The Food Crisis And Rising Prices: Is It A War On The Poor?

By Ali Al-Hail 

ccun.org, September 3, 2008

   The intertwined, twofold phenomenon; ongoing food crisis, and food soaring cost, has been worldwide, seen by many as, a penalty inflicted upon the poor in developing, and under developing countries, including the poor in the USA, and the rest of the West, by USA\West-led-globalization (UN Food Program, Al Jazeera TV, August 20th, 2008). According to the Program, those fined and starved to death, by the West's barbaric globalization are roughly, half of the earth.
 
 Yet; the term of 'Globalization', despite its Western-hypothetical-glamorous-human-based-marketed-targets, in reality 'Globalization' is largely, seen to have set an unprecedented record high price on the food of the needy. The long-term goal is, to mess up with the demand-supply market forced mechanisms, it's argued.
 
 Purportedly, the Free Trade, as an aspect of 'Globalization' has freed the West's trade, and restricted non-Western states' trade. For instance, billions of Dollars are annually, poured by the USA into subsidizing USA large farms. This action has led to depriving small farms in the USA from sufficient productivity, and accordingly, viable exportation.
 
   Further, this action handcuffed developing and under developing countries' farmers, whose subsidies from their governments are severely, incompatible with those subsidies USA's farmers garner from their government. Hence; the USA's, and rich West's farmers have invaded the global markets, leaving other farmers in developing and under developing states looking aloof.
 
   Undoubtedly, the rich West has long, made the most of this fatal weapon of mass destruction i.e., food monopoly and food controlling prices, against the poor in the World, including the deprivable in the West. According to the UN Food Program, this inhumane action has led to the current food crisis and food high label price.
   
   As to why the food of the poor, is to have been punished by the US-led-west, it's further, argued that, this anti-poor-alliance has, since their fabricated "War on Terror" been obsessed with a fixation to compel the poor to searching for food, and feed their families, and children. Though, the West seems increasingly, to become cynical, and disillusioned, their supposedly, ultimate goal to stop "terror", as a result of starving the poor, has proved absolutely, the contrary.
 
   Fatalities amongst US and NATO personnel and troops, by the resistance in Afghanistan and Iraq, where people are being malnourished, are all but a living proof, of the US's and NATO's constant attempt to starve the poor. By the same token, despite the poverty in Gaza, the Gazan resistance to the Israeli occupation is hitherto, another core evidence of the West's failure, since Israel is a strategic  ally of this anti-human-alliance.   
 
   Many allege that, the nearing figure to $5 trillion, the Bush administration has been burning in the continuous two wars on Afghanistan, and Iraq since October 7th, 2001 is fundamentally, responsible for the food crisis in the World, including amongst the needy in the USA and in the West. If one adds to that, an estimated amount of $ a trillion, the NATO states set a blaze to in the two wars, one could imagine the scale of the current food crisis, from which the poor, and only the poor who direly, suffer.
 
   Arguably, such a monitorial waste, has led to dramatic financial and economic developments. Topping them are; a frequent deterioration to the Dollar, a continual credit crunch, a global inflation, rising food and housing prices, and ultimately, a demand-supply chaos, as the main force that rules the global market.
 
   Apparently, throwing the blame by the US-led-West on OPEC for lack of supply, which proved to be inaccurate, or manners of inappropriate consumption of food in developing and under developing countries, was an attempt to justify their huge frivolous waste on their two losing wars. The most hilarious of all, was that statement of the German Chancellor, Merkel, who had funnily, asserted that, because Indians (of the State of India), eat two meals a day, instead of one, as they used to do, food crisis, and food expensive prices emerged.   
  
   The German Chancellor pretended to forget that, nearly, two hundred years of British harsh colonization of India had deceptively, resulted in that, now by and large, three hundred million (300,00,000,000) Indians are under the poverty line (refer to the British\English drama; Jewels in The Crown). Rather than criticizing consuming culture in Germany, the USA, and Western Europe which is, according to the UN Food Program the highest in the World, the Chancellor has apparently, chosen to be on the defense.
 
  Having said that, ruling regimes in the third World that, are allies to the West, including Arab countries can hardly, be exempted from contributing to the emerging global developments. For example, it's 'claimed' that, Saudi Arabia was pressurized by the USA to stop growing wheat, especially, after it had proved that it was cost-effective.
 
