MDGs — 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

African women’s reproductive health

March 11, 2011 By idahorner 1 Comment

January and February were emotionally hard months. I left Uganda and headed back to UK.

The day I arrived I got a phone call from home telling me that my cousin Doreen was seriously ill in a Ugandan hospital and the prognosis was not good and the next call I got was to tell me that Doreen was dead.

Doreen

Doreen (R.I.P) had miscarried her baby and having been discharged from hospital she became very ill and had to return for a check up. She had an infection that had not been picked up and by the time they did it was too late. There was very little they could do for her.

A few weeks later just as I was getting used to that news I got a call from a friend here in the UK, she had had her baby prematurely by C section as the Doctors had realized that if she carried the baby full term it would be detrimental to her health, her baby was OK. The baby a girl suffered some complications and died 12 days later.

2 weeks into February and I get a phone call from my sister in London, my niece had been taken into hospital. She was about to miscarry her babies and 48 hours later she did. she was expecting twins. The last one had to be taken out because not doing so would compromise her health as she had lost a lot of blood and perhaps cause complications for her in future.

As you can see these were difficult months to get through and you are probably wondering WHY I am sharing these rather personal experiences with you-

It is all about the disparity in services when it comes to AFRICAN WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

All of the women mentioned here are Ugandan two live in the UK but Doreen lived in Uganda. I have since asked myself the question what would have happened if the other two women lived in Uganda too?

On Tuesday 8 March 2011 we celebrated 100 years of International Women’s Day I used the opportunity to both celebrate the lives of women that are behind lovely products here at Ethnic Supplies but also to reflect on the how things have changed for women in Uganda/Africa and I concluded that there is still a lot of work to do and I think that the personal story I started this post with demonstrates that in as far getting reproductive health for African women right is concerned.

Goal Number 5 of the the Millennium Development Goals is all about Reproductive health/maternal health. As I look back on the past two months I have to wonder how many more Doreens will lose their lives before things improve for women in Africa so that they can have access to the care and expertise that the other other two women living in the UK had. Yes I understand that it took Britain 100 years or so to get Maternal health right for women here but the disparity in care for women in Africa lives me with a sense of hopelessness.

With nurses and mid-wives leaving the continent for a better life/working conditions elsewhere what hope is there for real development of services to improve reproductive health for African women?

Filed Under: African women, HEALTH Tagged With: Africa, INTERANTIONAL WOMENS DAY, International Women's Day, MATERNAL HEALTH, MDGs, MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, Uganda

Why the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved

December 8, 2010 By idahorner 1 Comment

The most recent posts here have covered a new kind of empowerment that sees folk at the grassroots having their say through a VILLAGES IN ACTION conference.

In the last post I told you about how the actual day went and I highlighted some of the enterprising stories from the village.

In this post I will write about something that I learned something important that day, the real reason the Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) will not be achieved and perhaps this tweet from @tmsruge, guest blogger here and conference organiser sums it up, in the best way possible

@tmsruge: #MDGs at #via2010: villagers were occupied with making today better than yesterday while experts worried about setting goals 4them 2achieve

I would like to think that in order for any goal to be achieved it has to be achievable (please excuse the pun here but non intended). What I learned that day was that whilst Western leaders sat in world capitals setting these goals and reviewing them each year some folk on the ground (who incidentally are meant to be the recipients of these goals) had never heard of them.

How then I ask are they meant to work towards the achievement of these goals?

In addition those that set these goals do not appear to have taken into account something as vital as the application of these goals in places like Kikuube Masindi West Uganda.

If you take the goal concerning child mortality, Milly Businge the Village Councillor told us that this can be reduced through immunization programmes but the nearest health centre to Kikuube is 3 miles away and if the medicines run out at that centre then the choice is 4 or 8 miles away and the task of ensuring that children are immunised is left to the women. These women have no personal transport, there is no village bus to get them the health centre so they have to walk there withe the babies/children on their backs.

I have no experience of travelling such distances with babies in tow but I can imagine it is not an easy thing to do and the exhaustion that comes with it would mean that some women simply give up and hope for the best for their children!

Did the World Leaders or whoever it was that set the goals bear this in mind? Goals might fail because of variables on the ground like the absence of a health centre in a village.

I also wonder what happens exactly at those summits where they are supposedly reviewing the goals. Do they actually consider circumstances that may stand in the way of achieving the MDGs? Actually that was a rhetorical question, of course they don’t , because if the did, they would do something about it.

My message to World Leaders is that it is not too late to do something about this. If you really want to meet your goals please stop talking and starting listening to the grassroots. They will tell you why things are not working and they will work with you to achieve your targets.

All you have to do right now is listen to the VILLAGES IN ACTION, surely that is free!

Filed Under: Development Policy, Latest, Popular post Tagged With: Africa, CHILD MORTALITY, MASINDI, MDGs, Uganda, VILLAGES IN ACTION