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FOOD CRISIS? A CRITIQUE OF THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call.

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Presentation on theme: "FOOD CRISIS? A CRITIQUE OF THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call."— Presentation transcript:

1 FOOD CRISIS? A CRITIQUE OF THE WASHINGTON CONSENSUS “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist” - Don Helda Camara Dr. Tidings P. Ndhlovu Manchester Metropolitan University. UK Visiting Research Fellow, Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa (Unisa) t.Ndhlovu@mmu.ac.uk

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3 INTRODUCTION  World population growth and urbanization (mega cities); hunger and undernourishment; sustainability? Econ Growth or Environmental Protection?  Solutions : Indoor farming? Supply ↑ ? Liberalization? GMCs? Basic Needs Approach? Structural and political (re) organization?  Paradox: over-supply ↔ hunger; production ↔ prices;  Provisioning: Market Economy versus Moral Economy  Empirical evidence:  Paradox explained  Alternative Approach: Abalimi Bezekhaya (South Africa)  Concluding Thoughts

4 Source: UN (2014: 9)

5 Source: UN (2014: 7)

6 PROVISIONING: MARKET ECONOMY VERSUS MORAL ECONOMY  Moral Economy (EP Thompson; Amartya Sen)  Role of the State: Provisioning  Social conflict: “Just Price” (UK); 1943 Bengal Famine; power; equity; distribution  Market Economy (Adam Smith; Thomas Malthus) “natural” market forces Stability ensues: excess demand or supply is seen as a temporary phenomenon Laissez faire policies  Uneven and Combined Development

7 EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE  FAO: March 2007 - March 2008: Watershed in world ‘food crisis’ FAO Food Price Index up by 57% (cereals, 88%; oils and fats, 106%; dairy, 48%) Consequence - number of undernourished people increase by 75 million to a total of 923 million Revised figures for 2007 - 2009 (taking account of weather conditions) – cereals ↑2%; wheat ↑6%; coarse grain ↑3%; rice↓2.3%; 867 million undernourished Price volatility: 2010-2015 (Figure 3) 868 million malnourished; Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Production (Figures 4 and 5)

8 Source: FAO, 2014: 2

9 Source: Brown, 2012: Supporting Data; Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture.

10 Source: Mulvey, 2009:3

11 PARADOX EXPLAINED “Perfect storm” (food & water shortages, climate change, high-cost energy)? Structural/Political economy? Geo-politics of food: hunger/malnutrition/schooling affected ↔ obesity/diabetes/hypertension/asthma/eczema  Nature of food crisis o oil prices ↑ ~ cost of producing food (fertilizer and pesticides made from petroleum and natural gas) o bio-fuels: 20 – 30% of increase in food prices in 2008 o Subsidization of production of agro-fuels (USA, EU, Brazil) o Climatic change: cyclones; hurricanes, etc.; droughts; damaged crops; prices ↑

12 PARADOX EXPLAINED  Speculative investment (accounting for 55% of total agricultural volume) Buying stocks; hoarding (e.g. rice) in expectation of future higher prices Land acquisitions – conflicts; refugees; MNCs – ‘socially responsible investment’  Privatization espoused by WTO and IMF  Green Revolution – capital intensive techniques; environmental degradation  Agro-industry: primary source of greenhouse gases; food and animal feed crops displaced to new areas; chronically hungry to increase by 600 million in 2080  Food value chain: Role of MNCs: centralization and concentration of capital

13 ALTERNATIVE APPROACH: ABALIMI BEZEKHAYA (SA)  FoodBank South Africa (SA)  Abalimi Bezekhaya (“Planters of home”): Western and Eastern Cape Collective non-profit voluntary micro associations Marketing wing: Harvest of Hope (HOH) Training Model: Community Gardens (Survival, Subsistence, Livelihood levels  Sustainable Development Continuum  Survival, Subsistence, Livelihood, Commercial phases  Abalimi Sustainable Index  Gender-sensitive and community-based system

14 The sustainable development continuum for organic micro farming projects Source: Abalimi Bezekhaya, 2013: 1

15 Concluding Thoughts  Nature of the problem: hunger amidst plentiful supplies  Failed World Bank policies do not address root of food security Tendency towards excess with periods of scarcity Hunger and undernourishment  Control of agriculture and food policies by communities (not freer trade) ala Abalimi Bezekhaya o Structural and political change: agrarian reform; equitable production and distribution o Fundamental social transformation

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