Sustainable development — Ethnic Supplies

World Food Day- what are the poor doing to secure food?#BAD2011

October 16, 2011 By idahorner 2 Comments

It is that time of the year again! It is Blog Action Day 2011 which has coincided with WORLD FOOD DAY

Food or the availability of food in Africa is something I write about a great deal on this blog- but when I learned that this year’s topic is FOOD I wondered what I could possibly write about this topic that I haven’t already written about?

The organisers put forward some suggestions including writing about one’s favourite foods. I love food and choosing a favourite food is a tall order but if I had to choose a staple or something I could eat daily and not complain it would be a combination of BBQ or Grilled chicken and a garden salad or Tilapia cooked in any form, mangoes and Avocados.

Back to today’s task though I would like you to help me answer the question

WHAT ARE THE POOR DOING TO SECURE FOOD?

You might wonder whether this is even possible and you would be right, for the odds are stacked against the poor when it comes to food. The poor pay more for food the land on which they are meant to grow their food is being taken away from them and sold to the rich and if that is not enough land is also taken to provide alternative fuel for the rich because they are guilty about polluting the environment.

The UN has set a goal to end extreme hunger surely it is not up to the poor to secure their own food, is it? I would answer this with another. What does this mean in reality? Does the UN hand out food to the poor?

Yes but the food that is meant for the poor does not always get to them

If you have read this far and are thinking this is depressing don’t go just yet

Please allow me to introduce you to James.

I met James in November last year at the Villages in Action conference in Masindi Uganda James – owns the only Grain Mill and bicycle repair shop called TUYAMBAGANE GRAIN MILLERS- literary translated it means LET US HELP EACH OTHER

James is an older man possibly 60 years old and very easy to like and he provides two very vital services to his community. Grain milling- James says that he and his family started this business in 2004 as they wanted something that could bring them a daily income. He explained that the business name was deliberate and reflects the relationship between his service and the village – he provides a service to the village and in turn that brings him income. The impact of this business on the village is easy to dismss until you take a closer look.

James’ service enables folk in the village without electricity or factories to preserve food for leaner times the easiest way to preserve food is turn into flour which is easy to store. The grain miller facility is very simple and is located in what we in the west would consider a shed but has far reaching consequences for those that rely on it. For you see whilst here in the West food wastage occurs between the supermarket and fridge in villages such as James’ food wastage occurs between the garden and the kitchen- another reason why the poor can’t secure their food

James' shop sign

Here is James helping prepare the ground the day before the conference

James

At the day of the conference James shared his story with the world. he was part of the village business panel and here he is (seated in the middle) with his fellow panellists

This is the shed that houses James’ grain mill

and here is sneak preview on how things work inside the Grain mill
Bicycle repairing- bicycles are the most common means of personal transport in Kikuube and as any means of transport the bicycles do break down and need repairing. I asked James the significance of bicycle ownership in the village. http://youtu.be/5t_bNWC7ov4

It enables farmers to get their produce to market without bicycles it would be near impossible as the market is a long a way away nearly half a day’s walk

So as you can see it is not all doom and gloom out there. Please join the conversation. help me answer the question I started out with- what can the poor doing to secure food? Is there anything they can realistically do?

Filed Under: food distribution, Latest Tagged With: #bad11, Africa, Blog Action Day 2011, famine, Food and Agriculture Organization, food security, MASINDI, MDGs, Somalia, United Nations, World Food Day

Do UK African diaspora have a role in achieving the MDGs?

October 5, 2011 By idahorner Leave a Comment

On Thursday 29th September 2011 a reception was held at the UK Parliament. The theme of the reception was

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Role of the UK African Diaspora

The reception was hosted by AFRICA -UK working in partnership with Comic Relief and the Royal African Society their objectives are to

to increase the role of the Diaspora in Africa’s development
to ensure that the Diaspora inform debates about development priorities for Africa
and to foster greater dialogue and engagement between policy makers and UK-based Africans working in development

These were the opening remarks from the organisers

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals. ‘‘At the midway point between their adoption in 2000 and the 2015 target date for achieving the MDGs, Sub-Saharan Africa is not on track to achieve any of the Goals.”(United Nations, Africa, & the Millennium Development Goals, 2007)

What is the role of Africa’s Diaspora in helping Africa accelerate and attain the MDGs by the target date of 2015?

