Famine/Water Crises

[waltky]

See prior post...

House overwhelmingly OKs farm bill
WASHINGTON, May 14,`08 -- The U.S. House Wednesday approved a $300 billion farm bill by a margin well over the number of votes required to override a promised presidential veto.

The House voted 318 to 106 to approve and send to the Senate a bill President George Bush said Tuesday he would veto. Support for the bill in the Senate appears to be strong enough to make it unlikely Congress would sustain a veto, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The Wednesday vote in the House saw 100 Republicans join 218 Democrats in voting in favor of the bill.

The vote may be a sign that lawmakers are averse to bucking popular opinion in an election year and may also be an indication that Republicans are putting some distance between themselves and Bush as his term in office nears an end, the newspaper said. The White House Wednesday called the farm bill "fit for the compost heap" because, among other things, it provides too much federal aid to well off farmers.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., defended the bill, saying it would benefit "urban, suburban and rural areas." Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the committee's ranking Republican said much of the funding would go toward nutrition, alternate-energy and conservation programs, the Times said.

Source

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Kids dying of dehydration and malnutrition in Ethiopia...

Children Dying in Drought-Stricken Ethiopia
18 May 2008 : Humanitarian agencies are rushing emergency aid to drought-stricken central Ethiopia, where a sudden deterioration in food supplies has led to surge of child mortality. At least 23 children have died at hospitals and emergency feeding centers during the past three weeks, and authorities say countless others have died at home for lack of treatment.

It is bedlam inside a tent on the grounds of the Shashemene hospital. Thirty severely malnourished children, their mothers, and assorted other siblings are scattered over the bare ground, with nothing to do but wait for the next feeding. Three-year-old Chemeni is a tiny wisp of bony flesh with black eyes wide as saucers. Her mother, Buqre Hussein softly strokes Chemeni's face, a younger daughter strapped to her back. She says her children are among the fortunate ones. "I am glad my children are recovering,” she said. “And I expect they will recover. I am glad to see this."

Every four hours, each child in the tent receives a red cup filled with a high-nutrition supplement known as F-75. But Shashemene's regional health officer, Dr. Abebe Megerso says many more malnourished children are having to be turned away. "The supply is not enough because we did not know the problem is this much overwhelming,”said Megerso. “And now as the people with problem are appearing, the supply we have at hand is becoming short, and even now, we do not have F-100 and F-75, particularly F-75 is very scarce now."

This makeshift therapeutic feeding center was erected nearly three weeks ago when health officials realized they had an emergency on their hands. Dr. Megerso says regional health officials tried to prepare for the effects of the drought, but could not imagine the shortages, and the flood of malnourished children, would be this bad. "It is unusual,” he said “We have never had problem before because this zone is known by surplus production� We are simply admitting the severely malnourished ones, and we are referring the children with high complications to hospital. But we cannot refer all of them to hospital because we can create high overcrowding in hospital and we are not well prepared."

More VOA News - Children Dying in Drought-Stricken Ethiopia

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Would imagine the UN will do as much about hunger as it does other important issues - too little, too late...

UN Human Rights Council Holds Special Session On World Food Crisis
22 May 2008 - Nations attending a United Nations-sponsored special session on the world food crisis say failure to address the soaring cost of food threatens to undermine gains on reducing poverty. They warn this could lead to growing instability. The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council is calling on governments to enact measures to meet the vital food needs of their populations.

The United Nations estimates more than 850 million people worldwide are going hungry, and another two billion are suffering from malnutrition. The World Health Organization says malnutrition in children can cause life-long health problems. The rights to adequate food and freedom from hunger are enshrined in international law. In calling for this special session, the U.N. Human Rights Council argued that the global food crisis is a massive violation of human rights.

In opening the conference, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, told delegates the high prices and shortages of food were jeopardizing the well-being and rights of countless people. "In some regions, natural disasters or misguided policies, or both, compound already severe situations and render them catastrophic for the most discriminated and marginalized populations," said Louise Arbour.

Arbour mentioned no country by name. But, her thoughts reflect the recent catastrophic events in Burma where the government has compounded the tragedy arising from Cyclone Nargis by not allowing enough foreign aid to reach the 2.5 million affected people. Arbour said the current food crisis stems from several factors including distortions in supply and demand and unfair trade policies. She said a failure to respond to the food crisis in a comprehensive way could trigger a domino effect by putting at risk other fundamental rights, including the right to health or to education.

