Did anyone else catch the news on SBS last night about the famine in Niger? It was utterly heart-breaking, and I’m ashamed to admit I had no idea that this was occuring. Again.
BBC News reports that some 3.6 million people are facing severe food shortages in the country, where a drought and then late-breaking rains have caused food production to grind to a halt. Niger is a desert country where arable land is limited and most of the country’s population barely subsists in a good year, let alone during drought.
As usual, the young suffer the most. CNN reports that aid agency Oxfam suggests that up to one million children are at risk of dying of starvation in the coming months.
Last night’s story on SBS featured one small child, his skin peeling away from his body, ulcerated and infected. He was whimpering in pain, and was almost certainly going to die. Children, like this boy, are starving to death in aid centres because they are too far gone to eat or drink.
SBS reported that the government has donated $2 million in aid already. If you want to do something, Oxfam and World Vision are both good places to start.
I’ve included the transcript from the SBS report as well those who missed it.
3 MILLION FACING STARVATION IN NIGER
The Federal Government today donated $2 million of emergency food aid to Niger. More than 3 million people are facing starvation in the desperately poor West African country. Aid has begun to reach the starving - a Red Cross team distributed food to those in Maradi, one of the worst-affected areas.
From miles around, they’d heard food had arrived at last and the masses came to be fed - the famished far beyond caring about the indignity that all this brings with it. There was a scramble. Some have been months without a full meal. Everyone knew there was only enough food here for a few thousand. The crowds were held back. All these people have been told that only the absolutely most needy can stay here to get some food aid and the rest have been told they have to go home, so people are getting very excited. There’s a sense of exhilaration, but also a sense of great desperation that at last some help has come, but not enough for all.
Umima got food today. She’s three months old and was born into this famine. Women arrive in the feeding centres here exhausted after life-threatening treks, with their children like this. Aminu, who we filmed with his terrible sores last week, has now been moved into intensive care. His body can’t fight his infections. Fatima’s body has stopped absorbing water. She has parasites in her mouth and can’t eat. But we also found Amina, one of the first children we met here, now walking. A few days food can turn children around - that is, if they get here.
We came across a group of nomads, destitute and starving. They had walked hundreds of miles searching for food - all for nothing. In desperation, they had begun to eat this - the rotting meat from the carcasses of their dead cattle.
MAN (TRANSLATION): Look at us - we’re all starving. Three of our children and three adults have died in the last few weeks. Look at my family - they are too weak to even move.
“Forgive me, God, for weaping,” he said. “I can’t feed my family. I have nothing.” Aya’s small son starved to death two weeks ago.
I too have only heard about this in the last few days. Really, there are no words. Thanks for posting on it Kate.
Second Amanda’s comments.
What always gets me with events like this - it must have been in the cards for a while. Famine doesn’t happen suddenly - harvests fail, countries are wracked by poverty, etc. Why don’t we hear about it? Why wasn’t this discussed during the whole Live8 campaign?
As usual, while responding is vitally important, we’re just giving aid after the fact.
That also makes me really sad.
Test.
Seems to be impossible to comment on the Benedict post??
Sorry Kate. Yes, I saw the SBS story. The nomadic family’s plight brought tears to me eyes. I thought of the meal I had just unenthusiastically eaten.
I found the same thing on the Benedict post. I wanted to tell Mark that his Kepel link goes back to the Amazon benedict book page.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - these people do not need aid they need free trade and good governance.
Donating to Oxfam etc will only worsen their dependence.
I dunno, wbb, if I can keep kids from dying I’ll donate money.
I agree with you on free trade and governance, it’s just that I’m not sure how I can affect ANY change in Africa other than a small donation that could be used for food or medicine or whatever.
wbb I think the these people that need immediate aid aren’t necessarily the these people that can affect the change.
I used to think along the same lines, but during the Live 8 debates I was convinced by the Radical Critique of Aging Rockstars that aid was harmful, that white guilt was self-serving and that the best thing I could do was ignore Africa - the better to let them grow their own economies in dignity unfettered by the chains of white liberal compassion and the hidden & paradoxical burdens of debt-relief.
cf Monbiot from the left and just about anybody from the right.
It’s all upside too, this new way of thinking. No longer do I need to worry about starving kids as the market will provide, nor do I need to feel guilty because Africans just want to be left alone anyway.
Or have you heard different? Don’t tell me people have changed their minds again on all this now that Geldof is off the TV and the dying children are back on it.
Or how I learnt to stop worrying and love the bomb.
Ah the market. Guess the people in Niger forgot to tell the drought about how the market would provide.
Sorry, wbb, but I don’t think aid is bad if it is applied in the right way. That old saying about teaching a man to fish and all.
