Obesity and Hypertension – Signs of Inequality in Chile

March 27, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Chile-small1

Promoting friendship and outdoor games for children is part of Elige Vivir Sano’s programme to combat obesity. Credit: Elige Vivir Sano

Marianela Jarroud

SANTIAGO, Mar 27 (IPS) – The prevalence of obesity and hypertension among the poor in Chile is a factor that aggravates inequality, requiring public policies for prevention and mitigation of the high cost of a healthy diet.The most recent national health survey, carried out in 2012, found that 8.9 million people in Chile are overweight or obese, equivalent to 67 percent of the population.

The figures indicate that there are 2.1 million more obese people now than in 2003, when the previous survey was done. Morbid or extreme obesity has increased by more than 100 percent and now affects 300,000 people.

Broken down by socioeconomic level, 35.5 percent of the poorest, least educated segment of the population is overweight, compared to 24.7 percent of the middle-income segment and 18.5 percent of the highest.

Chile’s statistics are in line with the results of a 2012 study by the World Health Organization (WHO), which found that the prevalence of obesity worldwide nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008.

Latin America leads that increase. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world. And in South America, Chile has the third highest obesity rate, after Argentina and Venezuela. It is also the country with the highest proportion of men with hypertension or high blood pressure in South America.

Juan Carlos Prieto, a cardiologist at the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile, said the figures are not new and reflect complex aspects of social inequality.

"Chile also has record carbohydrate consumption, especially of refined flours, like bread," he told IPS.

"If you make a quick survey, especially among low-income people, you find the staple food is bread: a person can eat up to six to eight servings a day, which means consuming the same number of grams of salt a day," he said.

In his view, that is the nub of the problem. "A salty diet, plus obesity derived from over-consuming carbohydrates with the calories they imply, explains the environmental factor of the level of hypertension in Chile," he said.

Prieto, an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of Chile School of Medicine, said the prevalence of hypertension and obesity is higher among people with low incomes, "and there is quite a significant difference" between this group and other sectors of the population.

The problem, he said, is that the prices of fruit and vegetables, essential elements of a healthy diet, have soared in Chile in the past 10 years.

For instance, a kilo of apples used to cost 20 cents of a dollar in street markets, and now costs 1.50 dollars. In supermarkets, the price is even higher.

As a result, Chileans are eating on average 86 kilos of bread a year, an amount that is worrying the experts.

"People on low incomes resort to the cheapest foods, like pasta or bread, which fill them up quickly and do not cost very much," Prieto said.

This, together with sedentary habits and high levels of stress in society, led the government of President Sebastián Piñera to implement the Elige Vivir Sano (Choose Healthy Living) programme, aimed at changing dietary habits and fomenting the practice of sports among Chileans.

When Piñera took office in March 2010, "over 88 percent of the population did less than 20 minutes exercise three times a week," the director of the government initiative, Pauline Kantor, told IPS.

She added that this is a social problem, as it affects mainly the most disadvantaged sectors.

"Chile is a sick country, and if we do not take care now, in another 10 years we will be in deep trouble when it comes to heart disease and diabetes, and we will have health costs that will be difficult to sustain," she said.

Elige Vivir Sano, headed by Piñera’s wife, Cecilia Morel, is one of a number of public policies being taken forward jointly by several organisations.

For example, the Education Ministry decided to increase the time allotted to physical education in schools, from two to four hours a week, while the Health Ministry extended the traditional children’s programme of health control to teenagers, so that overweight adolescents are referred to nutritionists for treatment.

Another novelty is the installation of exercise equipment in public squares, now called "active plazas." These have been set up in 172 out of the 346 municipalities in the country.

"We are not asking people to join a programme at a gym, but only to learn some exercise routines so they can work out at home or in nearby squares," Kantor said. The campaign includes radio and television advertising that invites homemakers to exercise using one-kilo packages of rice or beans as weights, to get people to adopt a home exercise routine.

Kantor said that while it would take 10 years to see real change, some progress has already been made. "The last survey of physical activity and sports found that 500,000 Chileans are no longer sedentary, an important achievement," she said.

Also, "40 percent of the people who contacted Elige Vivir Sano said they had changed at least one habit," she said.

Now the goal is to turn the programme into law. The draft bill, which will be presented to Congress soon, includes the creation of an executive secretariat, under the Ministry of Social Development, that will coordinate programmes from different ministries. The aim of the bill is "to give the changing of habits the priority that Chile needs," said Kantor.

In the view of Prieto, the cardiologist, the initiative is "interesting," but the main thing is to create concrete possibilities for bringing about change.

"When it comes to diet, I repeat, people are urged to eat five fruits a day, but you have to look at the cost of that compared to a plate of pasta, for a family living on the minimum wage," which in Chile is only 400 dollars a month.

"It has to be evaluated whether this depends only on individuals, or whether the state has to take action to make this happen, for instance by increasing access by the lowest-income sectors,” he said.

Promoting friendship and outdoor games for children is part of Elige Vivir Sano’s programme to combat obesity. Credit: Elige Vivir Sano

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2013.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Featured, Health, Inequality, Latin America, Poverty Tagged With:

This Is What a Humane Economy Looks Like

February 3, 2013 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Inés Benítez

MÁLAGA, Spain, Feb 02 (IPS) – The severe crisis crippling Spain is also sparking some creative responses, such the Okonomía project, a teaching initiative that helps individuals and communities to understand the workings of the economy and make more informed decisions to manage their finances."Things have gotten so bad, with people out of work, losing their homes and watching their savings vanish, that something has to be done to economically empower people," said activist Raúl Contreras, one of the academics behind this initiative that in February will open its first school in Benimaclet, a multicultural neighbourhood in the southeastern city of Valencia.

Contreras – an economist who also heads the company Nittúa, which sponsors this project – spoke with IPS about the powerlessness and fear that is taking hold of many people who do not understand how the economy works and how it affects their lives, and are thus made vulnerable to manipulation.

"Doubts, ignorance and fear – in some cases spread intentionally – lead to mistakes, anxiety and difficult situations that could be avoided if people are better informed and equipped to make decisions or choices," Nittúa’s website reads.

