African Poverty

[Gorilla]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3722020.stm

Blair calls for action on Africa

Blair said there would soon be "no more excuses"

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has appealed to the world to do more to help Africa out of poverty.
At a meeting of his Commission for Africa, in Ethiopia, he vowed to put the continent at the top of the agenda when Britain chaired the G8 next year.

It was "a tremendous opportunity to put before the international community a plan for Africa", he told the BBC.

The Commission for Africa was set up to look at issues such as development aid, fair trade and debt relief.

The meeting in Addis Ababa is its second, after an inaugural summit in London in May.

The commission will produce a plan of action early next year which will then be presented to the G8 group of leading industrialised nations.

After that report, "the time for excuses will be over", Mr Blair said in his keynote address in Addis Ababa's famous Africa Hall.

He told delegates it was "time to turn international attention into international action".

And he urged the international community to raise $150m (£84m) to help people caught up in the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

He also said Britain hoped to train 20,000 African peacekeepers over the next five years.

Poorer

Mr Blair said building stability in Africa would be to the West's advantage, as "we know that poverty and instability leads to weak states which can become havens for terrorists and other criminals".

Earlier, he had visited a community project for orphaned children an hour's drive from Addis Ababa.

He was given a traditional welcome and spent time talking to some of the children and volunteer workers about the impact of HIV-Aids.

The BBC's Peter Biles in Addis Ababa says Ethiopia epitomises many of the problems that African nations are facing - extreme poverty, food insecurity and high population growth.

Our correspondent adds there is concern about the way conflict in Africa is impeding economic growth. Africa is the only continent that has grown poorer in the last 25 years.

The commission's critics say it is just another talking shop.

The commission meeting comes exactly 20 years after the Ethiopian famine that prompted a worldwide humanitarian response and generated the Band Aid relief effort.

Bob Geldof, who spearheaded that work, is also attending the meeting in Addis Ababa.

I have some questions.

Is african poverty caused by a lack of money?

Will shipping money to africa solve this problem?

Is debt to other nations is a cause of a lack of funds?

Is this some sort of sick joke?

:nuts:

[Petyr Baelish]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3722020.stm
I have some questions.

Is african poverty caused by a lack of money?

Will shipping money to africa solve this problem?


According to a renowned Kenyan economist, the answer to both questions is a resounding "no":

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN ECONOMICS EXPERT

"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.
...

Full Article (http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,363663,00.html)

[Gorilla]

Shikwati: Of course. Hunger should not be a problem in most of the countries south of the Sahara. In addition, there are vast natural resources: oil, gold, diamonds. Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated. In the industrial nations, there's a sense that Africa would go under without development aid. But believe me, Africa existed before you Europeans came along. And we didn't do all that poorly either.


This guy is right. Aid to africa is not a solution to africas problems, and does more harm than good. The WFP, along with the U.N., should be disbanded, and shown as an example of what not to do.

Political leadership on this issue is deperately needed.

[Gorilla]

Providing financial aid to africa is equivalent to contracting the workers of the first world into providing their labour and natural resources for another continent without their conscious knowledge.

[Sulla the Dictator]

If Europe were to drop its irrational paranoia about GM foods, that would do more to help Africa than these 'aid efforts' they periodically throw out.

Though I'm begining to think that the GM food objection has more to do with a disguised protectionism than anything else.

[Eddy]

If Europe were to drop its irrational paranoia about GM foods, that would do more to help Africa than these 'aid efforts' they periodically throw out.

Though I'm begining to think that the GM food objection has more to do with a disguised protectionism than anything else.

Europe and the US has overt protectionism on top of that, along with the strong evidence that the aid programs themselves do more harm than good. I'll have to dig up that interview with a Kenyan economist begging the west to stop sending their damn "aid."

[Sulla the Dictator]

Europe and the US has overt protectionism on top of that, along with the strong evidence that the aid programs themselves do more harm than good. I'll have to dig up that interview with a Kenyan economist begging the west to stop sending their damn "aid."

This one, perhaps? :p

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN ECONOMICS EXPERT

"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.

[Eddy]

That's the one! Interesting stuff.

[Petyr Baelish]

That's the one! Interesting stuff.

Notice that is was posted as the first reply to this thread...

