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NEWS ÜVERVIEW
UnderstandingWorld Events and Trends
Feeding
Africa's
Hungry
J
usi a few decades ago,
Africa was a
self-sustaining continent.
Most African countries, al
that time European colonies,
were net food exporters. But
now, with each passing
year, Africa - the earth's
poorest cont inent-is
becoming less able to feed
even itself.
Television's reporting on
lamine relief efforts has
largely ignored the
underlying causes of Africa's
plight. Stopgap emergency
aid eases the problem only
temporarily.
Lack of timely rainfall is
only one aspect of a
many-faceted problem.
Other critica! factors include
governmental instability; civil
wars that disrupt planting,
harvesting and distribution;
inept economic management
and widespread corruption;
overemphasis on industrial
26
Partnership in
Danger
E
arlier this year the United
States imposed a 35
percent tariff on imported
Ganadian cedar roofing
materials. Ganada's Prime
Minister Brian Mulroney
responded with tariffs on
U.S.-made books,
magazines and sorne
development at the expense
of the agricultura! sector;
inadequate food storage
and processing facilities; a
substantial foreign debt
burden (US$175 billion); and
emphasis on a narrow range
of "cash crops" for export
rather !han on
food-producing peasant
farming.
Experts agree that money
alone cannot salve the
crisis. Many African leaders
are coming lo realize that
the solution will require a
majar revamping of their
interna! economies.
In many African countries,
state marketing boards have
kept prices of crops
artificially low lo please city
residents, leaving farmers
little incentive lo produce
beyond their own needs.
Experts say that by creating
new incentives for farmers,
African nations could
experience dramatic
increases in food production
within a very short time.
Experts also urge an
abandonment of the "big is
better" approach to
computer components.
The retaliation was not
something Mr. Mulroney
enjoyed doing.
What is al stake is the
closest economic
relationship enjoyed by any
two countries in the world.
Ganada and the U.S. have
developed the world's most
successful common market
in goods, services and
resources.
agriculture. They
recommend more support to
localized small-scale
projects such as helping
villagers fight soil erosion,
dig wells and build
water-storage catchments.
But in the end, politics
again could undo what little
progress appears to be at
last under way. The threat
Trade between the U.S.
and jusi one Ganadian
province, Ontario. is larger
than that between the U.S.
and Japan. America's
second largest trading
partner.
Significantly, the U.S.
trade deficit with Ganada is
second only to the
export-import gap with
Japan, a country with a
much larger population. •
of worldwide sanctions
against South Africa could
boomerang against many
nations in southern Africa
critically dependen! upon
food imports from or
through South Africa.
Pretoria has threateneq to
cut off goods and transport
services lo its neighbors if
they support sanctions. •
ECONOMIC FALLOUT
E
ast European agriculture
has suffered the
economic effects of the
Ghernobyl nuclear accident
Western nations, including
the European Gommunity
and the United States, al
first banned, then set
standards of permissible
~
radioactivity levels for, East
i
bloc food exports. East
European exporters have
i
complied with these
standards by offering
detailed radiation readings.
The result is an economic
crimp on East bloc
agricultura! export earnings.
While sorne suspect foods
may find a market in the
Soviet Union, reducing East
bloc debts lo the Soviets.
badly needed hard currency
earnings will fall. •