Urban Agriculture in and Around Monrovia, Liberia

This report will explore the impacts, causes and solutions of food insecurity and other contextual factors relating to Chad’s economic and financial crisis.

Food shortages, a deepening economic crisis, insecurity and insufficient agricultural production at household-level have caused increased levels of food insecurity and alarming levels of acute malnutrition.

My experience at DePaul’s Community and Involvement fair was a bit overwhelming to say the least. I was so inspired to join so many politically active organizations. I’ve signed up to join Depaul Democrats, DePaul Community Peacemakers, International Socialist Organization, and DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization. The reason why I consider DePaul’s Urban Farming Organization to be a politically active organization is because urban farming allows urban communities to obtain healthier, fresher, and cost reducing foods. One other organization also got me thinking, I never really did consider myself a socialist before, but after share ideas and opinions with the International Socialist Organization, I firmly believe it is a human right to acquire food, shelter, and an education. I am very curious to see what International Socialist Organization has in stores for me.

Malawi is a small, land locked country in southern Africa, that has population of 12 million people (Menon, 2007). 65 percent are below the poverty line and 28 percent live in extreme poverty, It is known as one of the poorest country in Africa (Menon, 2007) Reports had shown that, instance of food insecurity has been happening for some time, however little attention was payed (Menon, 2007). In 2002, 500-1000 people died from hunger or hunger related diseases (Menon, 2007). The latest figures showed a huge leap in the number of people in need of food aid, over 8 million based in an article release on May 27, 2016, (Masina, 2016). In April of the same year the government stated that 2.8 million people were in need, a

However, in the developing world, food security is often low, because large numbers of people experience dire poverty. Food may be available, but that is irrelevant to those who lack the resources to buy it. This is a major problem in many countries that export food to richer nations. This illustrates the global inequity in food production and distribution that has been difficult to solve or alleviate, despite intense efforts in the latter half of the 20

There are many poor countries throughout the world that do not have enough money and resources to support its citizens. There have been many attempts over the past few years to help these countries get the resources they need. One of the main places non-profit organizations as well as government organizations send their resources to is West Africa. Liberia is located in West Africa near the South Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of 4.294 million (Why, World Food). Liberia was once a rich country, which used to be very profitable, but as time goes on Liberia has started to crumble little by little (Why). History has a funny way of repeating itself; Liberia is starting to fall behind, and the Liberian government is not able to support all of its citizens, just like other great empires and countries throughout history. Now Liberia has made it all the way to number four on the “Top Ten Poorest Countries in the World” list (Poorest). World hunger is a global issue, but is most prominent in parts of Africa and Asia; Liberia being one of the many places (Person). A number of things can cause hunger, but some of the most common reasons are the lack of money, the lack of resources, and the incapability of trading goods. Though the causes of world hunger in Liberia are economical, the effects are mostly social.

One of the economic poverty topics we have discussed in class is Global Hunger and Food Insecurity. Hunger is the condition where one cannot eat enough food for a long time to meet basic nutritional needs. Poverty is almost identical with hunger, a major cause of poor health. World Bank has estimated that there were one billion poor people in developing countries who live on $1.90 a day or less. The relationship is economic: the poor cannot afford what they need for health, including a sufficient quantity of good food. However, this relationship is also linked to other factors of poverty, such as the lack of proper health promotion practices, or the partial incomes used for delightful production by poor.

Zambia has vast agricultural potential. Despite fertile land and ample water availability, the agricultural potential of Zambia is not fully used. Of 58% suitable land only 14% is currently cultivated. Most of the agricultural land is cultivated by small farmers whose average land holding is 0.5 to 0.9 hectare. Small scale farmers make up 85% of the farmer population. Small subsistence farmers are poor and they do not have enough capital available for investing in modern agricultural technology, fertilizer and superior quality seed. Due to poor agricultural infrastructure for small subsistence farmers the average yield of crops is low. Only 0.5 to 1 ton of maize per hectare is produced by these farmers whereas average maize yield in more evolved agricultural area is 4 tons per hectare. Low yield leads to food insecurity. A household of 6 people need 1.1 tons’ maize per year for food security. If these subsistence farmers have availability of capital for investing in agricultural infrastructure the yield can be increased 4 to 8 times leading to food security as well as profit.

