by MS. Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, President, International Executive Board, Akina Mama wa Afrika(AMwa),UK / Zambia

“Women remain the world’s largest untapped resource…” Amanda Khozi Mukwashi

Six out of ten of the world’s poorest people are women who must, as the primary family caretakers and producers of food, shoulder the burden of tilling land, grinding grain, carrying water and cooking. This is no easy burden. In Kenya, women can burn up to 85 percent of their daily calorie intake just fetching water. Yet some 75 percent of the world's women cannot get bank loans because they have unpaid or insecure jobs and are not entitled to property ownership. This is one reason why women comprise more than 50 percent of the world’s population but own only one percent of the world's wealth.

By Oduor Ong’wen, Country Director, SEATNI, Kenya

Paper Presented at a Conference on “Food Sovereignty: From Principle to Reality” organised by the African Centre for Information and Development (ACID), Oslo, Norway, October 28, 2009

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AS A HUMAN RIGHT: ENHANCING THE CAPABILITIES AND LIVELIHOODS OF THE POOR IN AFRICA

1. INTRODUCTION

Feeding of millions globally is one of the greatest achievements of this century. It is also one of the greatest global challenges facing humanity. Target 2 of the First Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. Currently, millions of people worldwide, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, still face starvation; decline in biodiversity is speeding up, thereby causing concern about the current farming practices and long-term sustainability of food supplies; and the world’s human population is forecast to hit a 10 billion mark in 40 years, yet every fertile land becomes a desert or is turned into a concrete jungle through construction of buildings and roads...

By Ba Karang

19 March 2010 - What is the current meaning of “war against terror” for Africa? The true intention of America’s recent military interventions in the African continent (both covert and open) is nothing other than the expansion and consolidation of Western Capital . It all started in 2001 when George W. Bush declared “war on terror” in the continent, but has developed in a way and manner that has gone beyond human imagination and indignation in the body counts on the streets of Somalia, the jungles of Uganda, and Congo and desert of Sudan.. The commander of US African Command, General E. Ward, explained this in a language more clear than any US politician:

“…Keep in mind, our national interests lie in a stable continent of Africa. This means that Africans live in the relative peace of a stable environment, are governed effectively, and enjoy a degree of economic and social advancement. An Africa, whereby African populations are able to provide for themselves, contribute to global economic development and are allowed access to markets in free, fair, and competitive ways, is good for America and the world …

Photo: Africom.com

ved Dr. Alhaji S. jeng
Senior Researcher Norwegian Institute for Agricultural og Environmental Research (Bioforsk), Ås, Norge
The recent food crisis can be described as the new face of hunger. A perfect storm of food scarcity, of global warming,
of rocketing oil prices and of world population explosion is plunging humanity into the biggest crisis of the 21st century
by pushing up food prices and spreading hunger and poverty from rural areas into cities.