 In the mid 80's, it's observed, Saudi Arabia was capable of covering its domestic markets, and supplying Egypt, and other Muslim countries such as Indonesia with the Wheat. Having another strategic commodity i.e., the Wheat to export, apart from the oil, it's presumed, the USA and the West with varying degrees, felt threatened.
 
   In the same vein, more or less, similar measures are alleged to have taken by the US-led-rich-West, against Egypt, as a prerequisite to the USA's and Western's aide to Egypt, prior to Camp David's 1979 peace accord with Israel. Just to remind that, this deal was widely, conceived by majority of Arabs, Muslims and others worldwide, as a blatant surrender to Israel. Perceivably, cotton, rice, and Wheat productivity in Egypt was drastically, halved compared to the pre-peace- accord age.
 
   During this recent food shortage, and its dramatically, rising costs, rumors began to flow that, attempts by the USA, and the West have apparently, started to stop Arab Gulf region's agricultural investments in the Sudan. Many in the region, believe that, one of the USA's and the West's agenda in the Sudan is to destabilize it, as so it becomes less attractive for agricultural investments.   
 
    Moreover, since Arab Gulf region's staple food is the rice, the current food crisis, encouraged Asian rice producing countries, to call for establishing a rice cartel, as to compete with OPEC, the oil cartel of which Arab Gulf region states are members. One presumes, as do many that, some Western powers have ignited such an urgency, in order to, it's argued create a credit crunch environment in the Arab Gulf region. 
    
   It's not a stretch to assert that, the latter is one of the West's attempts, to putdown Arab Gulf region to remain dependent on the West on one hand. While on the other hand, to keep the Arab Gulf region as their source of income, a workplace for recruiting their rising unemployed workforce.
 
   Retrospectively, the Arab Gulf region has since as early as the 14th century been a power spot to the West. Thus, the present conflict between Iran and the West over Iran's 'alleged' nuclear program, and rising military might, could interpret the West's clinching to the Arab Gulf region.
 
 Additionally, rising ambitions among Asia's burgeoning urban middle class, most notably, in India and China, for meat and dairy products, is also leading to less land for rice production. Factors such as the flooding in Indonesia and Bangladesh and recent cold weather in Vietnam and China have also hurt production.
 
   Export restrictions are in place in major rice producing countries such as India, China, Vietnam and Egypt. Rice is the staple food for about three billion people worldwide. The prices of soybeans, corn and wheat are also near historic highs.
 
   As, the reduction of food supply has presumably, began  gradually, since 2001, when the war on Afghanistan was launched, and worsened in 2003, as the war on Iraq initiated. According to Sushi Pandy, an agricultural economist at the IRRI (an Asian rice institute), "Longer term demand-supply imbalance, is clearly indicated by depletion of stock that has been going on for several years.”  
 
   According to him, "We have been consuming more than what we have been producing and research to increase rice productivity is needed to address this imbalance." The IRRI said several factors were behind the rise in rice prices.
Land for producing rice and irrigation water is being lost to industrialization and urbanization (quoted in BBC Online, July, 2008.)
 
   Therefore, the rich West ought to (if not must) abandon its inhumane policies of its anti-poor-alliance, and to help these countries (to cite one example), protect their rice deteriorating industry, on which three billion human beings live and survive. This weak, the World Bank has announced that, the food crisis has dramatically, increased the poor to 50% more. To conclude, one could say that, using this weapon of mass destruction i.e., food crisis, and food high prices against the poor by the rich West, would not get the rich West anywhere.
 
   Many argue that, the constant insurgence by the poor in Afghanistan and Iraq against the rich US-led-NATO States, and the high toll suffered by the US-led-NATO forces on the hands of the unstoppable resistance, despite power imbalance, clearly, indicates that, this food war on the poor is yet, another losing battle to the West.                
 
Professor, Dr. Ali Al-Hail, Professor of Mass Communication, Twice Fulbright

Award Winner, Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Vice-President Of Qatar Fulbright Group, CSR Award Judge and Board Member of AUSACE, ASC, IABD, NEBAA, BEA, IMDA and EAJMC American Associations.