Malawi: Nitrogen – not rainfall drought
Despite the acute crisis – left behind by the late Malawian president Mutharika – his successor, former vice president Joyce Banda, still came into a positive heir: “a key for Africa’s future development and escape from poverty.” Jeffrey D. Sachs of the New York Times and special adviser to then U.N. secretary general, Kofi Annan, informs us about Mutharika’s engineering of “an agriculture-led boom in Malawi” aimed to overcome chronic hunger, food insecurity and periodic extreme famine.”
Mutharika solved the problem by subsidizing “the smallholders to buy a small amount of fertilizer and seed so that they could replenish the soil nutrients, take advantage of improved seed varieties, and at least achieve a livable crop from their tiny farms” – to the great displeasure of the donor community.
Although the Malawian agricultural project was taken as a blueprint by many other African countries because of its success, his critics demanded from the Malawian government “to move away from its narrow focus on chemical fertilisers and hybrid maize seeds.”
Read more about Malawi’s pathbreaking concept:
How Malawi Fed Its Own People by Jeffrey D. Sachs (New York Times)
Unravelling the “miracle” of Malawi’s green revolution (grain.org)
Development – like that of African economies – doesn’t yield but benefits, it can – to the contrary – threaten its own fundaments, too:
Africa’s press freedom attacked by Western cynicism and Chinese collectivism
Mohamed Keita‘s report in the New York Times on the persecution of independent African journalists reveals that
“China and African governments tend to agree that the press should focus on collective achievements and mobilize public support for the state, rather than report on divisive issues or so-called negative news.”
Be it Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia or the Kenian president Mwai Kibaki – under the government of these men a rather collectivistic reporting by local journalists is gaining momentum steadily.
Read more:
Africa’s Free Press Problem by Mohamed Keita (New York Times)
Punjab’s youth blamed of collective instability
Another threat lifts its head in India where social, technical and economic development is capitalized: Young, poor and unemployed men became drug-addicted – regionwide – in Punjab State:
This is the result of Ranvinder Singh Sandhu, sociologist from Amritsar, who “surveyed 600 drug addicts in rural and urban areas of Punjab.” But Jim Yardley of the New York Times seems to adopt this view rather uncritically as we can understand it from a comment to “Glut – The Untold Story of Punjab” – a video by N7 Productions (n7pro.com):
“73.5% of Punjabi youth are drug addicts…
I’ve been informed the figure is probably below 7%…
73% would suggest a massive percentage would also have to be female, which doesn’t ring anywhere near true to me, when considering Punjabi culture.”
Do I get it right? That – vice versa – excessive drug abuse by males must be part of Punjabi culture? Kind of strange self-esteem…
Read more:
Indian State Finds Itself in Tight Grip of Addiction by Jim Yardley (New York Times)
Glut – The Untold Story of Punjab (N7 Productions)
by atsil