More VOA News - UN Human Rights Council Holds Special Session On World Food Crisis*

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World bank finally coughs up some money...

World Bank directs funds to fight food crisis
Thursday 29th May, 2008 - The World Bank is about to direct money towards meals for vulnerable school children and farmer assistance, in a US$1.2 billion fund to help fight the global food crisis.

The bank's president Robert Zoellick has declared that higher food prices are putting people and countries in danger.

The World Bank donor action has come on top of a UN food agency forecast that food prices will remain high over the next decade.

Its new report says rice will be about 30 per cent more expensive while beef and pork will stay about 20 per cent higher.

World Bank directs funds to fight food crisis

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Overpopulation finally catchin' up with us...

Food commodities tipped to reach astronomical prices
Friday 30th May, 2008 - Wheat, corn, rice and soybeans have climbed to records this year on shrinking global stockpiles and rising demand, with a prediction that wheat and corn prices could go 25 per cent higher in ten year’s time.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says demand for food and biofuels is soaring, creating a market for wheat to cost US$231.60 a tonne in 2016-2017 and coarse grains, notably corn, to lift to US$166.60 a tonne.

The organisation predicted prices of US$183.20 and US$138.20 in their report only one year ago.

The OECD agriculture report says changing diets, urbanisation, economic growth and expanding populations are driving food and feed demand in developing countries. It says biofuel demand is the largest source of new demand in decades.

Food commodities tipped to reach astronomical prices

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Fat cats feasting during famine...

Leaders Feast On Italian Fare During Hunger Summit
Jun. 3, 2008 - World Leaders Dine On Italian Specialties As They Discuss World Hunger

For presidents and premiers at summits, delicacies washed down by fine wines are all part of the agenda. But the puff pastries with corn and mozzarella, pasta with pumpkin and shrimp, and rolls of thinly sliced veal served up Tuesday at a U.N. conference on fighting hunger were a contrast to bleak accounts of starving people around the world. The menu was in French but the fare was strictly Italian, served in a dining room at the headquarters of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The repast was accompanied by a chilled white wine from Orvieto in the hills of Umbria north of Rome. "It's pretty standard stuff," said FAO spokesman Nick Parsons, describing the meal as "pleasant, light and nutritious." For decades, the FAO has striven for a sober culinary touch since an embarrassing moment during a similar summit called in 1974 amid a food crisis and oil shock.

The foreign minister of Bangladesh, which had suffered a severe famine, addressed a nearly deserted conference hall as most of the delegates nibbled on canapes at a nearby cocktail party. Commentators howled hypocrisy. But in Rome, one of Europe's premier gastronomic capitals, it's hard to deliver a spare meal - and while they are here delegates will be eating such specialties as cheese mousse, parmesan risotto and lemon mousse with raspberry sauce.

More Leaders Feast On Italian Fare During Hunger Summit, World Leaders Dine On Italian Specialties As They Discuss World Hunger - CBS News

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Welcome to the New World Order...

Rising Food Prices Attributed To New World Economy
June 8, 2008 Washington, D.C. - A food expert from Cornell Universities traced the cause of rising food prices to the new world economy. Edward McLaughlin identified the factors as the production of fuel from grain and other food items and escalating global demand for higher-protein diet.

The phenomenon of rising food prices brings the 1970s to mind, according to economists that see a parallel to what happened 30 years ago and what is taking place now, which both share a common factor of soaring oil prices. The non-stop increase of food prices has prompted the U.S. Agriculture Department to project food prices to exceed inflation rate for the next few years. Ephraim Leibtag, an economist in the department's Economic Research Service, told USA Today, "The question now is the rate of increase."

The Labor Department said on the average prices of food in the U.S. has gone up by 5 percent for the past 12 months, the highest rate of yearly increase in almost 20 years. Eggs went up by more than 30 percent, dairy by 12 percent and baked items by 9 percent. In contrast, the inflation rate was only 2.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the Food Summit in Rome closed with a pledge from delegates of 181 nations to cut trade barriers and increase agricultural production to ease the global food shortage. Immediate assistance would be provided small farmers in poorer nations through donations of seed, fertilizer and animal feed. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for a cut in import taxes and export limits for food products. Despite the Rome Food Summit being being a pledging session, the gathering raised billions of dollars in assistance from several nations, regional banks and the World Bank.