One out of every four economically active persons is currently unemployed in Spain, where dozens of families are evicted daily from their homes for failure to meet their mortgage payments, and the measures implemented by the right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy to address the crisis involve huge cuts to health, education and other basic services.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Spain fell prey to "preferential shares" and other financial product schemes and lost all their savings. As the crisis deepened and banks became desperate for cash, they convinced more and more savers to buy these products, taking advantage of their lack of understanding of the ins and outs of investment, and using misleading and distorted sales pitches.

Okonomía – which is financing its start-up needs through a crowdfunding campaign – calls itself a "popular economics school" that "develops dialectical educational processes, building on the reality and economic knowledge of each participant, to enable participants to understand their economic situation so that they can make informed and conscious decisions, both individually and collectively, that will lead to the transformation of society through economic empowerment."

The school is formed by professionals from the fields of economics and education and its activities include training multiplying agents who will spread their newly-acquired knowledge in their immediate social environment.

"The school won’t solve people’s problems, but it will provide a toolbox to help individuals make more informed decisions based on their specific needs," Contreras explained, highlighting the project’s cross-cutting approach to solidarity economy, as it emphasises sustainable alternatives.

While the head of Nittúa stresses the solidarity aspect of this economic model, he says it is not the school’s intent to preach any one model or solution. Rather it seeks to give participants an understanding of economics in general, including a range of economic alternatives, such as ethical banking, responsible consumption, fair trade and the cooperative model.

"A large part of society has realised that a different way of teaching economics is needed," Carlos Ballesteros, a lecturer on consumer behaviour at Madrid’s Comillas Pontifical University, told IPS. "Ninety-nine percent of the world’s business schools stick close to the neoliberal paradigm," which is profit-driven and based on maximising earnings.

Ballesteros said that while Okonomía’s target public is civil society as a whole and its main objective is to teach and inform, on the understanding that "the economy is everyone’s responsibility," it also aims to gather and systematise knowledge on solidarity economy practices that may prove useful to people working in that field.

Okonomía offers semester courses, with in-person classes held every two weeks. The methodology is based on the popular education model developed by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (1921-1997), who believed that "to teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge."

In each session an issue is presented and material is provided to facilitate reflection. "The learning process is a group activity. The classes are not lectures, but rather dialogue-based and interactive," Contreras said.

He added that after each session the conclusions drawn from the group’s discussions are published online and posted in an intranet, which will form a database of the school’s results, a sort of "Wikipedia of Popular Economy".

Economist Arcadi Oliveres, one of Okonomía’s advisers, said this project is valuable because it "seeks to reveal to the people the underlying workings of the economy" and "because we’re really in the dark" when it comes to the financial world, he told IPS.

Oliveres, a professor of applied economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, believes that "people don’t know that there are alternatives to the traditional economic system" and calls for critically aware citizens who can make informed decisions.

Independently of how financial markets and governments behave, the actions of common citizens also have an impact on the economy, so that people must be conscious that they too can make irresponsible choices as consumers or that their deposits can go to financing environmentally-harmful corporate activities, the economist argued.

"We have to start asking ourselves where our money goes – what do I do with my savings, where do I deposit them and why? – and learn to take control of our finances," Contreras said.

The aim of the school is to help people "understand and then make free, but conscious decisions," he added.

The expert noted that he has not found similar projects anywhere else in the world and that Okonomía, which combines a methodology inspired by Paulo Freire with social innovation methods, has the potential to be replicated outside of Spain "with the support of the social fabric of neighbourhoods and communities".

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Economic Crisis, Education, Europe, Poverty, Report Tagged With: , ,

Daunting Development Challenges Ahead

December 28, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN

By Richard Johnson

IDN-InDepth NewsReport

PARIS (IDN) – Despite development successes over the past 20 years and the progress of many emerging economies, inequality is increasing in all countries and 1.4 billion people still live in absolute poverty. This gloomy situation was acknowledged by development ministers from industrial and emerging economies, who met in London on December 4 and 5 for the High Level Meeting (HLM) of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which comprises 24 of the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

A communique emerging from the meeting points out there is unequivocal evidence of absolute poverty having been halved, and progress achieved on all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed at a summit in September 2000 at the turn of the millennium. Economic growth has been a key factor in reducing absolute poverty, in the success stories of many

Yet daunting challenges persist: 1.4 billion people are mired in absolute poverty; food insecurity affects 850 million people, and 1.3 billion of the world’s people – including many women – have no access to electricity. Social inequalities are increasing in all countries – developed, emerging and developing – and are a growing concern given the threat they pose to social, political and economic stability, the ministers agreed.

The HLM also recognised important risks. The world’s population will reach 9 billion people in 2050 which, when coupled with changing consumption patterns, is estimated to require a 70% increase in food production by 2050. Within that same timeframe, global GDP may quadruple.

Given current trends and policies, this will result in an 80% increase of primary energy consumption which will impact on climate change and, as a consequence, global health, water management, food security, and poverty reduction prospects – and the protection of natural capital for future generations.

"Sustainable development and green growth are key approaches to address these challenges, and participating governments welcomed the Rio +20 commitment to integrate sustainable development goals in the post-2015 agenda," the development ministers stressed in a communique.

They also recognised that the context for development co-operation has now irrevocably changed. Shifting global wealth is breaking down the former division between North and South.

Co-operation among South-South partners, as well as triangular co-operation, is complementing North-South co-operation, thereby increasing the scope, reach and effectiveness of the international development assistance system. Likewise, civil society and the private sector are playing an increasingly important role as partners in development co-operation.

To address these challenges and opportunities, the ministers said, a new and ambitious global partnership has been established. They expect the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation – launched at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness from November 29 to December 1, 2011 in Busan. South Korea – to pave the way forward by providing a forum of equal partners with shared principles and differentiated but well-defined commitments.

"This Partnership will enable all providers and partners to focus on results at the country level in support of both national and global goals. For too long a lack of coordination, the fragmentation of efforts and failure to honour country ownership have inhibited the pursuit of goals to which all are committed. The Global Partnership offers a space within the international community to discuss these matters as full and equal partners," the communique stated.

