Breaking down European aid paradigms
(Baraka Agricoltural College, Molo, Kenya- 27/01/2020, Pia M., editor Giulia Z.) Day 7 of the WinterSchool on sustainable food systems starts with a short presentation of the group work conducted the day before. All groups have taken an effort to visualize their ideas and go into details on how to realize their first project ideas.
Then there is an online lecture of Eduardo Occa, who has been working with malnutritioned children in Tanzania. He points out that there are two different stages of malnutrition- one is the chronic malnutrition, which is an insufficient supply of nutrients within the first 1000 days starting from the pregnancy of the mother until the 2 years of life of the baby. This way of malnutrition affects more than a third of the Tanzanian population and over 25% of Kenya's population. The second type of malnutrition is severe malnutrition, which leads to death if not treated in an hospital and 100.000 Tanzanian children are facing this threat - in Kenya the number is even higher.
Mr. Occa introduces relatively easy measures to help the population preventing chronic malnutrition. The first step is to raise awareness about the topic - often the lack of nutrients is due to an unbalanced diet that mainly consist of Ugali, which is made out of white corn. Thus it is important to teach the women in the community that are in charge of farming as well as taking care of the children and the household. This is done by teaching the women in the communities to become "sustainable pioneers" and supply them with basic material like water cans and seeds to start their own vegetable garden and improve the nutritional supply. Within the project they developed some videos on the different steps that can improve the nutritional status of the population (video).
After this enlightening lecture the WinterSchool team further substantiates the timing and planning of the project ideas before heading off for the lunch break.
"Land and Water Grabbing" is the topic that kicks off the afternoon sessions. Gabriele Volpato from the university of gastronomic sciences in Italy introduces it. He starts by dismantling the western paradigm of the aid and support culture by showing that in fact Africa is still exploited by western societies and faces an annual deficit of around 40 billions dollar per year. Land grabbing is one of the main factors in causing inequality and threatens the local/indigenous inhabitants. This problem is fueled by the fact that after gaining independence most of the land is owned by the government, which is often not lead by communal interests but rather by short term monetary benefits (often including corruption in the process of transferring land ownership). This problem, intensified after the financial crisis in 2008, as land is seen as a secure investment. Further the development is fostered by the highly profitable wildlife tourism, which claims to preserve African wildlife by blocking tribal traditions of pastoralist movements and thus often threatens the existing ecosystem that has been depending on this way of extensive land use for centuries.
Another false premise of African agricultural development is the notion of a need for an intensification of agricultural practices to feed the growing population. Mr. Volpato gives evidence that this intensification actually just increases the output per worker but doesn't increase productivity per hectare. Thus this kind of development actually endangers food security in the area instead of decreasing malnutrition. It is important to keep in mind that "land grabbing is not just about access to land but also [endangers] whole livelihoods".
Further interrogatives raised during the lecture are "Where do all the red roses that are sold in Europe come from? What is used to feed Scandinavian salmon? Both answers lay hidden in Africa - connections that are rarely thought or spoken of.
Almost all the roses sold all over Europe are produced in the Kenyan Rift Valley - around lake Naivasha, which is one of the view sweet water lakes in Kenya. Around 5.000 hectares are used for highly intensive rose production. The job opportunities in the area increased as around 200.000 people are needed to care of this highly intensive production system. The price that is paid for this development is incomparably high. Not only did the flourishing ecosystem around the lake disappear, which was mainly used by the pastoral Maasai community but also the working conditions for the mostly young and female employees are devastating.
Grabbing water recourses is another topic that has a huge impact on African biodiversity and livelihood: there are international and national rules on fishing and water conservatory, but who is enforcing them? According to Professor Gabriele Volpato, African countries lack the power to ensure the compliance with the regulations either because they lack the money to install a marine police or because corruption is used to make the government turn a blind eye on non-compliant behavior. Thus the nine biggest fishing companies are exploiting the African shores. One European vessel harvests on average in one day as much as 56 traditional African fisherman in one year! And a big percentage of the harvested fish is transformed to fish meal and carried to Scandinavia to produce cheap salmon for the European market.
This links today's lecture to the previous lectures of a post-productivist system that is protecting western resources while exploiting the resources of developing nations.
After this lecture the team of the WinterSchool engaged in a discussion - what can we do to try and work against these dynamics? Professor Gabriele Volpato emphasizes: we need to take responsible consumer decisions! "Everyday everybody eats" and our eating behaviors have a big influence in the production system! Generally he gives the advice to support small scale farming everywhere - know where your food comes from!
After this eye opening lecture there is another online lecture conducted by Mrs. Diana Cerini on the topic of Food safety and security in the European market - introducing the European regulations on trade and projects of corporate social responsibility, before the participants are freed to enjoy a walk around the beautiful nature of Baraka Agricultural College. Alternatively the team members can relax in front of the Fire Place, which is a highly frequented place as today's temperature is rather chilly.
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