West Africa, Southern Africa food shortages worsen, millions of people are at risk of drought in East Africa, Africa drought sparks food shortages these are the headlines we wake up to every morning across all major news networks....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Water Crisis in Africa

Lack of water and other water related problems are… According to United Nations, africa's population will be 1.... ater shortages are not new to African continent, but now, it has become the enemy of africa's economic growth.... In sub-Saharab africa, cost of water shortages and lack of sanitation is estimated to be 5 percent of its annual GDP (Dearn).... his research paper examines africa's water and sanitation crisis and major reason behind it and finds that africa's water crisis is the precursor of global water crisis, as a result, privatization may seem to be the only solution, but long term management and planning is the key to regulate it....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

The Current Xenophobic Attacks in South Africa

In the recent times one did witness intolerance for and violence against foreigners… However, the intolerance for foreigners in South africa has historical origins, unlike in the case of European nations.... If one considers the recent xenophobic attacks in South The recent xenophobic violence in South africa is believed to have erupted after some anti foreigner and hateful comments made by the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who is believed to have a considerable influence amongst the dominant Zulu ethnic group (Aljazeera, 2015)....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper

Hunger in Africa: Causes and Effects

This paper aims to discuss the hunger in africa and the major causes of why until now the countries in this continent still starve to death.... However, due to the wide scope of the topic of hunger in africa, this paper only limits the effects of hunger among children.... hellip; Due to the undying hunger and malnutrition rate in africa, which became one of the major causes of death in the entire continent, a number of local and international organizations were alarmed in this situation and further expressed their great concern on these affected individuals specifically the poor and innocent children....
6 Pages (1500 words) Term Paper

Importance of the Environment Security to the Future of International Relations

This results in food shortages across the world.... Over the 21st century, the advancement of communication and information technologies will enable people around the globe to follow the crises created by resource and environmental issues.... This is will be hard for people to ignore such effects....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us