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Recently, I've been ranting about the bill S.384, which Organic Consumers Association calls the REAL Monsanto bill. [UPDATE: To clarify, I do not believe Monsanto is behind the bill. If any one group could take credit for the bill, it would be the Gates Foundation.] Two of the people who testified in the bill's hearing (Bertini and Glickman) were from a group called the Chicago Council. The Chicago Council published a report on helping global hunger, and they were advocating for it. The others who testified on the same panel also agreed with the plan. It was pretty clear from the hearing that the plan called for a Green Revolution redux, but I figured - what the hell, better read the report.
As predicted, the executive summary began by calling for a second Green Revolution. (If you're unfamiliar with the first Green Revolution, it was the export of our pesticides, fertilizer, and unsustainable agriculture techniques to the developing world... nothing "green" about it.)
The source of these problems is not fluctuating food prices on the world market, but low productivity on the farm. The production growth needed will have to come from improved farm policies, technologies, and techniques, including those that address the effects of climate change. - Chicago Council report, p. 16
If you read that paragraph you will see that the Chicago Council's overall plan will all aim to increase crop yields in the developing world. I DO agree that helping poor farmers improve agricultural techniques is a good idea. I DON'T agree that pesticides & fertilizers are the way to do it. I don't know enough about Africa to know whether or not their problem is truly crop yields.
I also think that more besides increased yields is needed. Think about all of the support our society & government provides here in the U.S. We have paved roads all over the country, everyone can be plugged into the electric grid, phone lines, and internet. We have a working court system. We have police and fire departments. Everyone can have a free education K-12. We have clean water. We're not living in a war zone either, and while our government is corrupt in some ways, it's pretty darn good in comparison to places like Sudan. I'm not suggesting that the solution for poor African farmers is broadband internet, but I do think it's important to take into account what kind of support structures developing countries' governments can put into place to help their people.
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