Today i was listening to UN’s World Food Programme statement on meeting demands of their own annual plan. Jossete Sheeran CEO of the Programme gave a warning on the current short cuts of supplies that leads more than 100 million people to urgent hunger category.
WFP will follow a 3-track response in order to deal with the crisis :
- Seeking more funding
- Offer its own huge logistics capacity for accurately timed distributions
- support policy reform and long term technical assistance to governments for improved agricultural programs
Now what i’m uderstanding of those 3 measures, WFP as all the other international organizations are continuing the vicious circle of dead ends in world economy. Neutrality in political choices is not our cup of tea today. WFP is seeking funding to provide more supplies, but that could lead to further price increases. Poor will not pay for their food, but we will instead of them. And we will pay in way that will feed further food market’s speculation.
The use of huge logistics are demanding more consumption of energy supplies and will make the whole program less energy effcient. That will lead to increased costs and fuel more more speculation on prices. Expenisve food is based not only in agricultural shortages but also on expensive energy supplies that affecting negatively on transport logistics and costs. Will WFP need a new cheaper logistic’s system?
Finally long term technical assitance is not a sollution by itself. TA has a meaning when political choices are made and we want to see their accurate implementation. Otherwise TA becomes a pure bureaucratic proceedure without affecting the core of our problems today.
So what i would liek to see is a clear political proposal by UN, with a maximum consensus on how we will face the crisis globally. Immediate measures for suffering people are needed but in a new direction. To continue a failed system so far (and the excuse could not be funding always…) that didnt suceed on long term sustainable sollutions, are making tax payer reluctant to contribute further to underdeveloped countries. Plus that lower and middle class in developed countries facing price increases difficult to handle so far.
Next article will be on some ideas how we could overpass the crisis.