Summarizing the outcomes, DAC Chair J. Brian Atwood stated: "This high-level meeting was a reflection of the changing world of development co-operation: DAC members and developing countries working in tandem with civil society, the private sector and other partners; strong support for a UN-led process for determining development goals; and innovative finance for development at a time of constrained budgets."

The ministers committed to make the effort to connect different agendas – MDGs, financing for development, development effectiveness and policy coherence for development – and thereby ensure that these vital elements are more in sync in the cause of development progress. They recognised that this broader agenda engages a larger set of partners who can contribute in different ways to development progress.

They also recognised that the international community is at an historic juncture. Work on post-2015 development goals will define development co-operation for years to come. In fact the agenda for the meeting provided for briefings by members of the United Nations (UN) High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, providing important insights from their contributions.

ODA

According to the communique, the ministers engaged in forward-thinking on development finance and the importance of official development assistance (ODA) and other flows that impact on development. They set out below their views and agreed on next steps regarding each of these important topics.

In their discussions about the future of ODA the ministers and agencies agreed that it must be directed to where it is most needed and can best catalyse other flows. They asked the DAC to work with the UN system together with the IMF and the World Bank on proposals for new measures of total official support for development, including defining what constitutes ODA.

With a view to ensuring that ODA is directed to where it is most needed and where it can catalyse other flows and promote accountability, the DAC will:

- Elaborate a proposal for a new measure of total official support for development.

- Explore ways of representing both “donor effort” and “recipient benefit” of development finance.

- Investigate whether any resulting new measures of external development finance (including any new approaches to measurement of donor effort) suggest the need to modernise the ODA concept.

- Undertake this work in close collaboration with other interested international agencies, in particular the United Nations, and also the IMF and World Bank, while engaging others in this exercise. A first report should be completed in 2013.

According to the communique, DAC members discussed the reporting of ODA loans in light of multiple views on the interpretation of "concessional in character" in relation to such loans. They agreed about a number of key principles that ODA measurement should meet. These are that ODA reporting should:

- Withstand a critical assessment from the public;

- Avoid creating major fluctuations in overall ODA levels;

- Be generally consistent with the way concessionality is defined in multilateral development finance;

- Maintain the definition of ODA, and only attempt to clarify the interpretation of loans that qualify as ODA;

- Prevent notions that ODA loan schemes follow a commercial logic: this includes the principle that financial reflows should be reinvested as development resources.

In this spirit, they agreed to: transparency regarding the terms of individual ODA loans; ensure equal treatment of all DAC members; establish, as soon as possible, and at the latest by 2015, a clear, quantitative definition of "concessional in character", in line with prevailing financial market conditions.

They also agreed to recognise development loans extended at preferential rates – whether "concessional in character" under a future post-2015 definition or not – as making an important contribution to development.

Post-2015 development goals

Participating governments in the London meeting committed to keep their focus on achieving the existing MDGs. "These unique development goals have rallied the global community behind a common vision that has had lasting impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The establishment of a common global development agenda has been an immensely important force for galvanising support, mobilising resources, focusing efforts and making it possible to assess progress," the communique stated.

The ministers pledged to go forward, and agreed to:

- Focus their efforts on achieving the MDGs by 2015, and to work together with partners and new providers to enhance effectiveness, improve co-ordination of development activities and apply innovative methods to reach these goals.

- Strongly support the High Level Panel and the UN-led process to define a successor set of goals and a framework around which the global community can unite. This process should be inclusive of all partners, not donor-driven. Participating governments were greatly encouraged to hear of the active participation of all regions and of both state and non-state actors in this endeavour. They expressed support for goals that would expand and amplify the overall development impact of the current set of goals, including measurable targets for the global partnership as expressed in MDG8.

- Recognise that global goals were vital in establishing a common accountability agenda for development, and that national goals should be owned by all members of society and reflect the context of a particular country, its state of development and the particular needs of society as determined through the full participation of citizens.

- Recognise the importance of supporting enhanced goals for the future. Participating governments focused on the centrality of poverty reduction, with many expressing support for its eradication. They expressed concern about evidence of growing inequality, and acknowledged the special needs of fragile states.

- Support, in line with the agreement reached at the Rio +20 UN conference on sustainable development, the full integration of the sustainability dimension in the new set of goals, as essential in any development context.

- Emphasise that human rights principles will be important in developing any set of viable goals and the means for achieving them. Development of these goals should also take account of the role of democratic institutions, human security and references to the quality of life as a complementary measure to traditional benchmarks such as national income measures.

- Express the hope that, like their predecessors, future goals will be clearly defined, realistic, politically salient and measurable.

The London High Level Meeting was attended also by the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and other UN representatives, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and co-Chairs of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation. Invited high-level representatives from Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa were also present as observers to this meeting. [IDN-InDepthNews – December 19, 2012]

2012 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

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Filed Under: Analysis, Development, Diplomacy, Poverty Tagged With: , ,

Kinshasa Graveyard Home to Hundreds

December 28, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Emmanuel Chaco

KINSHASA, Dic 27 (IPS) – Despite the health risks, hundreds of families are living in a cemetery in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa. Municipal authorities seem powerless to act.Visiting the Kinsuka cemetery in early December, IPS counted 100 families, including around 500 children aged from less than a year old to 10.

The first structures sprang up here in 2010. Fridolin Kaweshi, the minister in charge of land-use planning, urbanisation and housing, told IPS that the government has repeatedly banned the construction of homes on this site.

In April, houses in the cemetery were demolished on orders from the provincial governor, but late at night, the occupants rebuilt their small shelters of earth and wood.

"We have nowhere else to go," resident Cynthia Bukasa told IPS. "The government has to take steps to protect us and give us a place where we can build."

Bukasa explained that her husband, a police officer, is stationed in Bas-Congo Province, in the western part of the country. He had built a small house for her here and then left. She added that living on his salary of around 50 dollars, the family doesn’t have the resources to pay rent elsewhere.

Olivier Mandja, mayor of Mont Ngafula Commune, within whose boundaries the cemetery lies, told IPS, "The structures on this site are the work of soldiers and members of the police force over which the commune has no authority."