[Fade the Butcher]

If Europe were to drop its irrational paranoia about GM foods, that would do more to help Africa than these 'aid efforts' they periodically throw out. Though I'm begining to think that the GM food objection has more to do with a disguised protectionism than anything else.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38232000/jpg/_38232577_levy150.jpg
President Mwanawasa says GM food is "poison"

Zambia 'furious' over GM food (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2412603.stm)

The Zambian Government has summoned aid officials working in a refugee camp to ask them why they have been distributing genetically modified (GM) maize, despite a government ban.

A senior government official held what is described as a "furious meeting" with aid agency staff at the Makeba refugee camp in North-Western province.

Aid workers say they have nothing to replace the GM maize, which is currently feeding 125,000 refugees in five camps, and fear that riots will break out if they attempt to remove it.

The World Food Programme (WFP), which provides the food, says that the Government of Zambia has allowed it to mill and distribute the maize already stocked in the refugee camps.

The WFP says it has received no written instructions to cease these activities.

Ban

The Zambian Government decided last week to reject donations of GM food for nearly three million of its people hit by drought and famine.

The decision was made on the basis of a scientific report on the implications of using GM food on the health and economic welfare of the country.

The report was drawn up after Zambian officials visited the United States, South Africa, Britain and Belgium.

It warned that the safety of GM foods was not conclusive.

As a result it recommended that Zambia turn down the donation of US grain, which contains GM seed.

But now that the report has become public, questions have been raised about the basis of its conclusions.

Dangerous?

The safety aspect is perhaps the most puzzling.

The report states, correctly, that one form of GM maize called "Starlink" has not been authorised for human use by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

But US sources contacted by the BBC deny emphatically that there was any Starlink maize in the food sent to Zambia.

Then there is a query about the amount of GM food donated to Zambia.

The report says that 50,000 tons of GM food was brought into the country by the WFP.

But the WFP says this figure is incorrect, and the amount is far smaller.

The Zambian opposition has questioned why the US donation was turned down.

[Eddy]

Notice that is was posted as the first reply to this thread...

Yeah yeah, I was surfing with a tiny window in a rush and skipped to the bottom, my bad. :)

[Sulla the Dictator]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38232000/jpg/_38232577_levy150.jpg
President Mwanawasa says GM food is "poison"

Zambia 'furious' over GM food (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2412603.stm)

What does this have to do with anything?

[Gorilla]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4077194.stm

Pressure for Africa poverty deal
By Steve Schifferes
BBC News economics reporter at the G7 finance ministers meeting

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39991000/jpg/_39991756_leonekids203.jpg

High-profile celebrities are backing the poverty campaigners at the G8
Finance ministers from the world's richest countries have gathered in London in an attempt to agree a debt relief deal to help Africa's poor.
The talks come just a month before world leaders - and thousands of anti-poverty campaigners - converge at Gleneagles for a G8 summit.

Britain has vowed to make poverty reduction a key plank of the summit.

Its plans got a boost as the White House confirmed the US and UK had agreed on how to implement debt cuts.

Germany, France and Japan are believed to be doubtful about a total debt write-off for poor countries so having US support may help UK Chancellor Gordon Brown win them over.

Mr Brown welcomed the eight finance ministers, who were joined by the new World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, and EU economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia, to a working dinner at Lancaster House.

Mr Brown expressed optimism that a debt deal would be done, saying that there was the "political will of the richest countries to move forward," and promising that it would be "the biggest debt settlement the world has ever seen".

But the German Finance Minister, Hans Eichel, said he thought there would be no deal until Gleneagles.

"We will not come to an agreement here," he said. "What I see as very important is that we stick with the case-by-case approach on debt relief for every single country."

Debt deal?

The finance ministers spent Friday discussing the outline plan from the UK and US to write off the debts of 18 highly-indebted countries in Africa, according to White House spokesman Scott McCellan.

Full details of the plan were not available.

Mr McCellan said it would "cancel 100% of the World Bank, African Development Bank and IMF debt" - suggesting the US may have dropped objections to including IMF debts.

Funding the plan remains controversial. The US has previously said any debt relief from the World Bank should come out of funds the organisation uses to lend to poor countries.

Mr McCellan said debt would only be cancelled only for countries that showed a commitment to "sound economic policies" and reducing corruption.

Anti-poverty campaigners are concerned that only 27 poor countries have qualified for debt relief and would benefit from any initiative. They argue that 62 countries, including large debtors like Nigeria and Indonesia, should be included.