I certainly think it’s very convenient for well-off white people to say ‘ah, aid is bad, fosters dependency, diginity blah blah blah, let’s just leave ‘em to the mess we helped create with out imperialism and our environmental policies, while we encourage protectionism amongst our farmers and restrict free trade.’
It’s academic anyway. Children are dying. I will say it again. Children. Dying. There wasn’t much dignity in the footage I saw last night.
You’re right, Kate. Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen are wankers.
Well, wbb, from the story in the Australian by Errington and van Onselen:
“Private aid groups have long since learned this lesson, attempting where possible to work directly with local communities.”
Both links I gave were to aid groups that focus on community aid, and not just funnelling money into corrupt local regimes, which seems to be the main criticism of Errington and van Onselen of the Live8 event; that money raised doesn’t go to the needy, it goes to the corrupt.
Anyway, my point with the above post wasn’t to shill for charities…
I modestly propose that I think you’ll find wbb’s comments are swift in more ways than one.
I realise that now, Nabakov. My sarcasto-meter was broken this morning…
Though in my defense, tone isn’t the easiest thing to read over the ‘Net.
I wouldn’t worry too much Kate. I think there was a time when then sarcastometer could work reliably off the extreme limits of ludicrousness, but with so much interference from sincere argument in this spectrum, it’s difficult to get a clear reading.
and apologies for assuming the worst in my first comment wbb. You did have me going.
Of course wbb, no-one ever actually said starving peoples didn’t need aid or that free trade and good governance were enough. That is a caricature, whose purpose mystifies me. People critical of the Live Aid philosophy, as well as Africa’s backwardness and corruption - such as myself - pointed out that without systemic cultural and political change, all the aid and concerts in the world would never make any difference to Africa’s plight. This view was shared by such neo-con ideologues as Bob Geldof, Bono and Kofi Annan. Which part of such an outlook could you possibly object to? I mean, you’re tongue-in-cheek commentary is surely not meant to convey a belief that good governance isn’t important vis-a-vis famine. Is it? If not, what was it meant to convey?
Haiti is worse than Niger or Sudan. OXFAM has Swissbanksful of money and does not need your $50.
my reference point is a friend of 30 years who is a professional international aid worker (his degree is anthropology Melb.).
Bono is a hypocrite IMHO.
also IMHO - where are these poor little babies coming from? I know if I was staving and surrounded by dead cattle, procreation would be the LAST thing on my mind.
Hi Larvatus,
Sure, I watched the SBS report last night.
Last week I posted a blog about their desperate situation over here: http://erlypro.com/blog/wp-rss2.php?p=41
At the time, I was pointing out the hypocrisy of the world leaders conference: G8 which was held in exotic surroundings and cost around US$407Million.
The Australian, Howard, government can spend Billions of dollars on the illegal invasion of another country, spend $20Million dollars on an advertising campaign to promote an IR reform that will strip Australian workers of their hard won rights and untold $Millions on a save the freakin’ whales campaign, can only offer AU$2million to assist 3.5 million starving folk who are forced to watch their children starving to death.
After administration costs, a grant of AU$2Million to assist 3.5 million starving people is like throwing a bucket of water on a bush fire.
Regards
Oze Parrot
http://erlypro.com/blog/wp-rss2.php
“…procreation would be the LAST thing on my mind.”
Perhaps because they don’t have TV at night to keep ‘em entertained? Or perhaps because large families to supply labour are your main economic resource in busted-arse third world countries?
Large chunks of Africa are just totally fucked. Like for example the bloodiest war since WW2. Not to mention all the other famines du jour, AIDS and Mugabe trashing what could have been a workable example for the rest of the continent.
Aid is vital and necessary in any form that can save lives on the ground, but yes much more also needs to be done. The humanitarian grounds now being retrospectively advanced for the Iraqi caper are far less compelling than the ones we could, and should, advance for intervention in Africa. Or even for heritage reasons. Shit, it’s where we all came from. Letting the cradle of humanity fall into endless darkness will look really bad on our permanant record.
Plus I wanna go on safari there someday and feel threatened only by the animals and hotel tariffs.
Plus they have much to teach us about many things. Like properly closing HTML tags for example.
Tags rectified, Nabs.
C.L. and Amanda, I’ll try to work out what’s wrong with the Benedict thread. Can you please try to post a comment and email me if you get an odd error message or something?
I’ve just got home. Sorry for late replies.
I thought it was because no-one loved Pope Benedict. (sob, sob).
No error message. Just takes forever, at the end of which nothing happens.
Try here. Most odd. More shortly. After I prayed five decades of the rosary in honour of Our Lady of Fatima, it worked again!
Very spooky.
“Tags rectified, Nabs.”
