2011 Saw Challenges of Hunger and Poverty
Joe DeCapua, December 27, 2011
The Worldwatch Institute said in 2011 far too many people were living with less than they needed. It says, for example, nearly one billion people were hungry and just as many were illiterate.
Worldwatch Institute's Danielle Nierenberg said while a billion people went to bed hungry each night, it wasn't because of a lack of available food.
"We produce more than enough food in the world to not only feed the 7 billion people who are on earth today, but 9 to 11 billion people. By 2050, we expect the population to be about 9 and a half billion people and we currently produce enough food to feed all of those people. But the question is really one of how do we get food to the people who need it the most. Poverty really impedes the progress of allowing people to eat well. Not just getting enough staple crops, but being able to buy fruits and vegetables and the things that will really nourish them," she said.

Wasted
The director of the Nourishing the Planet Project said besides poverty and a lack of access to food, much food is simply lost. Worldwatch estimates 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year.
"Twenty to fifty percent of the global food harvest is wasted before it can ever reach people's stomachs. And this is really a moral problem when you consider all of the people who are hungry in the world. The good news about that 20 to 50 percent of global food waste number is that it's easy to prevent food waste. We can do it in our homes. Consumers can do a lot to prevent food waste by planning meals better, by not buying too much food. In the developing world there are storage systems that are beginning to be put in place that help farmers protect their food from crop diseases or pests or molds and fungus," she said.
Nierenberg said prevention measures can be put in place all along the food chain.

On the micro level
Part of the problem of malnutrition is a deficiency in micronutrients. A severe lack of Vitamin A, iron and iodine can have lifelong effects. For example, a vitamin A deficiency in children can lead to blindness. An iron deficiency in pregnant women can cause a number of complications.

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"One of the biggest problems in the world right now is that we produce a lot of calories. We produce a lot of starchy staple crops, whether it's rice or wheat or maize. And while that keeps people full and fed, and most of the world really depends on those starch staple crops to survive, we're not investing as much in the production of fruits and vegetables. Those are the things that contain those essential micronutrients," she said.
Nierenberg said a lack of access to nutritious food does not necessarily mean affected people are thin. It can be just the opposite. They can be overweight or even obese.
"People don't have access to healthy, nutritious food. In the United States, we have the highest obesity rates in the world. And this is partly due because many of our citizens don't have access to grocery stores or farmers' markets. They live in what are called food deserts. Places where people have to travel very far to grocery stores. In most of these areas the food comes not from supermarkets, but it comes from liquor stores and convenience stores, where unhealthy foods and processed foods are sold," she said.

Can't read or write
While it may not seem obvious, the Worldwatch Institute project director said malnutrition and illiteracy are closely linked.
"When people, especially farmers, don't have the education that they need to live productive lives, they can't learn new skills. And in sub-Saharan Africa, women farmers, especially, don't have access to education. This prevents them from not only learning new cropping techniques and learning new technologies, it also prevents them from being able to access financial and banking services. They can't have bank accounts. They can't buy land. They can't buy the inputs that they need to make their crops more productive," she said.
Nierenberg said despite the many challenges, Worldwatch is hopeful for the future. She says there are a growing number of innovative projects to address hunger and poverty, while at the same time protecting the environment. These include the World Food Program's homegrown school feeding initiatives underway in Kenya, Brazil, India, Thailand and other countries. The programs put local food producers in direct contact with schools.

