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Is World Hunger Off the Global Agenda?
By Hwaa Irfan 03/12/2001
One of the beauties of Ramadan, is the Table of Mercy, where meals are provided in public spaces in order to allow people to break their fasts with their friends, family and even strangers. Even non-Muslims have been known to attend. Everyone is considered equal and this affords the opportunity for the poor to break their fast adequately and thus be more able to fast the following day. Ideally, Muslims should also help feed the poor throughout the year as well.
Despite this, there are 800 million people who go to bed hungry at night every day, not knowing what the next day will bring. Many strategies are employed to relieve this problem in the Muslim, Christian and secular community. However, the reality of hunger and its true priority on the global agenda recently presented themselves after the terrorist attacks of September 11. A
As Saidato Saifulozoda from Tajikistan forages for wheat in the rat-holes of drought-stricken fields this November, the World Food Summit has been postponed, meeting with the same fate as many other global summits canceled after the events of September 11 (ENS p.3).
Other meetings that were canceled include those of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Mobilization for Global Justice and the Peoples' Summit. To top off the list, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) postponed the World Food Summit that was set for November 3rd - 9th. Director-General Jacques Diouf commented that, "Unfortunately the present international circumstances and the loss of so many innocent lives and the crisis that followed have led us to seek postponement of such an event" (ENS p. 1,2).
The World Food Summit 2001 was to be the follow-up to the 1996 summit when 185 nations pledged to cut the number of hungry people in half by 2015. The call for the impending summit was due to the growing reality that the commitment made in 1996 would not be fulfilled without renewed efforts (ENS, p.1).
Hunger is considered a problem that affects even those that are not hungry. This is because hunger dulls the senses, reduces productivity in the workplace, abates the human potential and causes related illnesses, which can then spread to all areas of the population. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights went further than the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by stating "everyone has the right to…adequate food." By '"adequate food" they meant food that is culturally acceptable and that the method of production is environmentally and socially sustainable without presenting a socio-economic threat (FAO, p.1, 2).
However, this understanding has not always been in people's minds as they try to eradicate hunger from the globe. Many global hunger programs are created with profit in mind and do little to take the cultural norms and needs of the country into consideration.
In India, for instance, millions of dollars were invested in a plan that would force 20 million of the world's poorest off the land to make way for industrialized agriculture and GM (genetically modified) crops. The Vision 20/20 scheme developed by the U.S. consultancy firm McKinsey wanted to introduce GM crops and giant U.S. prairie-style farms in the semi-arid Indian state of Andhara. In another area, Britain came under attack for backing a scheme through aid that would produce BT cotton and vitamin A rice for export. This far from meets the needs of the local people and previous experience has driven hundreds of farmers to commit suicide due to the growing debt incurred. This type of scheme reduces socio-economic sustainability of the farmers by reducing the need for them (Harding, p.5).
Furthermore, some Phillipino farmers have unknowingly been planting GM crops in Benquet, which provides 70% of the Phillipines with vegetables. Wigberto Tanada, last March, called for the Senate to label genetically modified organism (GMO) products because of probable porcine additives, effecting the Muslim population. Congressman Del de Guzman introduced a bill this year making it a criminal offence to sell unlabeled GMO products. It could earn a 6-12 year jail sentence plus a $2,000 fine. Guzman stated that, "Consumers have the right to know the contents of the food items they buy and they decide for themselves whether to buy or not." The products in question include Cerelac Wheat, canola oil and potato chips (Bengwayan, p.1-3).
Afghans have recently become victims of the latest "hunger eradication" plan. Four U.S. C-17 cargo planes dropped 70,000 rations of barley, stew, rice, shortbread cookies and peanut butter in Afghanistan recently (Gannon. p.2, 3). According to CNN, the rations comply with Islamic dietary laws: 2,200 calories per ration of bean salad, rice and beans, crackers, peanut butter, raisins, flat bread, strawberry jam and apple fruit bar. Besides wondering if gelatin is present (gelatin may be derived from pigs which are forbidden to be ingested by Islamic dietary regulations), what would they have us believe? It is far from the internationally recognized standard of "adequate food". Furthermore, many of the cluster bombs dropped in the region around the same time are often mistaken for food rations, as they were the same exact color, making the gathering of food packages potentially lethal.
It is ironic that the World Food Summit has been cancelled at a time when it is most needed to bring the world's attention to the plight of the world's starving. GM foods; foods which do not comply with cultural norms; foods which one would only eat when they are starving; and food production methods which interfere with the environment or culture of a given place are not what the first World Food Summit had in mind when it intended to, "cut the number of hungry in half by 2015."
Sources:
Bengwayan, Michael. "Philippine House Approves Prison Term for GMO Labelling Violators." Environmental News Service. 08/15/01. 1-4. Lycos. Network. 10/16/01.
CNN. "Agencies Question Afghan Aid Drops." 10/09/01. 1-3. News Update.
Globalexchange.org. 10/15/01.
ENS. "World Food Summit Political Pot boils over." Environmental News Service. 10/16/01. 1-4.
Lycos. Network. 10/16/01.
Food and Agricultural Organization. "Food: A Fundamental Human Right." May'01. 1-2. FAO.org. 10/18/01.
Gannon, Kathy. "US Bombs Hit Red Cross Warehouses." Associated Press. 10/16/01. 1-6. Yahoo News. Yahoo.com. 10/17/01.
Globalexchange.org. "The Global Rulemakers." 1-2. Global Economy. Globalexchange.org. 10/15/01.
Harding, Luke. & Vidal, John. "Aid Plan Sparks Row over Use of GM Crops in India."
Guardian Weekly.
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