Niger crisis
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- lowimpakt0
thanks jaz.
thing about Niger is that it is a famine of a different kind. there is food in the markets but it is out of the reach of many of the people.
If, for example, the IMF and EU hadn't forced through structural adjusment programmes that placed higher VAT rates on basic foodstuffs i don't think we/they would be in as bad a position as we are now.
re. sajets. I said geo-politics not eco politics. the carrying capacity of the planet is being strected but the main problem at the moment is distribution, wastage and politics.
also lots fo interesting ethical questions in your deep-green view. i'll come back to them when i'm not so busy...
- ********0
Niger is also land locked and they export very little and only to a limited number of partners.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publicati…
Although they do seem to have some untapped natural resources: uranium, coal, iron ore, tin, phosphates, gold, molybdenum, gypsum, salt, petroleum. However, those minerals are also common elsewhere.
Infant mortality rate:
total: 121.69 deaths/1,000 live birthsLife expectancy at birth:
total population: 42.13 yearsx_x
- lowimpakt0
jeffery sachs talks a lot about those geographic aspects...........
and
see paragraph 37.
"(1) an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) rate from 17 percent to 19 percent;"I think this new 19% rate newly hit some basic food stuffs and I believe that over the past 5 years the price of these food stuffs rose 75-90%
- ********0
it's a cluster f*ck man, Nigeria should just incorporate them. At least the people would survive.
- ********0
you can throw more money their way but do they really have the infrastructure to handle it?
when the tsunami hit in december there were reports in february that tons of food was sitting in wearhouses rotting because they couldn't move it fast enough. is that, or will that be the case here?
- lowimpakt0
// I wonder if the food aid will be bought from african farmers?
- ********0
exactly, they don't
- lowimpakt0
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp…
why do these newspapers never look into causes or ask questions like WHY have the prices risen dramatically in the last few years???
meh.
- ********0
I don't know, but that article is written by an African. The name, NAFI DIOUF, is 100% West African.
- ********0
The sellers are getting greedy. It says they wait until 'lean season' and then double the prices on their goods.
That's b.s.
If they sold it for a smaller margin they'd make triple because demand is higher then supply.
- nicko0
'On Tuesday, Baye shooed away beggars dressed in rags and staring at the heaped food on display. A friend sitting with him who gave only one name, Louali, said the grains on display had been stockpiled "and traders wait until the lean season to sell at double its price."'
WTF? If nobody's got any money what's the point in stockpiling it to sell it for double the price?
- ********0
I predict a riot
- ********0
I'm tellin' ya, the Nigerian take no shit from anybody.
ECOMOG baby!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/afric…
In 2001 the Nigeria spent $13bn on peacekeeping operations over 12 years.
Ghana's smart too.
- lowimpakt0
I predict a riot
JazX
(Aug 3 05, 07:49)-
----------------------like what's happening in sudan right now.
the nationality of the author isn't important. my gripe is with the media treading too carefully in general. :)
- ********0
the nationality of the author isn't important. my gripe is with the media treading too carefully in general. :)
lowimpakt
(Aug 3 05, 07:53)they don't care buddy :(
- ********0
Sudan's got even more problems. The Christians in the south are pissed at Khartoum.