Why Is Africa Starving?

Why is Africa Starving?

Table of Contents Page

I. Introduction 2

II. European Colonization and Agriculture 2

III. Modern Agriculture in Africa 3

IV. Population Growth 4

V. Necessary Changes 5

VI. Conclusion 6

Works Cited 7

I. Introduction

Throughout the world, people are suffering and dieing from starvation and malnourishment. The largest percent of this famine population lives on the continent of Africa. With African countries' large amounts of natural resources, tropical climate, and vast land, there should be no major reasoning as to why starvation is as much of a cause of death as it is. A recent study done in December 2003 by the United Nation's World Food Program showed that more then 38 million people throughout the continent of Africa are at risk of starvation. (Bond 2003) The continent is home to more then 800 million people, a seventh of the world's population. (Bond 2003) With a population of this size, it creates a draining need on the food supply. This proves to be a great challenge for the country in order to provide enough food for its inhabitants. In order to look at why the continent has such a problem with food shortage, one must look at all aspects of the problem and see how the numbers are unbalanced and why they are that way. The government also has the tough challenge of finding a balance between profitable exports and the most important aspect of providing enough food for the country's residents. Several aspects have been detrimental in the development of this balance, and it is a tough challenge to get the continent back in order.

II. European Colonization and Agriculture

When Africa was settled by the various European countries, no base infrastructure was set up for the continent. The European nations used these colonies for nothing more then raw materials, which only benefited the mother nation. Once the countries got what they needed, they left behind them exhausted land that was under their control. One of the most harmful decisions that these governments made was their crop advisory for the African areas. The Europeans stressed the Africans to plant cash crops that would only benefit the European nation and not provide for the African population that already dwelled there. These crops were the only type the farmers were taught to grow and would get a much higher income if they would plant it, so that was the crops they would produce.

Another problem the farmer's faced with the production of cash crops throughout Africa was that the type of crops the Europeans set up did not fit well into the environments they were established in. The farmers in these regions would have to deal with stressful weather conditions such as drought, flood, to high of temperatures and other challenges that these crops were not used to. The majority of the cash crops, such as cotton and tobacco, are very temperamental and are not used to tougher growing conditions. These stresses placed on the crops would then lead to very low yield for the farmers, wasting a large amount of possible farm land that could be used for food, but instead for nothing.

Of the crops that the farmers were producing, the majority was being exported. The European colonists were setting up tobacco and cotton farms throughout Africa and the crops were being sent back to Europe. This creates a very unbalanced system in which no sustainability is created. This left nothing for the people of Africa except for drained resources and inadequate farmland. Because of the poor establishment of the agricultural infrastructure, the continent is still battling with overcoming the situations it started with.

III. Modern Agriculture in Africa

The current stage of agriculture for the majority of the continent Africa is one that still needs improvement. Over the last fifty years, the world's total average agricultural production increased 115 percent between 1950 and 1975. Africa on the other hand increased 2.2 percent. (Population Issues 1) These numbers continue to hold true. The current food production increase in Africa remains at less then two percent. The current problem that African farmers will have to deal with and realize is that these African farmers are not farming for Africa; they are looking at the rest of the world's agriculture and crops and mimicking it without looking at the basic criteria needed for that kind of agricultural production.

Throughout the continent, farmers are trying to cultivate crops that are not fit to be growing in those areas. The rainfall is far to low and temperatures are too high for many of the crops that farmers are trying to plant, and therefore are dealing with crisis when a drought hits. Drought is currently a huge issue farmers' face every summer. Gutman describes the state of emergency many of these countries' agriculture is in by saying that "the result of severe droughts that dried crops and floods that destroyed much of what survived in countries already wrought with economic instability" (Gutman 1). When these natural disasters hit, the farmers are lost as to what they should do. They should instead consider farming livestock, which are less demanding on the environment and more hardy to unpredictable conditions. By adjusting to the environment the farmer's live in, they will be able to maximize utilization as well as creating a more sustainable environment which will allow them to preserve their land for future years to come.

IV. Population Growth

The trend that has been most detrimental to the African economy is the extreme increase in population. One theorist states that "High fertility rates and rapid population growth could prove to be more serious obstacles to poverty reduction than AIDS in most African countries" (Santangelo 1). This statement really sums up the importance and the great threat that is posed by the rapid increase in population. The large population will not be able to have enough resources to support them in their lives. The increase in population is already causing several problems in society, but continues to become a much greater threat for the future. While the extreme rate