Paradox of Famine and Food Exports

"I have discussed elsewhere the remarkable fact that, in the terrible
history of famines in the world, no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press". Amartya Sen

As the world's second largest continent and for which the primary occupation of citizens is farming, it is a wonder that a number of African nations find it hard to consistently feed their populations. In the last three years, the costs of food has increased markedly throughout the world and this means that food aid is also increasingly expensive. the upside of this situation is that the world's peasants would take advantage of this agricultural commodity prices to expand acreage and increase income and overall welfare.

Jeffrey Gettleman's IHT story analyzes how Sudan is coping with high food prices and an armed conflict. Since the political crisis in Darfur is ongoing and the affected populations are being fed by food aid, the government of Sudan is instead taking advantage of high food prices to increase exports to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. the clear irony is that a government that has failed to ensure the peace and infrastructure that would enable its poor farmers to continue to produce their own food is unabashedly exporting grain and hiring farms while other countries ensure that some food is available to feed its malnourished and starving population.

While I am reluctant to fully accept the view that any form of foreign assistance is harmful, I readily concede that the story illustrates clearly that Africa's problems regarding stability and food sufficiency are entirely self inflicted. Indeed, in the Sudanese case it appears to be part of a political strategy to permanently impoverish a section of its population. Dictatorships and unfree societies are breeding grounds for famines and starvation. Sudan is a case study that Amartya Sen's pithy aphorism extracted from this well-read piece is true.