AFRICAN RIOTS: Two people died and others were injured during protests yesterday in Somalia when shops refused to accept Somali schillings as payment for food. Meanwhile riots over food shortages continue across Africa.

Recently the UN Food Security Analysis Unit said that half the population of Somalia will need food aid by the end of the year. In Senegal where food riots broke out last week, President Abdoulaye Wade blamed the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the crisis.

UN Agencies Blamed for Shortages

Yesterday thousands of people protested stores that refused to accept the old Somali schilling, which has fallen in value. Shop owners demanded to be paid in U.S. dollars instead. In Somalia’s capital city, Mogadishu, rice and corn meal have doubled in price since January.

Wade, president of Senegal, another African nation, said the FAO was ineffective and unable to stop the food shortage in his country. He said the International Fund for Agricultural Development as better suited to address food shortages in developing countries, and suggested the following:

• Transfer funds from the FAO to the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development.
• Move the agency to Africa where it could be closer to areas where food shortages and starvation are most common.

Former UN Head Urges “Green Revolution”

Kofi Anan, former secretary general of the UN, suggested a “green revolution” should be part of the solution to Africa’s food shortages and prices.

Anan said that helping African farmers develop better farming methods locally would reduce food imports and increase food production by two to three times. Anan’s critics point out that farmers in Africa have no secure property rights that would lead to consistent production. Political and agricultural issues would also need to be addressed before farming production can be increased, they say.

A report by UNESCO, a United Nations educational agency, points to the following as some of the factors behind rising food prices:

• Political problems
• Increasing demand for food
• Growing demand for biofuels
• Rising oil prices

According to the UNESCO study, wheat prices have risen 130% since early 2007 and soy prices have jumped 87%.

UNESCO’s three-year study also found that food should be grown locally and that farmers should use "natural processes" like crop rotation and organic fertilizers to increase food production in developing countries.

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Sources

"UN calls for farming revolution" (BBC)

"Witnesses: Soldiers kill 2 in Somali riot over food prices" (Washington Post)

"Africa needs ‘green revolution’" (BBC)

Question for Readers:

Do you think it would be better to send food to countries with shortages or to send agricultural experts to help improve their farming methods?