In my opinion one of the biggest problems in this world is the lack of food in relations to the multitudes of people, alongside the overbearing cost of such a direr necessity. It is apparent that right now in the Horn of Africa a volatile global food supply is deepening the humanitarian catastrophe. There are near historic prices for staples such as corn, wheat, and sugar along with shortages in these foods because of extensive droughts. As stated in the article more than 12 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa. In some areas 40% of children under 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition. Last month corn, or maze, has risen by 84% and sugar and wheat have risen over 50%. Food prices altogether have risen over 30% higher than a year ago. In some places prices have increased 240% over the last year. The combination of rising food cost alongside with the lack of foods, thanks to extensive droughts have devastated the African people. Without food the many Africans will fall to disease, illness, malnutrition, and even death.
This Global problem will not be solved overnight but there are several actions that need to take place to solve this issue. Some of the causes for such high cost in food falls back on the US with our production of biofuels. These biofuels correlate with the production of corn ethanol which results in higher food prices. We need to limit the use of crops for fuels and find an alternate source. Some other causes could be poor local harvest and the shrinking global food stocks. Another cause is the droughts that are taking place. One solution may be new technology. In the guardian they were talking about shooting lasers into the sky to produce rain. Even though this may be a start, it is probably rather expensive. No matter how we look at it this is a serious global problem and needs to be solved for the grader good of all mankind.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/16/africa-famine-food-prices-world-bankc
This Global problem will not be solved overnight but there are several actions that need to take place to solve this issue. Some of the causes for such high cost in food falls back on the US with our production of biofuels. These biofuels correlate with the production of corn ethanol which results in higher food prices. We need to limit the use of crops for fuels and find an alternate source. Some other causes could be poor local harvest and the shrinking global food stocks. Another cause is the droughts that are taking place. One solution may be new technology. In the guardian they were talking about shooting lasers into the sky to produce rain. Even though this may be a start, it is probably rather expensive. No matter how we look at it this is a serious global problem and needs to be solved for the grader good of all mankind.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/16/africa-famine-food-prices-world-bankc
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