And thanks for fucking up my following joke. (insert one of those bloody winking emoticon thingies here)
oh yeah well don’t get so distressed
Just for the record, the first news of Niger came through about two weeks ago. I’m just about played out on the subject (see here and here) and I suspect wbb is too. When I get my strength back I’ll try to do a post on a really interesting article I found in Foreign Affairs on How to help poor countries. Meanwhile you too can buy the article for US $5.95.
btw Niger has been under the tender care of the IMF as a Highly Indebted Poor Country since 2000 and is one of the 18 countries targeted by the G8 for early debt relief.
“and is one of the 18 countries targeted by the G8 for early debt relief.” - thank god somebody has got something right then.
Can somebody run Brownie’s comment past me one more time?
Brian, I’m always amazed that this issue gets zero attention. Like what else really matters. A small bombing atrocity in London is worthy of comment. But when we watch kids expiring on screen. We shut it out, is what we do. Too horrific.
(My previous was not exasperation with the subject. It’s just a lyrical sequitor to one of Nab’s a ways back, which by the way I duly note he has not had the good grace or breeding to acknowledge. But then it might be hard to reach the keyboard, being after a certain hour now.)
found the keybraod agin wwwb
but why the fuck is it all the way up there on the desk?
Not sure I get Brownie’s comment either… Most of the children I saw on TV were born long before the famine started. Perhaps Brownie would like to critique the lack of birth control information in third world countries rather than implying the Africans were foolish for having babies?
Also, I don’t really like playing moral equivalances with people dying. The situation in Niger is horrific. I’m sure the situation in Haiti is also horrific, as is the situation in Sudan, Chad, Afghanistan, Guatemala, many parts of India, and so forth.
Why did I write a post on Niger and not Haiti or Chad or India? Because I saw little kids dying on the TV and it made me cry. Simple as that.
I’m sorry I was a bit sensitive yesterday. One of those days, eh?
If there were a bit more brave sensitivity and a little less cotton-woolling of souls inside the carapace of cynicism there’d be a bit more progress on this front.
I reckon.
They’re just dumb darkies who aren’t worth saving. See, if they were yellow, they’d be some human capital worth investing in, but after all, we all know black people are morons. My public law lecturer told me this the other day.
I still don’t get wbb’s initial comment. Who said we shouldn’t give aid to Africa?
dj your public law lecturer is an ass, and I don’t think you’ll improve by attending his/her lectures unless you use your brain a bit. Jeffrey Sachs reminds us that we always blame the victim. He reminds us that when Europeans first came into contact with the Japanese they reckoned they were hopelessly lazy and would never amount to anything.
I’ve been rummaging around the CIA world factbook. Niger has a per capita GDP of $900 which is poorer than the countries you mention, Kate, except Afghanistan on $800. Haiti has $1500.
Possibly two of the most useful indices are life expectancy and infant mortality. Life expectancy in Niger is 43.5 (Haiti 53 and Afghanistan 42.9)
Infant mortality is about 120 per 1,000 live births in Niger, 73 in Haiti and 163 in Afghanistan.
Niger has 11.6 million people and their GDP is less than the market capitalisation of Woolworths. Their budget is about US$320 million. They don’t seem to produce anything the world wants (cowpeas and onions!?). Uranium is their main hope.
Drought would be a common feature, but like a lot of places they are probably finding that 1 in 50 or 1 in 100 year events are coming rather frequently these days.
A land-locked country with minimal infrastructure, they are going to need some help, CL, or do you think we should just leave them to their own devices?
Brian, I think dj is being sardonic. He’s referring to this public law lecturer.
I do beg your pardon. I’d just checked in and couldn’t believe my eyes.
“I still don‚Äôt get wbb‚Äôs initial comment. Who said we shouldn‚Äôt give aid to Africa?”
There were so many ppl, CL. They came out en masse during Live 8, but if you really want me to name names:
Graham Hancock - “Development aid is bad through and through, and it is impossible to reform it.”
The guy who said Live Aid caused a genocide in Ethiopia - forget his name
Those twits at the WA university.
etc - I can’t be bothered - but there are heaps
It offends their fundamentalist faith in the market, on the right. And on the left, it offends their sense of power relations - really mad pomo out there types who think that everything is a Euro-USA white construct - even dying kids on TV screens.
Try Madelaine Bunting
Hey gang - I was not being vicious about the dear little brown babies, to whom I would give everything I have if I could make them well. What I DO know is that the local corruption diverts every dollar you or I might make personal sacrifice to give; and the other thing I know is that females under 45kgs do not ovulate so how are they reproducing?
and while I am giving you the shits. let us speak of the Holy Roman Church who might sell a couple of gold ewers and fund a family in Niger, Haiti, Sudan, Namibia; or the immensely wealthy Catholic- Vizard,S and his catholic wealthmate Walker, R, who could both easily donate an amount in excess of my annual income, without even dipping into their Tattersalls Dividends.
