Two completely different conversations about food are taking place around the world. One is among the well-fed, who ask themselves, “What should I eat?” The other is among the underfed, who wonder, “How can I keep from starving?”
Christians influence these two conversations significantly, according to Wall Street Journal reporters Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman, authors of Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty(Public Affairs). They believe Christians should better understand that most cases of malnutrition and chronic hunger and nearly all starvation can be prevented if the right reforms are put into place. Rob Moll, an editor at large for Christianity Today, recently interviewed Thurow, now a senior fellow with the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
Why use moral and theological language in a mainstream book about world hunger?….
National self-sufficiency in food production, where possible/feasible, is a wonderful answer to ending starvation in many countries.
Attaining this self-sufficiency involves more than just introducing “miracle grains” tailored through selective-breeding.
As an example, Rhodesia, when it was colonial vestage dominated by farmers of European extraction, was a net grain exporter. After many years under a corrupt communist-backed puppet dictator, the nation-state that emerged from what was Rhodesia is now an agricultural nightmare.
Part of the answer to turning Africa into a region that is self-sufficient in food production should involve an analysis of what went wrong in the former Rhodesia. There are serious lessons to be learned.
Its not that Africa can’t be as productive as other regions of the world, but it seems obvious to me that some things need to be changed in Africa by Africans, not outsiders in order to bring these changes about.
Christian outsiders need to look to African leaders, such as Bishop Akinola and many other African Christian leaders, to provide the leadership that will lead to these changes.
I make these comments as a person who has studied Africa and traveled in Africa.