Another horrific set of disasters in the news, the loss of possibly a thousand immigrants on an overloaded vessel fleeing poverty and another senseless execution of desperate economic migrants by ISIL or, whatever ... Once more the impoverished bear the brunt of global chaos.
On the Linkedin Group: Food Security Strategies, the following simple yet profound question was asked:
Are socioeconomic challenges in one country not a global issue?
I am reminded of the famous Jeffrey Sachs quote that, "...every year 8 million people die simply because they cannot afford to stay alive." Yes, Food Security is one dimension but there are do many more dependent variables in the equation and It is a many headed hydra.
Ignorance, greed, and resultant corruption are primary drivers, then there is also the seemingly pervasive violence of tribal and sectarian antipathy. Add the hegemony of the multi-nationals and their dominance of the WTO and finally, the monochromatic vision of global NGO's who, in seeking funding and influence persist in pursuit of the old failed programs and wasteful bloated staffing structures. In the end it is all about the money! It is Pride and The Greed of Nations. It is the old litany of human failings and the seven deadly sins.
We need to find success models and replicate them. Organizations like Edith Monro's Jami Bora in Kenya, Grameen Shakti and BRAC ... We need to identify real performance measures and not statistical double talk to avoid accountability. It is the 'old boy,' network in operation. The '...usual suspects,' who get all the funding and stifle progress through that same network with tendrils into the large benefactors like US AID and Gates etc, etc. It is the same players working with their friends. It is an uncritical wasteful, make work model and it has not changed for 59 years or more.
Yes, all countries need to come together to address this horrific loss of life and the source of such misery ... let me know when that happens.