Approached by IPS, soldiers and police officers at Kinsuka refused to speak, preferring to let their wives answer questions. Even the higher-ranking officers preferred to remain silent.

Other residents were happy to speak. "We got official authorisation from the authorities to build houses here and live in them," said Jean Mbulu, a resident at the cemetery and father of three little girls, the oldest of whom is six.

Mbulu said he bought the plot from Eddy Mambuya, the traditional chief of Mont Ngafula – though he declined to show IPS the documents proving this. "I was stunned when people said we were illegally occupying this land," he said.

Reached by IPS, Chief Mambuya, stated that while he is an authority established and recognised by the law, he denied all responsibility for the sale of land for construction on the site.

"It’s thanks to us that the cemetery is regularly cleaned up," said Michel Aveledi, another Kinsuka resident. "We pull up the grass and pick up the plastic bags which invade the place from time to time."

He said he wanted to see the government decommission the cemetery and build a school for the children next to the houses that are already there.

But experts believe the health of the families who live on this site is at risk, and have called on the government to take urgent steps to protect the children in particular.

Jean Myasukila is an epidemiologist based in Kinshasa. “The health risks for people living in houses built in a cemetery are enormous," he told IPS.

"When bodies decompose, they give off odours and gases which are very harmful to health, especially of children," he said.

"We also have to consider the flies which land on particles of bodies or bones which become unearthed, which can then alight on food or kitchen utensils. These flies are vectors for harmful microbes," according to Myasukila. "It’s not acceptable to leave these families there, if only for reasons of hygiene."

Chancey Maroy, a member of civil society and an environmental protection expert, told IPS that the land the graveyard is built on is not stable, as it is on a slope that is not protected by any anti-erosion mechanisms. "The structures on the burial site could also accelerate landslides, which have already been seen there. This adds to the dangers faced by the families who live there," he said.

Kinsuka residents have also come into conflict with those using the graveyard for its intended purpose. In early December, a group of people coming to bury a body encountered strong resistance from the cemetery’s residents. On the eve of the burial, residents built a shack on the spot purchased by the bereaved family of the interment. The family was forced to bury their loved one elsewhere in the cemetery, but the authorities took no action.

Damas Balinga, director of the DRC’s Ministry for Planning and Monitoring the Implementation of the Revolution of Modernity, told IPS, "In the framework the five-year plan of action, the government is preparing the implementation of its programme to modernise the city of Kinshasa. New housing developments are in the process of being created. Families in distress need only have confidence in the government in order to benefit."

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Poverty, Report Tagged With: ,

Salvaging Waste Food for the Hungry in Spain

December 21, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Inés Benítez

MÁLAGA, Spain, Dic 21 (IPS) – A recurring question in crisis-stricken Spain is how to ensure that surplus agricultural products reach those most in need. One response is citizen initiatives to protest the waste of food and to advocate efficient management along the full length of the food chain."We want government agencies and private companies to take measures," said Luis Tamayo, one of the promoters of "Comida Basura: Tu basura es mi tesoro" (Waste Food: Your Trash, My Treasure), a citizen’s platform combating food waste, created in Madrid in 2010. It promotes activities like collecting food in good condition that has been thrown out by supermarkets, asking for leftovers at restaurants and organizing soup kitchens.

Tamayo said "the laws on surplus food have been designed with an economic approach," and producers and shopping centres are required to throw out tons of food still fit for consumption.

But those responsible for most of the waste in industrialised countries are consumers, who throw out perfectly good food on their plates or get rid of food that has gone bad in their larders through sheer neglect or for lack of a little basic planning before shopping.

A European Parliament (EP) report in late 2011 said that Spain wasted 7.7 million tons of food in good condition every year, an average of 163 kgs per person.

This squandering is at odds with the fact that over 21 percent of Spain’s 47 million people are living in poverty, according to the Economically Active Population Survey by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The same EP report indicates that 42 percent of the 89 million tons of food wasted in the European Union comes from households, 39 percent from industry, five percent from the distribution system and 14 percent from other sources.

A special event was held on Oct. 21 in the northern city of Zaragoza, when around 1000 people got together for a lunch prepared from leftover food in good condition.

It was organised "Feeding Zaragoza", promoted by the Aragonese Alliance Against Poverty and modelled on actions like "Le Banquet des 5,000," held in Paris, and "Feeding the 5,000" in London.

As a result of the "impressive" popular response to "Feeding Zaragoza," a campaign was launched to protest food waste and raise awareness, activist Sonia Méndez, who helped promote the event, inspired by Tristram Stuart, the author of "Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal", told IPS.

A study in May 2011 commissioned by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and carried out by the Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology (SIK) warned that 1.3 billion tons a year of food are spoiled or go to waste worldwide.

"How can we waste one-third of the food we produce when so many people are hungry?" protested Méndez, who said "we are living in a food bubble."

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said one-third of the food produced globally is thrown away, a quantity that could feed 500 million people.

People scavenging for food in the trash bins outside supermarkets are now a common sight in Spain, where more than five million people are unemployed.

Solving the problem of leftovers is "difficult" because making use of them "requires infrastructure and management," and the laws "guiding and controlling the market make donating food difficult," Javier Peña, head of Bancosol Alimentos, a food bank in the southern city of Málaga, told IPS.

"Our basic task is to find surpluses, make use of the most suitable items that would otherwise be discarded and act as intermediaries to distribute everything from fresh produce to processed and frozen foods," said Peña, who has run the organisation for 15 years along with around 100 people, mostly volunteers.

There are 52 food banks in Spain, associated in the Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL). They are not-for-profit bodies run by volunteers who deliver food donated by firms and agencies to social assistance organisations for redistribution to the needy, in order to avoid waste.

Millions of tons of food fit for human consumption are wasted due to over-production, but also as a result of defective packaging, imperfections in shape or size, or short “sell-by” dates.

"For the last year-and-a-half an organisation has been coming to collect what we have not sold. We used to throw it out," an attendant at a large commercial centre in Málaga told IPS as he removed several tomatoes from display "because they don’t look good.”

