A Safety net

Episode number 4 of Series “Battle for the planet”.
The presenter of this program, Professor Eddie Ayensu of Ghana, is a leading African commentator on development issues. His concern in this program is what he sees as the damage which food aid does to African economics. To him, this aid creates a psychological dependence in the minds of farmers and acts as a disincentive to their own production. Ayensu says food aid was originally intended to provide African countries with room to manoeuvre, but now unwanted foods (such as sugar) is virtually being dumped. He looks at the staple foods in Africa such as Cassava, fish and fruit and makes the point that if Western aid went into improving productivity in these industries, African food production would be much more efficient and better able to feed the population.