Here's an article saying the USA should do more about global food security. I doubt they will make an impact.
How about Egyptians growing more of their own food? Not smart enough? Too busy worrying about Israel? Too busy arresting and torturing each other? Worried whether that invisible Allah dude will approve?
Opinion: U.S. must do more for global food security - Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman - POLITICO.com
U.S. must do more for global food security
By CATHERINE BERTINI & DAN GLICKMAN | 5/24/11 9:16 AM EDT
How do you feed 10 billion people? It is not just a humanitarian question, but a vital U.S. national security imperative.
A recent U.N. report projects a 46 percent population increase by 2100. Africa, home to more than a quarter of the world’s undernourished people and more than 20 violent conflicts in the past half century, is predicted to more than double its population. We must not only consider how to feed all of these people — but what it means if we can’t.
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Food commodity prices are at record highs, leading to instability in already volatile regions. The Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review warns that factors like “climate change will contribute to food and water scarcity” even more in future, leading to “further weakening of fragile governments.”
Clearly, there is reason for the U.S. to get even more aggressive in addressing global food security. Food supply stresses represent an increasing national security threat and are not going away.
These increasing food prices are one likely catalyst of the Middle East upheaval. Last August, for example, Russia banned all wheat exports — including 600,000 tons of outstanding Egyptian orders. Egyptian food prices spiked dramatically – in a country where food is already 38 percent of consumer expenditures, compared to 13 percent in the U.S.
Washington cannot allow food insecurity to exacerbate instability in already volatile regions. We are not doing all that must be done. U.S. policymakers are taking the right, first steps, according to our new report, but more resources as well as long-term commitment are needed.
We are issuing a report card on U.S. efforts to alleviate global hunger and poverty through agricultural development programs. Washington received an overall grade of just B-.
The U.S. has earned praise since 2009 for progress on USAID effectiveness, interagency coordination and support for agricultural education and infrastructure, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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