FOOD CRISIS? A CRITIQUE OF THE

WASHINGTON CONSENSUS

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.

When I ask why the poor have no food, they call

me a communist” - Don Helda Camara

Dr. Tidings P. Ndhlovu

Manchester Metropolitan University. UK

Visiting Research Fellow, Graduate School of Business Leadership,

University of South Africa (Unisa)

t.Ndhlovu@mmu.ac.uk

INTRODUCTION World population growth and urbanization (mega cities);

hunger and undernourishment; sustainability? Econ Growth or Environmental Protection?

Solutions : Indoor farming? Supply↑? Liberalization? GMCs? Basic Needs Approach? Structural and political (re) organization?

Paradox: over-supply ↔ hunger; production ↔ prices;

Provisioning: Market Economy versus Moral Economy

Empirical evidence:

Paradox explained

Alternative Approach: Abalimi Bezekhaya (South Africa)

Concluding Thoughts

Source: UN (2014: 9)

Source: UN (2014: 7)

PROVISIONING: MARKET ECONOMY

VERSUS MORAL ECONOMY Moral Economy (EP Thompson; Amartya Sen)

Role of the State: Provisioning

Social conflict: “Just Price” (UK); 1943 Bengal Famine;

power; equity; distribution

Market Economy (Adam Smith; Thomas Malthus)• “natural” market forces• Stability ensues: excess demand or supply is

seen as a temporary phenomenon• Laissez faire policies

Uneven and Combined Development

EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FAO: March 2007 - March 2008: Watershed in world

‘food crisis’• FAO Food Price Index up by 57% (cereals, 88%;

oils and fats, 106%; dairy, 48%)• Consequence - number of undernourished people

increase by 75 million to a total of 923 million• Revised figures for 2007 - 2009 (taking account of

weather conditions) – cereals ↑2%; wheat ↑6%; coarse grain ↑3%; rice↓2.3%;

• 867 million undernourished• Price volatility: 2010-2015 (Figure 3) • 868 million malnourished; Multidimensional

Poverty Index (MPI)• Production (Figures 4 and 5)

Source: FAO, 2014: 2

Source: Brown, 2012: Supporting Data; Compiled by Earth Policy Institute from U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Source: Mulvey, 2009:3

PARADOX EXPLAINED• “Perfect storm” (food & water shortages, climate

change, high-cost energy)?• Structural/Political economy?• Geo-politics of food: hunger/malnutrition/schooling

affected ↔ obesity/diabetes/hypertension/asthma/eczema Nature of food crisis

o oil prices↑ ~ cost of producing food (fertilizer and pesticides made from petroleum and natural gas)

o bio-fuels: 20 – 30% of increase in food prices in 2008

o Subsidization of production of agro-fuels (USA, EU, Brazil)

oClimatic change: cyclones; hurricanes, etc.; droughts; damaged crops; prices↑

PARADOX EXPLAINED Speculative investment (accounting for 55% of total

agricultural volume)• Buying stocks; hoarding (e.g. rice) in expectation of

future higher prices • Land acquisitions – conflicts; refugees; MNCs – ‘socially

responsible investment’

Privatization espoused by WTO and IMF

Green Revolution – capital intensive techniques; environmental degradation

Agro-industry: primary source of greenhouse gases; food and animal feed crops displaced to new areas; chronically hungry to increase by 600 million in 2080

Food value chain: Role of MNCs: centralization and concentration of capital

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH: ABALIMI

BEZEKHAYA (SA) FoodBank South Africa (SA) Abalimi Bezekhaya (“Planters of home”): Western

and Eastern Cape• Collective non-profit voluntary micro

associations • Marketing wing: Harvest of Hope (HOH)• Training Model: Community Gardens (Survival,

Subsistence, Livelihood levels

Sustainable Development Continuum Survival, Subsistence, Livelihood, Commercial

phases Abalimi Sustainable Index Gender-sensitive and community-based system

The sustainable development

continuum for organic micro farming

projects

Source: Abalimi Bezekhaya, 2013: 1

Concluding Thoughts Nature of the problem: hunger amidst plentiful

supplies

Failed World Bank policies do not address root of food security • Tendency towards excess with periods of

scarcity• Hunger and undernourishment

Control of agriculture and food policies by communities (not freer trade) ala Abalimi Bezekhayao Structural and political change: agrarian

reform; equitable production and distributiono Fundamental social transformation