How comfortable would you feel taking candy from a baby? Alas, give these kids back the power to grow their own food. You don’t want them to go begging do you? (Photo via LDSC)
ROB THE POOR, GIVE TO THE RICH
Rich nations (and powerful businesses) are farming an area 2 times the size of the United Kingdom to make sure there’s enough food for their people (180,000 acres). The Guardian calls this the biggest “21st-century African land grab” since the old colonial times. What’s even crazier are greenhouses that are as big as 20 football pitches (fields) in the Rift Valley — that’s bigger than any greenhouse I’ve ever seen (only Leamington, the tomato capital of North America might have anything that comes close).
Saudi greenhouses in Ethiopia (Photo via Circumference)
How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab |
Environment |
The Observer: “The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.“
Wow, talk about the extra food miles. Not to mention the power needed to use the computers, the fuel needed to ship the food and to keep it cold. If you need more lung killing air pollution you can add this to your shopping list.
Note: 50 tonnes = 50,000 kg = ~100,000 lbs. That means the women are picking and packing over 100 lbs/day. They get jobs though how many more thousands are going hungry because they don’t have the land or gear to grow their own food?
FROM BAD TO WORSE
And because of the food shortages, rising oil prices and food-for-fuel policies (i.e. EU), this is only becoming worse. There have been people who’ve been kicked off their own land and homes, riots and land grabbing complaints. Secret deals are being struck behind closed doors in African countries where people go hungry every day — because a lot of the food grown is sent over to rich nations.
Corn for car fuel… (Photo via Ethiopian-News)
THE NEW MASTERS OF THE LAND
Who are some of the biggest cheap land hunters around? They include “international agribusinesses, investment banks, hedge funds, commodity traders, sovereign wealth funds as well as … pension funds, foundations and individuals“. And if they can’t buy it, they get it leased to them for $1 per year per hectare (that’s like 40 cents per acre).
WHAT’S GOOD EARTH WORTH?
In Ontario, farmland costs hundreds of thousands of dollars for a few acres (over 1000 dollars an acre). Most new farmers can’t even afford the price of land. That includes practically every new farmer I know — most farmers have to rent their land from someone else.
Why is Africa the cash cow?
Food shortages and riots in 28 countries in 2008, declining water supplies, climate change and huge population growth have together made land attractive. Africa has the most land and, compared with other continents, is cheap,” said Devlin Kuyek, a Montreal-based researcher with Grain. (Via the Guardian)
SCORCHED EARTH, POISONED WATER
The worst part is that all of this is factory farming. They’re using chemical poisons (pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and more), oil made fertilizers, insane amounts of water and huge trucks, warehouses and more. Some flower and food farm businesses don’t even get charged for water so they drink underground water dry — when food is shipped, they’re actually shipping that water to you.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
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| From Volunteer Highlights 2009 at FoodCycles |
Buy more local, chemical free fruits, vegetables and grains — strengthen food here in Ontario. Buy from local farmers you know and trust who are not using chemical poisons, oil made fertilizers or worse or grow your own on your balcony or in your yard. And of course cut down on the amount of long distance supermarket food you get unless you know it’s grown with good will for soil, water and people (fair trade, organic).
PS. For people into politics, better policies need to be written and set in stone to make sure these land deals are fair to the African people and don’t become land grabs.
You can also get fresh tasting, healthy, chemical free vegetables from FoodCycles through its CSA (community shared agriculture) program and summer markets. That way you know your food doesn’t come at the price of someone else’s home, land and livelihood.
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