"There is only a 60% chance of a deal on debt relief, it is no means certain, and on aid we don't expect very much at all which is very disappointing," said Romilly Greenhill, policy officer at ActionAid.

Germany, France and Japan have proposed that the rich countries shoulder the costs of servicing poor nations debt, rather than write off the debts entirely.

However, Canada, which had earlier backed these plans, now appears to moving to support a complete write-off.

Disagreements among the rich

The finance ministers are hoping to resolve deep-seated disagreements over key proposals to boost aid to Africa, as well as cutting debt.

Despite a personal plea from Tony Blair, the US is unlikely to support a doubling in aid flows to poor countries to help them meet UN targets on poverty reduction.

The UK plan for an International Financing Facility, which would issue $50bn in bonds against future aid flows, is now likely to proceed only on a limited basis, perhaps supported by other EU countries but not by the US or Japan - the world's two biggest economies.

Nor does the US favour a French proposal to tax international airline travel to fund additional aid flows.

Public pressure

The development lobby, which is organising mass demonstrations during the summit, wants finance ministers to agree debt relief for all poor countries, back calls to double aid to $100bn a year, and reform the world trading system.

Campaigners said that growing pressure from the public was beginning to tell on governments.

African leaders generally welcomed the prospect of a deal.

Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu of Ghana, which would benefit from debt relief, said on Friday that African leaders must live up to their part of the deal in ensuring that the money from debt relief is spent wisely.

"We need to reinvest well enough whatever we get from it," he said.

A spokesman for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said debt was "killing" small countries.

He added: "On the one hand of course, we are grateful this is being done but we do get these things said all the time and, number one, sometimes the money doesn't turn up and if it does turn up it is late."

The G8 countries are United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

The 27 countries who are eligible for debt relief under the HIPC (highly-indebted poor countries initiative) and the 18 who have reached completion point in bold: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The 11 countries who theoretically qualify for debt relief but have not been allowed to join so far are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Comoros, Congo, Liberia, Mynamar, Somalia, Sudan, Togo.

Jubilee Debt Campaign argue that the figures show that another 24 countries qualify as needing full debt relief if they are to have the resources necessary to meet the Millennium Development Goals: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Kyrgyz Republic, Lesotho, Nepal, Moldova, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

[Ixtab]

What does this have to do with anything?African poverty.

[Gorilla]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/africalives/features/geldof.shtml

Leaving Live8 and politics to one side, Bob Geldof makes a personal journey through Africa to understand ordinary Africans and, through their experiences, understand the forces that make the continent tick.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/africalives/images/geldof150x150.jpg

Travelling through West Africa (Ghana, Benin and Mali), Central Africa (DR Congo and Uganda) and East Africa (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Somalia), Geldof explores the continent that the rest of the world seems to be leaving behind.

Geldof says of his experiences: "In Europe, we live in effect East to West - across one vast temperate climate zone. Africa, on the other hand - lying North to South - has the lot: desert with its vast seas of sand; tropical with its jungles; equatorial with its rainforest; savannah and coastal with its animals and fish. In fact, practically everything except Arctic.
"And within this immense continent more peoples, more language, more cultures, more animals than anywhere else on our world. It is quite simply the most extraordinary, beautiful and luminous place on our planet."

"Most of us see Africa as an object, a single, blighted place burning in the relentless glaring heat. For others it occupies a romantic space in our imagination of child-like primitives and wild, beautiful animal creatures.

"For still others, it's the dark sides of our minds, the impenetrable place, the unknowable mind, the hoards of walking skeletons too weak to swat the flies tat cover them, in the stinking squalor of the relief camps. Or the disease-stricken people fleeing yet another nameless battle between countries, tribes, clans or warlords. And all of this is partially true too much of the time and we will come back to it.

"But there are other Africas.

"Africa, like the other continents is not static, but perhaps unlike them, it has had to adjust and change more simply in order to survive. And it's kept its cultures and its electric vitality and its own ideas and systems that have allowed it to exist despite everything that nature and history has assaulted it with.

"It exists for itself and within itself. But just to live, just to grow food and perhaps develop an economic life like ours, the continent was dealt a lousy hand. From the beginning, geography stood against Africa."

[Gorilla]

Sulla, why are the africans so poor? Are they in a situation of poverty? If so, why?