The EP report recommends modifying the "sell by" dating system that forces large quantities of food to be discarded, diversifying packaging sizes and introducing a food course in school curricula.

"One of the biggest problems is the squandering of food in homes," said Peña. "Half of what is bought goes into the bin because people don´t check sell-by dates."

Last year Bancosol Alimentos distributed 5,000 tons of surplus food from wholesale markets, supermarkets and donations from corporations and individuals, to 230 social organisations.

"Many people are hungry and poor," Roberto Suárez, the head of the Málaga Association of Ecuadorean Immigrants (ASIMEC), told IPS. Once a month, he and several fellow Ecuadoreans go to Bancosol to collect food and then distribute it to over 100 families of different nationalities.

On this occasion, Choro Sonko from Senegal, who works occasionally as a dancer, has joined them on the errand. She is an activist in Sunugal, an association through which she wants to distribute food to her fellow-Senegalese, "who are having a very rough time and feel ashamed for having to ask for food," she said.

Food banks are currently overwhelmed by requests. "They are essential," said Tamayo, who added that it is also necessary to raise awareness about efficient management of surplus food.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Agriculture, Economic Crisis, Economy, Europe, Health, Lead, Poverty Tagged With: , , , , ,

Thinking Out Loud About the Financial Crisis and Austerity

November 19, 2012 by

By Alan Fogelquist

The reason societies like those of Eurozone the United States don’t move effectively to address the real causes of economic crisis and the unnecessarily high levels of unemployment is that members of the comfortable middle class with stable positions don’t yet feel the pain felt by the victims of bad economic policy and long standing institutionalized inequality. These problems are off the radar screen of many with upper incomes and secure positions even when a much larger share of  income is flowing to a tiny minority of individuals higher up the ladder associated with financial institutions that have the power to create money in the form of debt. The crisis is rooted in debt financed speculation, but the people paying the cost of the collapse in the value of assets and financial panic are not those with high paid positions in the large speculative financial institutions that have been rescued with public money, but common citizens whose businesses or jobs are lost in the recession or whose,  jobs, wages and salaries are cut through austerity measures.
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The Eurocratic elites are doing one thing and one thing only. They are trying to force working people in Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and elsewhere to pay off odious debt with interest and penalties to banks that were allowed to gamble in derivatives and create money in the form of debt. It’s time to cancel the debt and to introduce a new leadership in Europe or for the peoples of countries most victimized to force out governments subservient to the Eurocrat oligarchy and withdraw from the Eurozone. Until one of these things happens the people have no choice but protest.
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“But that’s not my issue’, some may say. But everything is becoming everyone’s issue in the world of 21st century conflict, financial crisis and victimization of millions. It’s a global problem both ethical and real and the issues are interrelated. That’s the reason the planet urgently requires effective multidimensional efforts to resolve pressing human and environmental problems before it becomes too late.
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Yes, this  may seem like preaching from the top a soap box, but what do you think Fox News does? What counts is what is said from the top of the soap box. Millions of soap boxes are necessary to counter false ideology spread in the mass media. We need a mass media that reflects the real interests of the majority of the people,  people who carry out real productive and useful work and receive modest wages and salaries. These are the people whose interests need to be defended. We need rational economic systems that make maximum use of the world’s productive capacity, technology, and brain power to serve human needs.

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The real issues in the world financial crisis and depression are institutional and moral, not technocratic. If the technocrats were to work diligently to solve the real issues facing humanity instead of inventing technical arguments to avoid them there would be much less suffering and much less unemployment.

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© Copyright 2012 Alan F. Fogelquist, Ph.D. All rights reserved.


Filed Under: Economic Crisis, Economic Policy, Economy, Europe, Finance, Inequality, Media, Opinion, Politics, Poverty, Social Justice Tagged With: , ,

No Social Protection for India’s Elderly

November 9, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

K.S. Hari Krishnan

NEW/DELHI/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Nov 09 (IPS) – At midnight on Oct. 12, 91-year-old George Puthenveettil, a widower living in Kalanjur village in the Pathanamthita district of the southern Indian state of Kerala, was brutally tortured and ousted from his own house by his only son for “not earning any money”.The nonagenarian wandered the streets of his village for hours before he reached a shelter in Pathanapuram with the help of neighbours. Police said the son had often beaten and harassed the old man, who was financially dependent on his son.

For many people like George, the sunset years of life turn out to be a traumatic period, in which they find themselves entirely dependent on families or friends due to the absence of a good social security system or government pension plan in India.

Expressing concern over the increasing insecurity of elders in the country, Dr. Irudaya Rajan, a prominent demographer and chair professor of the research unit on international migration under the Ministry of Indian Overseas Affairs, told IPS that income security is one of the most urgent needs of India’s aging population.

Years ago, “traditional values and religious beliefs were quite supportive of elderly people”, he said.

Today, economic hardships and the faltering nuclear family system are “drastically eroding the support base of aged people”.

“The majority of the elderly tend to work even after the age of retirement due to inadequate social security and financial resources,” Rajan added.

A report on the aging population in India, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFP) in New Delhi, said that the country had 90 million elderly people in 2011, with the number expected to grow to 173 million by 2026.

Of the 90 million seniors, 30 million are living alone, and 90 percent work for a living.

Experts estimate that only eight percent of the labour force of about 460 million receives social security from an employer.

‘Informal’ labourers left out in the cold

Over 94 percent of India’s working population is part of the unorganised sector, which refers to all unlicensed, self-employed or unregistered economic activity such as owner-manned general stores, handicrafts and handloom workers, rural traders and farmers, among many others.

Gopal Krishnan, an economist in Chennai, told IPS “There is no social safety coverage for people in the unorganised sector, which accounts for half of the GDP (gross domestic product) of India”.

According to the World Bank, India’s GDP in 2011 was 1,848 billion dollars.

In 2006, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector recommended that the Union Government establish a National Social Security Scheme to provide the minimum level of benefits to workers retiring from the informal sector.

Until now, the government has not been able to compile a comprehensive policy to address the issues of elderly people. The ministry of social justice and empowerment drafted a National Policy on Older Persons in 1999, which was never implemented.

