CFFO: Feeding the World Series Part 2 – Political Manipulation

There has been a lot of conversation about how farmers are going to have to feed nine billion people in the near future.  If some changes were made in the way our society deals with food, this could already be accomplished now.

I have previously addressed waste as a key factor and indicated that if we make changes in the way we buy, produce and consume food it can help feed the world.

Another contributor is political manipulation and it has created major problems on the world scene.

Here are some facts taken from the World Trade Report – 2014.  The agriculture sector, which employs more that half of the work force in developing countries and over 70% in the least developed countries, is critical in lifting people out of poverty.  Evidence suggests that growth in agriculture delivers more poverty reduction than growth in other sectors in low-income economies.  Moreover, virtually all economies that managed to reduce poverty significantly went through a period of increased agricultural productivity.  The least developed countries are net food importers and are the most affected by tariffs, distortive subsidies, and other price-based policies of other countries.  Subsidies in richer countries push down prices for poorer countries that hurt their already struggling economies.  The economies-of-scale of large multinational agro enterprises creates problems for small producers in developing countries.

We are dumping our excess cheap subsidized food into third world countries to the point where those farmers cannot compete and make a living.  Instead of feeding them, it is increasing their poverty.  The least developed countries’ per capita incomes are just four percent of the developed economies’ average.

Poverty reduction can only be achieved by allowing underdeveloped countries to increase their own agricultural productivity. It will increase their employment, production and consumption. It is like the adage, “If you want to feed someone for a day, give him a fish.  If you want to feed him for a lifetime, teach him to fish.”

We don’t need to feed the world.  We need to allow the world to feed itself.

Source: CFFO