Rising Food Prices Attributed To New World Economy | AHN | June 9, 2008

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Famine severe in Ethiopia...

Hunger in Ethiopia now spreading to adults
Jun 9, 2008 - Like so many other victims of Ethiopia's hunger crisis, Usheto Beriso weighs just half of what he should. He is always cold and swaddled in a blanket. His limbs are stick-thin.

But Usheto is not the typical face of Ethiopia's chronic food problems, the scrawny baby or the ailing toddler. At age 55, he is among a growing number of adults and older children - traditionally less-vulnerable groups - who have been stricken by severe hunger due to poor rains and recent crop failure in southern Ethiopia, health workers say. "To see adults in this condition, it's a very serious situation," Mieke Steenssens, a volunteer nurse with Doctors Without Borders, told The Associated Press as she registered the 5-foot-4 Usheto's weight at just 73 pounds.

Aid groups say the older victims suggest there is an escalation in the crisis in Ethiopia, a country that drew international attention in 1984 when a famine compounded by communist policies killed 1 million people. This year's crisis, brought on by a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices, is far less severe. But while figures for how many adults and older children are affected are not available, at least four aid groups interviewed by the AP said they noticed a troubling increase.

"We're overwhelmed," said Margaret Aguirre, a spokeswoman for the International Medical Corps, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based aid agency. "There's not enough food and everyone's starving, and that's all there is to it. "Older children are starting to show the signs of malnutrition when normally they might be able to withstand shocks to the system," she added. "What's particularly concerning is that the moderately malnourished are soaring. It's increasing so much that it means those children are going to slide into severe malnutrition."

More My Way News - Hunger in Ethiopia now spreading to adults

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Farmers cash in on water, but is that fair?...

Fair for farmers to cash in on water?
Sat., June. 21, 2008 - Law allows sale of rights downriver, which doesn't sit well with some

Ray Colbert wanted out after five decades of growing apples, but his son didn't want the farm in northern Washington. No one else did either. So, Colbert sold the last big piece of his operation, an 80-acre parcel, to a buyer far downstate who wanted what came with the land: water from the Okanogan River. State regulators signed off on the buyer's request to transfer the rights to the water and let it flow hundreds of miles down river, figuring the deal was good for fish and wouldn't hurt anyone else's water supply.

Local officials, however, fear such deals will dry out their rural farming community. "If this were to snowball and keep up, Okanogan County would literally dry up. It would dry up its economy, its agricultural production and everything else," said state Sen. Bob Morton, a Republican whose rural district sprawls across remote northern Washington. Moving water around the West is nothing new — it's what enabled apples to sprout in this area in the first place. In Northern California, river water is diverted south to irrigate most of the country's winter vegetables and keep faucets flowing in the Los Angeles area.

Officials in northwest Montana are negotiating a water compact with the Blackfeet Indian Reservation that would allow the tribe to sell water from the headwaters of the Missouri River to any place in the vast swath of the state that lies in the river's basin. "There's no constraint where they can market that water to — hundreds and hundreds of miles," said John Tubbs, administrator of the Montana Department of Natural Resources water resources division.

More Fair for farmers to cash in on water? - Environment - MSNBC.com

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High food prices causing hunger...

Oxfam warns the world is going hungry
Thursday 26th June, 2008 - Aid agency Oxfam has blamed biofuels for 30 per cent of the increase in global food prices.

Oxfam has reported that 30 million people worldwide are now in poverty, due to the soaring use of biofuels.

The directors of Oxfam say rich countries are demanding more biofuels in their transport industries, causing spiralling production and food inflation.

For instance, the European Union plans to get 10 per cent of its transport fuel from renewable sources, such as biofuels, by 2020.

Oxfam says grain reserves are now at an all-time low and has called on wealthy countries to dismantle subsidies for biofuels and reduce import tariffs.

Oxfam warns the world is going hungry