Hardships abound

Analysts point out that India’s aging population is constantly grappling with health issues, economic stress, family matters, uncertain living arrangements, gender disparities, urban-rural differences, displacement and slum-like living conditions.

Dr. Udaya Shankar Mishra, a senior demographer at the Centre for Development Studies in Thiruvananthapuram, believes the current “profile” of the aging population of India can change.

“The (perception) of the elderly as a burden can, with suitable policies, be turned into an opportunity to realise active and healthy aging,” he told IPS.

“With limited resources, we need to adopt viable policy changes to manage the crisis of the aged. This calls for a detailed auditing of (all) the affairs of the elderly, primarily health, morbidity and mortality in addition to economic and emotional wellbeing.

“Research on geriatric health needs to (shift) towards ensuring a better quality of life among future elderly persons. Considering the demographic inversion and its associated challenges, it (is clear) that investments into healthy aging are necessary,” he added.

Data from the 2011 National Census revealed that the percentage of aged living alone or with spouse is as high as 45 percent in Tamil Nadu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala.

Healthcare experts have found that the elderly are highly prone to heart diseases, respiratory disorders, renal diseases, diabetes, hypertension, neurological problems and prostate issues.

The National Sample Survey Organisation calculates that one out of two elderly people in India suffers from at least one chronic disease, which requires lifelong medication.

The most recent data available, taken for the period 1995-96, revealed that 75 percent of aged individuals are affected by at least one disability relating to sight, hearing, speech, walking, and senility.

Dr. Shanti Johnson, professor at the faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the Canada-based University of Regina, estimates that nearly eight percent of the elderly are immobile, while a disproportionately higher percentage of women are immobile compared to men.

“The average hospitalisation rate in the country per 100,000 aged persons is 7,633. There is considerable gender difference in the rate of hospitalisation, as a much greater proportion of men are hospitalised compared to their female counterparts,” she added.

Non-governmental organisations are advocating for more old-age homes, day-care centers, physiotherapy clinics and temporary shelters for the rehabilitation of older persons, with government funds allocated to the running and maintaining of such projects.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Asia, Development, Featured, Human Rights, Inequality, Poverty, Social Justice Tagged With: ,

Marketing in the Mud Along the Dominican Border

August 25, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

Patricia Grogg

JIMANÍ, Dominican Republic, Aug 24 (IPS) – Getting around on market day along the muddy border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is almost impossible for those unfamiliar with the art of dodging the trucks, motorcycles and bicycles swerving amidst the messy piles of products scattered all over, and weaving among the hundreds of people coming and going between the two countries.It is also impossible to make your voice heard, so it is important to step carefully, to avoid falling underneath the crowd.

Around noon, the main business is concluded, to judge by the lines of men and women who, carrying loads on their heads, mingle with the vehicles, walking slowly and carefully across the border, through the mud, puddles, and sometimes knee-high water.

The authorities “are looking into how to move this market to a safer spot,” said Yanelys Díaz, assistant to the mayor of Jimaní, a town of 14,000 on the border with Haiti, which is the capital of the province of Independencia in the southwest of the Dominican Republic.

Díaz admitted that the site was a fertile breeding-ground for epidemics of cholera, malaria and dengue fever. “That has to be fixed,” he told IPS.

Cross-border trade here has been squashed into a small waterlogged area by the flooding caused when Lake Azuei, on the Haitian side, overflowed. The water flooded most of the administrative buildings, and hundreds of people were affected by the drop in trade.

Local residents say that up to 2007, Lake Azuei only extended around 500 metres into Dominican territory. But it currently extends nearly two kilometres into this country, right up to the road that runs across the border.

Haiti is the Dominican Republic’s second-largest trade partner, after the United States. The two countries share the island of Hispaniola.

Despite the adverse conditions, business goes on, a Dominican exporter of food products told IPS. “There are good days and bad days for sales. But they haven’t stopped, and they are done in cash, in U.S. dollars or Dominican pesos,” said the businessman, who lost livestock and land when the lake grew.

Communities in the southern Dominican provinces of Independencia and Bahoruco share Lake Azuei with Haiti. They also have Lake Enriquillo, the largest lake and the lowest elevation in the Caribbean. The economic life of the area flows around these two lakes, which have been in grave danger for years.

For this country of 10 million people, the rise in the water level in Lake Enriquillo represents an environmental challenge with serious socioeconomic repercussions, especially since 2007, when tropical storm Noel dumped 700 mm of rain on the area in five days. Some 15,000 hectares of farmland and pasture have been underwater since then.

But people in the area are worried that the situation will become even more serious. Several studies indicate that the rising water level in both lakes could be an early sign of coming climate change and environmental modifications in the region over the next 20 or 30 years. By 2100, they forecast, the Dominican Republic could lose 14 percent of its territory, as a result of rising sea levels.

“With respect to the origin of the phenomenon (of rising lake levels), there are different theories and studies, but the community does not have precise or official information,” Adela Matos, project manager for World Vision, told IPS.

The U.S.-based World Vision has a clinic in Jimaní, which forms part of the Enriquillo-Azuei Coalition, an alliance of producers, traders, labour unions, the Catholic Church and the local governments of Independencia and Bahoruco set up to find a solution to the problems caused by the swelling of the two lakes.

“It’s obvious that the development achieved in recent years has been delayed by this situation,” Matos said.

Among the institutions that have studied the problem, Matos mentioned the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources, and private university research centres like the Technological Institute (INTEC).

The on-line Dominican daily Acento.com reported that the preliminary results of a study by experts from INTEC and the City College of New York found that the rising water levels were due to “hydroclimatic change” and the warming of the oceans.

According to the research team, global warming is causing greater evaporation in the oceans, leading to more intense cycles of evaporation and rainfall, and to the swelling of rivers and lakes.

These conditions are combined with the unusual drop in evaporation from the lakes, which leads to a further rise in water level.

The experts warned that this is happening in Lake Azuei (known as Lake Sumatre, on the Haitian side), at Lake Cabral in the Dominican Republic, and in lakes as far away as China.

