In few weeks,The entire South will be a famine zone

[samadoon-waaxid]

more regions will be declared famine zone this monday and the entire south somalia will be declared a famine zone within the next 4-6 weeks says the U.S famine emergency response system.
allow umuraha sahal,we are screwed and things are only worsening

[globetrotter2]

Very sad indeed. The whole of Somali territories Djibouti, Somaliland, NFD, Somalia and Western Somalia has been affected. This is a disastor that has affected somalis.

The international community and somali diaspora as well those in somalia have mobilised resources/money/teams etc.

There are three issues which make the hearts of the donors bleed;

1) A corrupt TFG
2) Profit seeking merchants
3) A somali culture of theft.

The above mean in essense that the poor farmers and nomads will not get much of the famine relief.

The best solution for the international community is not to allow the corrupt TFG to adminster the funds; profit seeking merchants should be castrated and the somali culture ... well, I don't know..

[FBISOMALIA]

Very sad indeed. The whole of Somali territories Djibouti, Somaliland, NFD, Somalia and Western Somalia has been affected. This is a disastor that has affected somalis.

same goes with Puntland or its PL not somali state ...!!!!

allaha sahaal all the somalis in africa

[Abdihaliim]

Very sad indeed. The whole of Somali territories Djibouti, Somaliland, NFD, Somalia and Western Somalia has been affected. This is a disastor that has affected somalis.

The international community and somali diaspora as well those in somalia have mobilised resources/money/teams etc.

There are three issues which make the hearts of the donors bleed;

1) A corrupt TFG
2) Profit seeking merchants
3) A somali culture of theft.

The above mean in essense that the poor farmers and nomads will not get much of the famine relief.

The best solution for the international community is not to allow the corrupt TFG to adminster the funds; profit seeking merchants should be castrated and the somali culture ... well, I don't know..

alternative

[samadoon-waaxid]

globetrotter,I think you are buying too much into western media propoganda machine.TFG doesnt administer any funds,neither they are part of stealing aid.I'm actually fully conviced that TFG is doing its utmost to provide security and food is getting to the needy,thats why there is so many western and arab aid workers on the ground.The real issue is WFP isnt delivering as much food as needed.in fact the amount of food the WFP gave out so far is barely greater if not equal to what the Gulf countries and Iran combined gave so far,despite the fact that WFP got a lil over a billion in famine pledges in its pocket. their food takes forever to get to where its needed cuz they are buying from American or European farmers which takes up to 3 months to be delivered

[globetrotter2]

globetrotter,I think you are buying too much into western media propoganda machine.I'm actually fully conviced that TFG is doing its utmost to provide security and food is getting to the needy,thats why there is so many western and arab aid workers on the ground.The real issue is WFP isnt delivering as much food as needed.in fact the amount of food the WFP gave out so far is barely greater if not equal to what the Gulf countries and Iran combined gave so far,despite the fact that WFP got a lil over a billion in famine pledges in its pocket. their food takes forever to get to where its needed cuz they are buying from American or European farmers which takes up to 3 months to be delivered

Samadoon,
Unfortunately, this "worthy" thread is hijacked by someone in need of a history lesson.

It is not a western media propaganda that corruption is rife among somalis and that the TFG consists of thugs, warlords etc. Of course there are some logistical problems and that we can question the long term effects of aid; I am against food aid because there is no incentive to promote local production of food. Food aid crowds out farmers yields.

But, we have a serious famine and the international community and somalis have responsed by sending money and food. There are already reports of looting, corruption and other ills (not only from western media outlets but others too)

[samadoon-waaxid]

globetrotter,I think you are buying too much into western media propoganda machine.I'm actually fully conviced that TFG is doing its utmost to provide security and food is getting to the needy,thats why there is so many western and arab aid workers on the ground.The real issue is WFP isnt delivering as much food as needed.in fact the amount of food the WFP gave out so far is barely greater if not equal to what the Gulf countries and Iran combined gave so far,despite the fact that WFP got a lil over a billion in famine pledges in its pocket. their food takes forever to get to where its needed cuz they are buying from American or European farmers which takes up to 3 months to be delivered

Samadoon,
Unfortunately, this "worthy" thread is hijacked by someone in need of a history lesson.

