Food Crisis hits home harder in South Africa.
Mr Pahad, it's not a third force that caused the recent violent attacks against foreigners. It's the food crisis, exacerbated by global shortages, hand in hand with excessive demand from India and China that have led to price increases that we, and the rest of the world have not seen for decades.
The perfect storm, food price increases, oil at $130 per barrel and global warming and climate change is shared with the rest of the world. What compounds our problem here in South Africa is that we are stuck with a government headed by Mbeki and Pahad, so out of touch with their people that they cannot see that they are in fact, the third force!
South Africa suffers from a government that has not delivered on any of the essential services: job creation, water, electricity, housing, schools and hospitals (except for collecting taxes) and has increased interest rates while most other countries have lowered theirs. The reason that other countries have lowered theirs is to protect the most vulnerable of their citizens - the lowest 40% of their income earners.
To higher income earners food price increases are inconvenient, food only accounts for between 10 and 20% of their income. To the lowest income earners, the food-spend accounts for over 80% of their earned monthly income. This month the third force, our own government, is planning to raise interest rates again by 2% in some reports and we can also expect the monthly petrol price hike as well. Both will directly lead to food price increases of more than 30% and it's likely that we will see closer to 100% food price increases by the end of the year.
When people cannot afford to eat they will react. We have seen that graphically this past weekend when groups attacked innocent people who are legal and illegal residents from neighbouring countries. These next increases will see the anger redirected at a failing government and all of its structures.
Poor people want a government that acts. They need a government that puts its people first - before trying to meet artificial inflation targets. Inflation in South Africa is not a result of its people spending money on fine clothing and TV's and cars (those sales numbers are drastically down) its caused by people spending money getting to work, paying for electricity, buying paraffin and eating very basic foods.
One global expert predicted that we could see over 100 million die in the next 8 years before the food crisis is solved. The vast majority of these people will come from the poorest 40% and that means from Africa.
What is African leadership doing? Definitely not calling it a crisis!
Not criticising fellow leaders for murdering their own and in our case those refugees from other countries. Where is the African Union?
Why are they not calling for an emergency meeting when mobs kill innocent people?
As a continent we produce only 50% of the food that we did in 1980. South Africa's agricultural contribution to its GDP was 40% in 1980 its now under 5%.
China has 740 million farmers farming only 9% of the world's arable land and over the past 24 months they have lost 17% of this land to climate change - the water has dried up. Last year they decreed that they would send 500,000 farmers to Africa essentially as contract farmers. This process was going too slow so the ruling party passed an amendment two weeks ago agreeing to buy African farms. Both India and the Middle-East countries are matching this intention.
Why?
They need to supply food that's obvious. More sinister is why is Saudi Arabia, one of the largest producers of wheat in Africa, is not growing wheat in Saudi this year and contracting the production to African farmers. Wheat requires a lot of water. With their own industrial growth they need that entire vital commodity - water. So it suits them to use Africa's water and pay the market price for the wheat - after all money is of no consequence to them.
A progressive African government would approach these governments and offer to put in place food growing programmes, conditional to these cash rich countries providing mentors to train emerging farmers. The farming model would be based on sustainable practises, multiple crop rotations, and soil heath and water conservation. This would leave Africa healthier, sustainable and productive.
The result of this action?
Africa would create an abundance of affordable food, a million new jobs, and a massive contribution to GDP's and positive cash flow from the exports.
This is so simple even the third force in Pretoria may get it.
David Wolstenholme is the founder of the Natural & Organic Products Exhibition and the Organic Freedom Project
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