Hunger&Poverty

Real-life Vigilantes Come to the Rescue
Ted Landphair, December 30, 2011
You've probably heard of "superheroes" - crime fighters possessed of incredible powers, their identities masked behind colorful costumes. Justice-seekers such as Superman, Batman and the Green Hornet.
They're make-believe vigilantes - private citizens avenging evil deeds and subduing violent criminals.
In theaters, we cheer vigilantes such as Merry Olde England's legendary Robin Hood. And Paul Kersey, played by actor Charles Bronson, who walked the streets, avenging the murder of his wife and the attack on his daughter in five "Death Wish" movies.
Many Americans applauded the real-life "Subway Vigilante," Bernhard Goetz, who, in 1984, shot four men who assaulted him on a New York City subway train. 
These days, all over the country, masked vigilantes are leaping out of the shadows to rescue potential victims of violent crime. The HBO cable-television documentary "Superheroes" followed 50 real-life crime fighters - including otherwise mild-mannered plumbers, teachers, and cashiers - who used weapons such as batons and stun guns to accost real and perceived lawbreakers.
One of latest citizen vigilantes is a 23-year-old Seattle man, Benjamin Fodor, who - wearing a black mask and matching full-body outfit and conveniently followed by a videographer - confronted a man who was menacing another person. "Phoenix Jones," as Fodor called his superhero persona, doused the aggressor with pepper spray - but later also sprayed some rowdy partygoers and was arrested for assault.
Indeed, law-enforcement agencies take a dim view of vigilantes. Few of them have combat or weapons training, the police say. The avengers sometimes assault innocent people. And they've been known to go overboard with their righteous zeal, beating citizens for littering or damaging cars whose drivers are thought to be speeding through school zones. 
"If you want to dress up and walk around, knock yourself out," said Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson. "But inserting yourself into dangerous situations without knowing the facts is just not a smart thing to do."

Superheroes

Africa May be Next Factory to World
Joe DeCapua, October 28,2013
he three-day (10/28-30) African Economic Conference is underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. Heads of state, business leaders and development experts are discussing how regional integration can boost economic growth.
African countries have seen high levels of economic growth over the past decade. That’s despite the global economic crisis that struck in 2008 and 2009. But conference organizers say growth could have been even better had countries made it easier to do business with each other. They say that’s where regional integration plays a major role.
It means investing in infrastructure, education, labor and technology – ensuring good management of shared natural resources – and having uniform rules, standards and regulations so goods and services don’t get delayed or blocked at the border.
Professor Mthuli Ncube, African Development Bank Vice President and Chief Economist, said, “Regional integration basically is about really facilitating movement in a region, in a zone, in a country, within a country. It’s about moving people. It’s about moving goods. It’s about connecting people through infrastructure. It’s about movement of talent. It’s about making sure that our seaports function well so as to service the countries where they are located, but as well as the hinterland. So it’s about movement of investment within Africa and capital as well. There are many facets to facilitating movement all with the view to developing business and growing the economies.”
Despite regional integration having been a goal for sometime, he said much improvement is needed.
“If you look at the trade in goods and services, that is still low. Intra-Africa trade is still of the order of 15 percent compared to other regions where it is much higher, many times higher. Much of it has to do with weak manufacturing bases that you find in most African countries. So the countries don’t have much to trade with each other. A lot of them will still produce natural resources, which are merely exported without much beneficiation [processing to add value]. That’s part of the reason. But there are other areas where Africa has made a lot of progress, such as in intra-Africa investment.”
This includes banks and mobile telephone companies.
Ncube said that greater regional integration can act as a buffer for possible future economic crises.
“Our research shows that those regions where the quality of integration is of higher quality, those regions were better at absorbing the shocks of the global economic crisis. And this is particularly the case with [the] East Africa region – around Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and so forth. That region absorbed the crisis better that other regions and we think integration – at least our research shows – was critical in that,” he said.
He added that greater regional integration will prepare the continent to be – what he calls – the next factory to the world. That can happen he says, when wages start rising in countries, such as China and Vietnam.
The African Development Bank Chief Economist said countries are working toward easing restrictive trade regulations. But he warns it’s an on-going process and nations could revert to more self-protective measures. He says for Africa, it can no longer be business as usual.
“Africa is showing that it can resist successfully and absorb the global shocks. Africa needs to see itself also as part of the global growth poll. Africa needs to see itself as part of the global solution to coming out of the crisis in the first place. It’s not business as usual.”
The African Development Bank said the continent must be aware of “mega-trade partnership agreements that wealthy nations are negotiating among themselves.”
In his speech at the opening of the African Economic Conference, bank president Donald Kaberuka said while economic growth has been high, it needs to be higher. He said the continent needs a minimum economic growth of seven percent for many years to keep pace with its rapidly rising population.

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