Local residents and institutions that have worked in this region for years are worried about the future. “We can’t rule out the possibility that, because of the saturation of the soil and the deforestation already affecting the area, a natural phenomenon like a stationary storm or a hurricane could produce a tragedy of greater magnitude than the one in May 2004,” said Matos.

That month, the sudden flooding of the Blanco River caused by heavy rainfall claimed more than 500 lives and left 1,600 people homeless in Jimaní, according to figures from the National Emergency Commission. The flash flood took the town by surprise, because the riverbed was practically dry at the time.

In 2004, Lake Enriquillo shrank to its smallest size in history: 165 sq km. But that very year it began to swell, reaching 333 sq km in 2009 – nearly 50 percent larger than five years earlier.

Matos described the social disaster caused by the unprecedented growth of the lake. “Unemployment, commercial sexual exploitation of minors, child labour, illness and violence are visible consequences of the loss of livelihood among the affected families, and pose a latent threat to the possibilities of development for these communities,” she said.

While people in this part of southern Dominican Republic are waiting for government measures to address the pressing problem, experts point out that Lake Enriquillo has varied in size for centuries, and say the only option is to adapt to it, because the lake cannot be relocated.

With respect to the increasingly intense and recurrent drought and rainfall caused by climate change, they say the best way to adapt is by moving crops, livestock and families to safer areas. According to official figures, 70 percent of cities and towns in the Dominican Republic are located along riverbanks.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Economy, Featured, Latin America, Poverty Tagged With: ,

Agriculture Key to Liberia’s Youth Unemployment Challenge

June 11, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Travis Lupick

MONROVIA, Jun 11, 2012 (IPS) – With his gold chain, baseball cap, and baggy denim shorts, Junior Toe wears the uniform of Liberia’s urban youth. Spend just a few minutes with the young man and it is evident that he possesses the street smarts to match the look.

However, Toe’s area of expertise lies outside the city and on the farm.

"Look at the pepper seed there," he says while touring a community farm not far from downtown Monrovia. "Put it in the ground, water it a few times, and you will make some money."

Toe is the founder and executive director of the Community Youth Network Program (CYNP), which trains young people in agriculture and livestock farming.

"Over there, we have a nursery for cabbages," he continues. "If you try and grow cabbage in the ground now, the rains will give it a hard time. This is the kind of knowledge we share."

Food security and meaningful employment for Liberia’s youth have long been major challenges for this West African nation. Now, a number of community-based programmes and government initiatives are working to address both. Officials say they are hopeful that this is the start of a major shift in how young Liberians participate in the agricultural sector.

According to a 2010 report by the United Nations Development Programme, 30 percent of Liberia’s land is arable and close to 90 percent of crop areas receive adequate rain. Yet according to the Liberia Food Security Outlook report for 2012, 60 percent of the population is classified as "food insecure".

Liberia’s agricultural sector was devastated by decades of mismanagement and war. In 1980, Master Sergeant Samuel Doe seized power in a coup and his rule, which ended 10 years later, was characterised by incompetent policies that hindered development.

In 1989, the country broke out in a civil war that continued sporadically until 2003. Those years saw warlord – and later, president – Charles Taylor plunder the country’s resources and fuel violence that killed 250,000 people. Even greater numbers fled Liberia or were repeatedly displaced.

According to a 2009 assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between 1987 and 2005 the production of the country’s staple food, rice, fell by 76 percent.

"Agricultural production has increased in recent years as the sector slowly recovers, but yields are still well below the regional average and food insecurity is high," the document states, adding that Liberia still only produces roughly 40 percent of the rice it needs to feed its almost four million people.

Also affected by the conflict were Liberia’s youth, tens of thousands of whom were coerced into joining rebel factions when they were just boys and girls. Rehabilitation projects run by the U.N. attempted to reintegrate ex-combatants and victims of the war, but those programmes are now widely criticised as failures.

"I went through the disarmament process, through the one week of training," Toe says, chuckling.

"But many people really never took advantage of that….The men were traumatised; they were used to the gun, used to money, and used to getting what they wanted fast."

Toe says that after seeing the shortcomings of the rehabilitation programmes, he set out to launch his own, one that would be better suited to Liberia. He reasoned that with fertile soil and a warm and wet climate, agriculture was the way to go. So he founded the CYNP in 2007.

The organisation now has a training centre in Bensonville, Montserrado County (roughly an hour’s drive northeast of Monrovia). In the county, land is divided into eight farms where former trainees and partners manage plots on either their own property or on community land. The Young Farmers Forum keeps participants connected and works to create awareness and attract new recruits.

Crucial to CYNP’s success, and what sets it apart from the U.N.’s past work with ex-combatants, is an emphasis on ownership. "We work with you to develop your own project in your community where you manage it," Toe says.

According to Toe, there are currently around 100 youths enrolled in six-month long programmes at the Bensonville facility, and as many as 500 graduates are now farming in communities around Montserrado.

A number of those graduates can be found working a plot of unused government land in the Fiamah neighbourhood of Monrovia. Alfred Kapehe says that CYNP helped him progress from subsistence agriculture to smallholder commercial farming. Likewise, James Paylay says the small farm he keeps brings in enough money for him to rent a home, feed his family, and pay his children’s school fees.

"Everything comes from the garden," Paylay says.

Liberian Deputy Minister for Youth Development Sam Hare acknowledged an often-cited USAID (the U.S. government agency providing economic and humanitarian assistance) statistic indicating that just three percent of Liberian youths are interested in farming. But, in an interview with IPS, he maintains that the situation is changing.

"Agriculture has been identified as the key to breaking the youth unemployment challenge," he says.

"We have been working with the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders to make people see that agriculture, viewed in the right perspective, is a tool for wealth."

Hare says that the challenge is to convince young people that they can take farming beyond a subsistence level and make a commercial enterprise of it.

"Our vocational training priorities now need to be redefined and restructured to meet the real needs of Liberia. And youth and agriculture should be the focus," he adds.

Joseph Boiwu, a FAO programme officer for Liberia, says that another impediment slowing youths’ entry into agriculture is the labour-intensive nature of the work. To address this problem the FAO and partners distributed 24 power tillers to small groups of farmers in Bong, Lofa, and Nimba counties in 2010.