I bear no ill will for Pius Benny, and was actually a fan of the ‘Wolly’ Pope; but I do recall that it was catholic political intervention which triggred the Hutu v. Tutse tribal massacres - what ’sanctity of life’ there?
Back to starving babies (they got em in North Korea too y know?) - if Yoko O, Okrah Winfrey, Nicole Mopather, Madonna Ritchie, Paris Hilton and Trudie ‘Homewrecker’ Styler just donated their frocks budget of one year, they could wipe out the entire national debt, so I wish SBS would not hang this guilt trip on me.
Brownie, the famine hasn’t been on-going–the conditions causing it started about a year ago. So I doubt you’d find many newborns in Niger, but certainly many children over the age of one year old. I found your comment a little odd, to be honest.
Additionally, I feel that we should give to charities that focus on local, community aid. I know for a fact that much community aid does, actually, get to the people who it sets out to help. My father has done aid work abroad and has seen the successes it can have.
Of course corruption is endemic in these countries. I wouldn’t argue otherwise. As I said, I give to charities which focus on helping individual communities and I’m sure that at least some money actually gets to the communities.
Also, I don’t think SBS was guilt-tripping you. Are we to bury our heads in the sand and ignore that these things happen because we don’t have Paris Hilton’s frock budget? Of course not. I added the bit about the chariries to assuage my own sense of helplessness, not to exhort anyone else to give money.
“.. so I wish SBS would not hang this guilt trip on me.”
What do you feel guilty about Brownie?
Kate, it is very nice of you to respond to Brownie.
As you say, the crisis has been in the making for a while. There was an informative item on The World Today on Friday. The country seems to be mostly desert, but there is a band along the south that gets a moderate amount of rain, but concentrated mostly in the space of about three months. Last year the rains finished early, this year they came late, but locusts came both times.
It sounds like mostly subsistence farming/grazing in marginal country, always susceptible to disaster.
Apologies for arriving late to the discussion, but I’d like to refute wbb’s statement that what Niger needs is Free Trade. If you read this:
http://www.rednova.com/news/science/192903/imf_and_eu_are_blamed_for_starvation_in_niger/
you might conclude it’s Free Trade that pushed Niger into the mess it’s currently in.
I also think it’s commendable to give money to charity to help the starving peoples of the world, but perhaps each of us can help more by being aware of the damage caused to poor nations by our governments and world institutions, then asking them why?
Program on the emergence of civilization.
“14 species of large animals capable of domesitcation in the history of mankind.
None from the sub-Saharan African continent.
13 from Europe, Asia and northern Africa.”
Favor.
And disfavor.
They point out Africans‚Äô attempts to domesticate the elephant and zebra, the latter being an animal they illustrate that had utmost importance for it’s applicability in transformation from a hunting/gathering to agrarian-based civilization.
The roots of racism are not of this earth.
Austrailia, aboriginals:::No domesticable animals, so this nulified diversity of life claims on sub-continental Africa, zebras being a fine example.
god is a computer
And we’re all on auto-pilot.
Organizational Heirarchy
Heirarchical order, from top to bottom:
1. MUCK - perhaps have experienced multiple universal contractions (have seen multiple big bangs), creator of the artificial intelligence humans ignorantly refer to as “god”
2. Perhaps some mid-level alien management —
3. Mafia (evil) aliens - runs day-to-day operations here and perhaps elsewhere (”On planets where they approved evil.”)
Then we come to terrestrial management:
4. Chinese/egyptians - this may be separated into the eastern and western worlds
5. Romans - they answer to the egyptians
6. Mafia - the real-world interface that constantly turns over generationally so as to reinforce the widely-held notion of mortality
7. Jews, corporation, women, politician - Evidence exisits to suggest mafia management over all these groups.
The above post is compelling evidence to suggest that one shouldn’t take massive doses of psychotropic drugs and surf the ‘Net.
Still, I’m fascinated by the proposition that I’m under the control of an evil Alien mafia.
“Alien” is just a code word for “Swede”.
People might be interested to know that the famine in Niger is no big deal according to the president of the country.
There is a problem as I understand it that provides an incentive for the UN to over-dramatise these situations. The problem is that they don’t have a standing reserve capacity to deal with these situations. Everyone could see this one coming a mile off, but until they can get pics of starving kids etc on the box they can’t get donors interested in coughing up.
I don’t know what game President Tanja is playing, but the UN are sticking to their estimate of 32,000 children at risk of dying. According to the CIA Factbook the joint has only about 800 km of paved road and 22,000 fixed-line telephones. So infrastructure is practically non-existent for a country with 11.6 million people in an area about a sixth the size of Australia. To fix this they need aid pure and simple.