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What's Needed Most to
FEEDTHE
WORLD'S HUNGRY!
by
Donald D. Schroeder
Not more industrial development,
but a renewed and immediate effort to improve agriculture!
S
OMETHING
is serious ly
wrong in world agricul–
ture!
Why a re so many nations
plagued with millions of ma l–
nourished or starving citi–
zens? Even certain na tions
with major industria l and
milita ry development a lso
suffe r from massive short–
ages of food that must be
made up by imports. Why?
Yes, why?- when all could
be well fed even today!
Did you know that the earlh has
nol only lhe capaci ly to feed its
population of four and a half billion
humans, but resources to fced a
populal ion
severa/ times
that?
A polentially bounteous earth ,
except in a few areac;, isn't produc–
ing the food it could. It isn't pro–
ducing the successful farmers it
could . We need to ask why it
docsn't. And what is needed to lift
the cu rse on world agricu lt ure
today!
Greatest Challenge
Worl dwid e, farmers a re facing
their greatest challenge in history.
Food supplies mud
nearly double
by lhc year 2000-only 17 years
away. That's to give lhe projected
world popu lation of around six bi l–
lion- barring sorne wor ld cataslro–
phe- an adequate diet.
But t he Internationa l Food
Research lnstitute warns that poor
nations 17 years from now won't be
Aprll 1983
able to afford to buy the staggering
amounts of food needed. And food
aid-as dist inct from food sales–
from the handful of major food sur–
plus nations will not salve this
explosive problem. And the few big
food exporters, producing ever
more costly food, certainly can't
afford to give it away.
What , then, is the hope to feed
hungry peoples?
Food aid is practica!, at best ,
on ly in sho rt-term emergencies
such as war relief, drought or natu–
ra] disasters. Prolonged food aid is
a positive deterrenl to food produc–
t ion in many hungry lands. I t
allows government leaders to avoid
taking the difficult steps needed to
place their nation's agriculture on a
sounder basis.
The facts are thcsc: Even now
the problem of world hunger could
be greatJy alleviated. But only if
governments worldwide
immedi–
ately
reorder national priori t ies and
devote much more o f their
research, wealth and energy to agri–
cultural and rural development.
Even now cooperative effor ts could
he lp needy nations better feed
themselves.
In fact, yields could be doubled
or tripled in many nations-even in
those whose millions perpetually
totter on the brink of starvation,
such as in Bangladesh. T his s tart–
ling improvement in food produc–
t ion is presently possible by uti–
lizing the best seeds and crop vari–
eties for a given area, and by more
efficient use of water and local fer–
tilizers.
Food supplies can be dramatical–
ly increased in many arcas even
wilh
present
levels of produclion.
How?
By better access roads to fields
and markets, by better harvesting
techniques, and by better storage
and food preserving facilities. Better
rural hygiene, heaJlh and living con–
ditions are desperately needed to
enable farmers to produce more.
An old saying sums up the real
need in hungry lands: "Give a hun–
g ry man a fish today and he will be
hungry tomorrow. But teach a hun–
g ry man how to catch his own fish
and he will eat today and tomor–
row."
The Big Problem
But all lhis demands a major reori–
enlation o f government policies
t hroughoul lhe world.
Jt
means
agricullure and rural development
must be g iven a much greater
priority.
lt
means if not land ownership
for most farmers , then at least
greater access lo good land.
It
means making available affordable
credit to poorer farmers so they can
utili ze better farming techniques.
It
means establishment of attrac–
tive food prices for farmers lo
e ncou rage t hem to produce. 1t
means more eas iJy available farm
supplies and equipment.
Sound agricultura! developmenl
o,yould also require following up with
better storage and preservation facil–
ities that often could double food
supplies by cutting wastage. And
good roads to move crops quickly lo
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