Before we are all consumed by hunger

There are enough reasons for one to be very cynical these days. Food- what gives one the energy to plod on, is drying up, especially in Africa and Asia, raising the stake for people to starve to death, if something urgent is not done to avert the gloom. Most worrisome is the realisation that of the 36 countries listed by the UN as the worst hit by the crisis, 21 are in Africa alone.
As the prices of essential food items soar, pundits are pointing accusing fingers at factors that can hardly bring more food to the menu table. Some are accusing producers of bio fuels of using the land that would have gone for food production for ethanol.
Alex Evans, a researcher with the New York University Centre for International Cooperation, in a new study done for the Royal Institute of International Affairs pins the food crisis on four reasons. Meanwhile, bio fuel, which is something the world was eagerly waiting for since not many are blessed with fossil fuel, is already being vilified as a food predator. Again, Genetically-modified food, GM food, which would have boosted food production in many parts of the world, is being treated with scorn by some countries. It is not a secret that the United Kingdom and many other European Union members still doubt the safety of GM food. If in doubt, read Robin McKie here.
I note the assurance by the WHO that GM foods currently available on the international market pose no risk to anyone and that is what gives me the courage to ask all those still opposed to GM foods to stand down before we all die of malnutrition and diseases.
GM foods are based on laboratory science and empirical data and it is not a sort of voodoism that most paranoid conduct in the forest and groves to mystify their followers, perhaps for pecuniary reasons.
It is time we took whatever measures necessary-scientific and natural, to avert the looming crisis. Everyone must put their mouth where their stomach is.


Links:

Alernet

FAO

Chatham House

Guardian

WHO