The speaker was Amalia Navarro from the UN Millennium Campaign. She spoke passionately and frankly about the Goals, precisely that the goals will not be met and that the UN overlooked the diaspora in that conversation.

She also seemed to be saying “Yes we messed up but we need to look beyond2015″ and was keen to engage us on what I would like to call an “the After party”

She asked the question WHAT CAN THE AFRICAN DIASPORA BRING TO THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MDGs in the same breath as she said WHERE ARE THE AFRICAN DIASPORA AND WHY AREN’T THEY JOINING IN ON THE CONVERSATION?

I did wonder where she was looking for the African diaspora or whom she was talking to.

What I found interesting was that at least 3 people in the room asked the speaker the following questions

What does the UN want from the African Diaspora?
How can the African Diaspora join the conversation?
What is the UN doing to engage the diaspora

But she didn’t seem to have an answer to any of those questions and instead told us to join civil societies in order to join the conversation on MDGs and even then she could name one such society that we could all join.

I made the assumption that she meant the large NGOs but like many in the room that evening I am not aware of any large NGOs that seek out or engage the African diaspora, do you??

As it is we are ahead of the UN we got fed up being invited to the conversation and started our own VILLAGES IN ACTION . We have also had a conversation about what the point of the UN is. We have a very good idea as to why the MDGs will not be achieved and this is not because we have picked up a book, No we have gone back to our villages and engaged with the folk we left behind. These are the people in the know, if you take time out they will tell you how you cannot solve poverty without sacrificing the environment in some way , they see and experience environmental degradation first hand.

The question for the UN is how to reach such folk! But it isn’t that hard really- TALK TO THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

Filed Under: Development Policy, Latest Tagged With: Africa, African Diaspora, Comic Relief, Diaspora, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, Non-governmental organization, Poverty, United Nations

A nice road through the village

September 27, 2011 By idahorner Leave a Comment

Kikube Masindi NW Uganda

If you live in rural Uganda and or any other Sub Saharan Country for that matter chances are that the road through your village will look like the one in Kikube, unless of course your village is on a main road to somewhere such as a big city or a tourist attraction

Minor roads leading off the main roads are not sealed (murram) and generally speaking are OK during the dry weather bar the dust that passing traffic generates and if well maintained they serve the villages well. Driving on these murram roads requires exceptional skills!

The main roads those leading to large towns and cities are usually tarmac and are part of most African countries strategy to improve trade. Goods in Uganda are mostly transported by road and I can imagine a huge chunk of the country’s infrastructure budget is spent on these major roads. These roads are almost always paid for by donor agencies/AID and chances are that this is only benefit that some folk on the ground will experience – A NICE ROAD THROUGH THE VILLAGE!

It is easy to be cynical about the idea of giving the poor a nice road when they have nothing to eat but imagine if you will a woman in labour trying to get to a hospital that is 2 hours away on a poor or no road at all! In fact a few days ago I came across a man at a networking event who was doing some research on this issue. He is convinced that African women’s reproductive health is impacted by the quality of roads in Africa

Kabale Road Ruhanga SW Uganda

But for the folk of Ruhanga SW Uganda (see photo above), a nice road through their village has mixed blessings so to say. Ruhanga is on the main road to Kabale, Congo, Rwanda and a major tourist attraction- MOUNTAIN GORILLAS. Having this nice roads means that folk can get to hospital easily and can take advantage of passing trade but the nice road has become a death trap and only a few weeks ago we lost Witness a 4 year old in a car accident.

The irony of this situation is a couple of years ago there were some deep potholes in the road which forced drivers to slow down and in turn we had fewer accidents in the village.

We also learned that Uganda’s Minister of works has no intention of putting in any form of traffic calming measures. I am not quite sure what if anything the community can do about this whole situation as I know for a fact that Witness’ death is not the first nor will it be the last and judging from the email we got from the secretary of the Community Based Organisation there is nothing they can do and expect answers or a solution from us.

He said- I am sure the news of Witness’ death has reached you by now and I am really not sure what you are going to do to ensure the safety of very young children a very busy high way with undisciplined drivers of small and heavy trucks

Your thoughts please!

Filed Under: Development Policy, Latest Tagged With: Africa, AID, Kabale, MASINDI, Road Safety, Ruhanga, Rwanda, Uganda