"We’re going to now reassess the interest of the youth," Boiwu says. If the initiative is deemed a success, it could grow to include heavy machinery such as tractors.

Prince Sampson, head of Youth for Development and Progressive Action in Bong County in north- central Liberia, describes a programme his organisation runs that is similar to the CYNP’s. Like Toe, he says that he learned from the mistakes of post-war workshops that failed to make long-term investments in people.

"The ex-combatants had training in carpentry, masonry, and other skills," Sampson says.

"And then after that, there wasn’t anything substantial for them to do. You had them trained, and then they didn’t have a source of income. So they went back to square one."

Sampson, who has worked with war-affected youth since 1992, maintains that agriculture is different because there is an element of immediate responsibility.

"The guys…They eat the very rice they grow. The vegetables are sold, the proceeds are divided among them, and they have some cash for their pockets."

Sampson describes the importance of involving the country’s former combatants in agriculture as a matter of food security.

"We make them understand the usefulness of the years still ahead, in spite of the years that were wasted during the war," he says.

"We let them understand that the strength they had – their youthful exuberance – can still be harnessed."

*Additional reporting from Al-Varney Rogers in Monrovia.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Agriculture, Development, Featured, Poverty Tagged With: ,

Hopes To Heal Economy Through Devaluation, Which Has Hit Poor Hard

May 17, 2012 by

Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS

By Claire Ngozo

LILONGWE, May 17, 2012 (IPS) – As Malawi’s poor struggle to afford food and other staple items since the 48 percent devaluation of the local currency against the dollar, economic commentators are optimistic that the move will provide an opportunity to boost the country’s export market.

On May 7, Malawi’s President Joyce Banda made a decision to devalue the Kwacha from K168 to K250 to the dollar.

The lowering of the currency against the dollar has hit locals hard. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world: 74 percent of the population of this southern African nation lives on less than 1.25 dollars a day, and nearly one in 10 children die before their fifth birthday.

The devaluation of the Kwacha created panic among consumers who rushed to stock up on basic food items such as maize flour, cooking oil and rice as the price of products increased by an average of 50 percent.

Consumers suffered a further blow on May 11 as the prices of fuel and electricity also rose by 30 and 63 percent respectively.

"The devaluation has made us poorer than before. Our salaries remain the same, so how can we afford to pay twice as much on basic necessities such as maize flour?" asked Mada Mayuni, a civil servant who works as a copy typist in the capital, Lilongwe.

Mayuni is a widow and looks after seven children aged between four and 16.

"I don’t know how we will survive because my salary is only enough for transportation to and from work. Maybe I should move to the village and try subsistence farming," she told IPS.

Matthews Chikankheni, the president of the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, a partnership of enterprises and associations representing all sectors of Malawi’s economy, told IPS that although the average person was suffering, the devaluation of the Kwacha was a necessary adjustment that should be welcomed as it would boost the country’s export trade.

"This is a chance for export traders to improve their earnings. The devaluation means that exports will be cheaper and imports more expensive, and as a country we need to take advantage of this situation and export more," said Chikankheni.

By devaluing the Kwacha, Banda was responding to requests that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and local economists had made to the country’s late President Bingu wa Mutharika. However Mutharika had repeatedly refused to take the step that economists believed would have saved the country’s failing economy.

Malawi’s donor relations suffered greatly following accusations that Mutharika’s government failed to respect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and the right to freedom of the press.

Donors refused to release up to 400 million dollars and the United States suspended a 350-million- dollar grant. At the time, almost 40 percent of Malawi’s national budget was donor-dependent. Many donors have since pledged to help Banda restore the country’s economy.

The devaluation of the Kwacha and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market are expected to contribute to the government’s attempts to reach an early agreement with the IMF in order to unlock donor funds.

Chikankheni said that the devaluation would boost demand for domestically-produced goods and discourage the current dependency on imported consumer goods, which have now automatically risen in price.

He added that the increase in exports would mean that foreign exchange would be easily available in the country and would result in an eventual improvement in the economy, which would trickle down to the people.

Currently Malawi’s annual imports, which are estimated to be two billion dollars worth of goods such as electronic items, groceries and furniture, exceed its exports. The country exports 1.2 billion dollars of agricultural products like tobacco, tea, sugar and groundnuts, according to the National Statistical Office.

Chikankheni is optimistic that the devaluation will aid the growth of the tobacco industry.

Tobacco is the country’s main revenue earner, accounting for up to 60 percent – or 950 million dollars – of foreign exchange. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Malawi’s tobacco accounts for five percent of the world’s total exports.

Dalitso Kubalasa, the executive director of the Malawi Economic Justice Network, a coalition of more than 100 civil society organisations that promotes economic governance, told IPS that the devaluation would make Malawi’s export products more competitive on the international market.

"On the export front, the devaluation will lead to increased demand for Malawi’s exports in the short run. In the long run, this is expected to stimulate production and thus lead to increased production of exportable goods … thereby generating foreign currency," said Kubalasa.

He added that because the prices of imports had automatically risen and become unaffordable for some, the situation would motivate locals to substitute these goods with commodities that can be produced locally. It would provide an incentive to local industry, he said.

But he admitted that the devaluation would affect the country’s middle class and poor.

"We all have been through desperate times…perhaps we might have to even brace ourselves for more," said Kubalasa. "But on the brighter side, we still need to understand that something needed to be done fast to put a stop to the downward trend of the economy before it got to a point of no return."

He said he was hopeful that the devaluation was not the only solution to Malawi’s economic woes.

"For the devaluation to be effective, it needs to be done alongside strategic and well-focused supporting intervention measures," said Kubalasa.

All rights reserved, IPS – Inter Press Service, 2012.

This article may not be republished, broadcast, framed, or redistributed without the written permission of IPS – Inter Press Service. Republication of this material without permission from IPS, the copyright holder, constitutes a violation of United States and international copyright laws and may result in legal action.


Filed Under: Africa, Development, Inequality, Poverty, Report, Trade Tagged With: ,
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