Christian Aid and a host of other development agencies launch a major new campaign today, which I warmly endorse. As they say (including a massive endorsement for country-by-country reporting in the process):
The world produces enough food for everyone, yet one in eight people on this planet are living with the pain of hunger.
IF we all act together, we can make world leaders change the future by tackling four big IFs:
Tax
we stop big companies dodging taxes in poor countries, so that millions of people can free themselves from hunger.
Too many unscrupulous businesses and individuals manage to avoid paying the taxes they owe in developing countries. They're dodging millions of pounds every day.
Yet taxes are the most important, sustainable and predictable source of finance. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) estimates that developing countries lose three times more to tax havens than they receive in aid each year.
That money could help millions of people to escape from hunger. We can help stop this tax dodging if our government steps up to close the international tax loopholes.
Aid
we make the right investments to stop people dying from hunger, and help the poorest people feed themselves.
The UK government has committed to spending 0.7% of its national income on aid. We must make sure they keep this promise.
Land
we stop poor farmers being forced off their land, and use crops to feed people, not fuel cars.
The poorest farmers are losing their land to giant corporations. These companies don't care that the land is already being used by local people to grow food. Stopping them would help millions of people get enough to eat.
Transparency
we force governments and big corporations to be honest and open about their actions that stop people getting enough food.
Transparency and accountability are vital in the global food system. Decisions that can affect millions of people are made behind closed doors, without the participation of those affected. Corporates and governments must be more transparent about their affairs so that citizens can hold to account powerful players in the food system.
These are big IFs, but if we press our leaders to make these happen, and IF they do, there really will be enough food for everyone.
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If we stop people wasting food through education and the removal of most best before dates, we will reduce food exported from third world countries and lower global food prices. Monetary aid in itself does not really help, it is just more money chasing the same food.
And having spent some time living in Africa, I have seen that simply keeping poor farmers on their land is not the answer as yield stay low as there is no access to modern farming technology. What is needed is co-operative farming, allowing pooling of resources for access to machinery and storage of foods.
Respectfully, is it all quite as simple as that?
http://www.populationmatters.org/2013/population-matters-news/humanity-plague/
The other problem we have is that 3 major global companies control most of the world’s food distribution and supply. Check out this article: Irrational Consumerism (or The Few Companies Who Feed The World): http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=24951