Ending chronic hunger and stability of shelter requires action that include a great deal of change. One idea is to end only hunger, ending hunger does not stop or end poverty. The serve of food does benefit, but there also needs to be a focus on other needs. Solutions to ending poverty needs to be kept sustainable, meaning economically and socially, allowing the rate of poverty to stay at certain level. Also the focus is to call out to society. Allowing them to come and volunteer. Calling out for help is now a goal making others help and participate in the cause.

In my opinion, based on an application of my personal business study, a solution to solve malnutrition in Ethiopia is to stimulate Ethiopian economy and to increase education standard to raise quality of life and standard of living of people on Ethiopia. I believe that when those who are suffering from malnutrition care more whether they have something to eat rather than what to eat and how to eat nutritiously. The more they have money in their pockets to satisfy their basic needs and poverty condition lessens, the more they care about their well being. The Ethiopia economic condition may be improved by engaging in businesses that the country or each city has absolute competitive advantages or comparative advantages according to Ricardo’s theory that they can produce a particular good or service at a lower marginal and lesser opportunity cost over another trading partner. Even if Ethiopia may have absolute cost disadvantage in the production of most of the goods, a basis for mutually beneficial trade may still exist from specializing in and export goods in which it is relatively more efficient. Nevertheless, according to the research, I found out that problems Ethiopia facing range from political issues to economic struggle to water shortage to starvation which is crucial, immense and importantly interrelated. The suggestions I gave above are a

One possible solution to the problem of malnutrition is eradicating poverty and providing health services in developing countries. For example sub Saharan African countries have a low economy and poor health services in the rural areas which increase the risk of malnutrition. According to WHO (2011) poverty causes ill-health because it forces people to live in environments without the basic amenities of life i.e. dirty water, no shelter and poor sanitation. Providing health services can help to fight illness and malnutrition. According to UNICEF (2000) government and non-government organisations can come together to provide health services and vaccines to the rural areas. In addition, providing free health care and check services helps to reduce malnutrition. The world health organisation (2011) also highlights that adequate provision of food and health education also help to reduce the risk of malnutrition.

Recently, Uganda’s extent of debt shows significant improvement, but not nearly enough for Uganda to become financially stable in the near future. PR Newswire corroborates this by stating “poverty levels declined in the region, but remain the highest in the world” (Food Insecurity and Poverty Pose Major Challenge). This is extremely detrimental to Uganda right now because lack of wealth prevents the country from prospering economically, becoming technologically advanced, and reducing the rates of malnutrition. Numerous factors resulting from malnutrition effects contribute to these monumental poverty levels including health care, the purchasing of nutrition groups, and the missed economic opportunities. Unlike poverty levels, hunger and malnutrition rates remain consistently low, showing little to no improvement. Some sources even believe the rates are slowly increasing, explaining that “despite sustained economic growth and poverty reduction, the proportion of the population that is food insecure increased from 19 percent in 1992 to 21 percent in 2007.” (“Uganda: Nutrition Profile”) This validates that poverty and food security levels are unrelated and “malnutrition exists in both wealthy and poor households.” (“Economic Development and Nutrition Fact Sheet”)

In the past, Uganda has constantly struggled with some of the highest poverty and hunger levels in the world. Recently, poverty levels have shown significant improvement, but not nearly enough for Uganda to become financially stable in the near future. Many sources agree with this by stating, “Poverty levels declined in the region, but remain the highest in the world.” (“Food Insecurity and Poverty Pose Major Challenge”) This is extremely detrimental to Uganda right now because lack of wealth prevents the country from prospering economically, becoming technologically advanced, and reducing the rates of malnutrition. Numerous factors resulting from malnutrition effects contribute to these monumental poverty levels including health care, the purchasing of nutrition groups, and the missed economic opportunities. Unlike poverty levels, hunger and malnutrition rates remain consistently low, showing little to no improvement. Some sources even believe the rates are slowly increasing, explaining that “despite sustained economic growth and poverty reduction, the proportion of the population that is food insecure increased from 19 percent in 1992 to 21 percent in 2007.” (“Uganda: Nutrition Profile”) This validates that poverty and food security levels are unrelated and “malnutrition exists in both wealthy and poor households.” (“Economic Development and Nutrition Fact Sheet”) Therefore, although these rates are unparalleled, Uganda is beginning to learn how to deal with and lower the

Environmental scarcity and food insecurity are critical factors that intensify the issue of malnutrition among people in most developing countries.

The realization of national food security is a key objective in the agricultural sector. A recent research showed that over 10million people are food insecure with majority of these people living on food relief. The government of Kenya with the support of various organizations has worked to ensure that the Kenyans are food secure.