It is not a western media propaganda that corruption is rife among somalis and that the TFG consists of thugs, warlords etc. Of course there are some logistical problems and that we can question the long term effects of aid; I am against food aid because there is no incentive to promote local production of food. Food aid crowds out farmers yields.

But, we have a serious famine and the international community and somalis have responsed by sending money and food. There are already reports of looting, corruption and other ills (not only from western media outlets but others too)

Bro,ignore FBIsomalia's gibbrish.why are u guys even talking about PL? But for the sake of fairness we all know that exept few isolated incidents looting isnt widespread and even WFP assured it.and yes,aside from driving local farmers out of biz,food aid or food dumping as they call it, is sort of phantom aid cuz the given food is way overpriced and much of the aid money is spent on shipping costs(sometimes as high as 40%) and takes forever to get to its destination.all of these factors reduce the food's impact on the ground

[globetrotter2]

Samadoon,
Let me rewrite some of my responses which have disappeared;

I guess you have a point! Farmers in Africa do not have an incentive to harvest substistance food; Europe and North American farmers are subsidised to grow food which can be sold (at cheaper prices) to africans or bought as a food aid. THE EU budget contains over 70% subsidies to farmers.

African farmers are encouraged to grow cash crops (Banana, coffee, tea) which is in demand in the west. But these do not enter the common markets freely; there are high duties on them.

Unfortunately, african governments do not want to impose higher import duties on food. Maize,Millet and sorgum are expensive to harvest compared with Pasta and Rice. Why? Because, many african countries are ruled by greedy dictators.

The draught in somalia and what can be done;
I think the UN and NGOS should be build dams/reserviours/wells and help farmers with fertilisers and storage methods. The UN should buy food from this farmers.

[samadoon-waaxid]

Samadoon,
Let me rewrite some of my responses which have disappeared;

I guess you have a point! Farmers in Africa do not have an incentive to harvest substistance food; Europe and North American farmers are subsidised to grow food which can be sold (at cheaper prices) to africans or bought as a food aid. THE EU budget contains over 70% subsidies to farmers.

African farmers are encouraged to grow cash crops (Banana, coffee, tea) which is in demand in the west. But these do not enter the common markets freely; there are high duties on them.

Unfortunately, african governments do not want to impose higher import duties on food. Maize,Millet and sorgum are expensive to harvest compared with Pasta and Rice. Why? Because, many african countries are ruled by greedy dictators.

The draught in somalia and what can be done;
I think the UN and NGOS should be build dams/reserviours/wells and help farmers with fertilisers and storage methods. The UN should buy food from this farmers.

Globetrotter,I dont think the problem is imposing higher duties on foriegn harvests,in fact that would drive up the food prices,but the problem is the African governments reluctance to subsadize farmers.In fact the world bank,and western donors make it a requirment for African governments to not subsadize their farmers if they want to receive aid (The irony there is unbareable).But Somalia is on its own league even comapred to other African countries cuz of the lack of government,regulations and the near non-existant purchase power.I think the answer is to buy food locally.Foreign food is undercutting farmers,They knew this famine was coming long ago cuz of the mechanics of the somali food markets yet kept flooding em with foregin food.I really think these aid agency fuckers co-made this famine with al-shabaab.

[globetrotter2]

Samadoon,
To many western nations agriculture is as important as health care and education; in the EU agricultural subsidies amount to more 60% of its budget; in the USA too.

You have two options to protect your agri-sector

1: Subsidize
2: Higher duties on imports

The EU and almost all developed countries use both.

For Africa and Latin America, they should abandon the mentality of growing cashcrops for export; most of the cash crops grown are not food that you need for basic needs; they should start growing food needed by the population; then government policy comes in and sets the standards-

Brother, the famine is 90% natural (late rains) and 10% political.

I