World Hunger Traced to Colonialism and Biofuels
Jan 7, 2011 Michael Streich
Hunger in the under-developed nations is rapidly becoming the chief global crisis, posing questions such as who will live and who will die. Academics and humanitarian organizations trace the problem of hunger to 19th Century colonialism. But a new paradigm that involves the energy needs of industrialized nations is perpetuating the hunger crisis as the last vestiges of sustainable food production give way to the pressures of biofuels.
Colonialism and the Destruction of Traditional Agricultural Patterns
A January 7, 2011 Spiegel article on world hunger asks the decisive question: who decides whether one group receives food while another group must starve? Donations from wealthy countries have fallen as the global economic crisis forced governments to look at domestic needs. Christine Vestal writes, for example, that in the United States, “38 million people are receiving food stamps…” (Global Research, July 14, 2010).
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) states that the number of hungry people in the world was over one billion in 2009. Frances M. Lappe and Joseph Collins identify colonialism as the root cause of global hunger. According to Lappe and Collins, colonialism destroyed crop diversification to accommodate cash crops like cocoa and cotton. This destructive policy involved the creation of the plantation system as well as efforts to undercut food exports.
Challenging the Colonial Notion of Primitive Cultures
Colonial powers viewed indigenous, native cultures as primitive and backward. Tied to this was the missionary zeal determined to “rescue the perishing” and make them Christian, which, in the 19th Century, was equated with the path toward civilized society. But indigenous cultures were agriculturally advanced and, in many cases, created a diversity of sustainable crops.
Anthropologist Jack Weatherford, writing about the Andean farmers in Northwestern South America at the time of the Spanish conquest, concludes that these farmers, “…were producing about three thousand different types of potatoes in the Andes.” It is also well known that the Aztecs and other groups living in Mesoamerica were noted for the diversity of their crop production, resulting in the Colombian Exchange.
In colonial South Carolina, plantation owners cultivating rice sought African slaves that came from rice producing regions in Africa. During the American Civil War, Britain, deprived of U.S. cotton, turned to Egypt and India, having introduced cotton production in those regions much earlier in anticipation of a U.S. cotton disruption.
Such examples demonstrate two things: colonial powers were well aware of native agricultural expertise and diversity, and were not reluctant to force indigenous peoples to switch agricultural pursuits to commodities that benefited the mother country.
Neo-Colonialism Enhances World Hunger
Somalia went from a net exporter of food to a nation faced with famine during the administration of U.S. President George H.W. Bush. Somalia played a key role during the Cold War. Once that war was over, financial assistance to Somalia ended. This resulted in the rise of war lords. Massive instability ended farming and despite U.S. intervention, Somalia is today a nation of poverty, courted by extremist organizations and involved in high profile piracy.
In a New York Times article (March 3, 2003), Tina Rosenberg noted that Mexican corn farmers are going hungry because of cheap corn imports from U.S. megafarms. Due to the lack of Mexican governmental subsidies and bank credits, small farmers cannot switch to more lucrative commodities. In many cases, their farms are lost to land investors, usually bankrolled by foreign enterprises operating in the wealthy, developed nations.
The 21st Century Need for Biofuels Exacerbates Exploitation and Hunger
Energy consumption drives the industrial developed world. Biofuel production has taken the place of coffee and cocoa plantations. A report by Deutsche Welle (September 8, 2010), concludes that, “With increasing demand for biofuel production reducing areas of arable land around the world, experts fear that the ultimate impact on food security will be global rather than local.”
A January 22, 2009 article in Spiegel details ethanol production in Brazil. During colonial times, Brazil was the first region to be used by Portugal for sugar cultivation. Sugar cultivation resulted in European plantation economies in the New World that depended on African slaves. Today’s slaves are the Brazilians that still harvest sugar cane, but for the energy needs of the developed world. Spiegel reports that, “In 2008 Brazil produced just under 26 billions liters of ethanol, a number projected to rise to 53 billion by 2017.”
A major concern for those working toward a clean environment is the on-going destruction of Brazil's rainforest. Yet while the EU protested strongly and even offered payment to Brazil, the United States, which under President Trump is emasculating every environmental law now in force, turns a deaf ear. "America first" refuses to assess the world's environmental woes even as current leadership turns clean energy on it's head.
Advocates for the Brazilian workers, however, paint a picture of exploitation and abuse. Spiegel quotes Father Tiago stating that, “Anyone who buys ethanol is pumping blood into his tank. Ethanol is produced by slaves.” Deutsche Welle reports that, “Local communities are facing increased hunger and food insecurity just so Europe can fuel its cars.”
Colonialism and the New Imperialism Affects Global Hunger
Colonialism may have ended historically in the mid-20th Century, but economic imperialism continues. Despite nationalization efforts, such as taken by Zambia over the copper mines, global enterprises continue to manipulate local governments and, in the process, ignore the needs of people. In terms of agriculture and global hunger concerns, the destruction of crop diversification that began centuries ago continues.
Spiegel, in its January 7, 2011 article on hunger, concludes, “This is the ugly, inhumane side of international aid.” According to Spiegel, “…billions are being spent to rescue banks and countries…” but the effects of global hunger remain.
Sources:
- Frances Moore Lappe and Joseph Conrad, “Why Can’t People Feed Themselves?” Social Problems of the Modern World, Frances V. Moulder, editor (Wadsworth, 2000)
- Tina Rosenberg, “Why Mexico’s Small Corn Farmers Go Hungry,” New York Times, March 3, 2003
- Jack Weatherford, Indian Givers: How The Indians of the Americas Transformed the World (Fawcett Books, 1988)
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