World

[Guest fountainhall]

Speaking in Washington at the end of the Spring meetings of the World Bank, its President, Robert Zoellick, has warned that the world is quite literally

[Guest]

At issue is the rising price of food prices which he cites as the main threat to poor nations who risk

[KhorTose]

Never mind that, we need some reforms in EUROPE. One look at UK farmland makes it clear the EU are continuing their stupid and outdated "set aside" policy of paying farmers not to farm part of their land, to stop food surpluses.

 

I agree, but the UK's and Europe's agriculture subsidies are miniscule compared to what we do in the US. All of these subsidies are stupid, wasteful, and counter productive;. Yes, we should store our surplus, and it would not be long before the rising demand for food products would more then pay us back, and in the meantime save us Billions in tax money. An old policy kept alive by sectarian politics.

[Guest]

I very much believe in free markets, but with overpopulation and the big unknown of climate change, a degree of intervention is required to assure food supply.

 

The EU should totally scrap it's current set aside policy. This should be replaced with a policy of selective purchasing & storage of surplus production, to ease supply shocks.

As politicians are by definition totally incapable of managing such an operation, it should be outsourced to semi-retired fund managers who are given a brief, a budget & allowed to get on with it.

I'm thinking Peter Lynch, Anthony Bolton or similar people. Obviously Mr Bolton is otherwise engaged, but there will be other talent out there.

Just don't let the slimey politicians near it.

 

Also, if certain third world countries do nothing about excessive birth rates, we should allow them to manage their own food problems, without external food aid.

Given the choice of a few hundred thousand people going hungry now or twice that population going hungry in 20 years time, let's resolve the problem now, with fewer people suffering. Culture change is required. Including contraception.

[KhorTose]

IGiven the choice of a few hundred thousand people going hungry now or twice that population going hungry in 20 years time, let's resolve the problem now, with fewer people suffering. Culture change is required. Including contraception.

 

Agree, if we do not aggressively move to solve the population problem, we cannot solve any of the other problems the world now faces from ecology to energy supply.

[Guest fountainhall]

if certain third world countries do nothing about excessive birth rates, we should allow them to manage their own food problems, without external food aid

I agree. And I believe most rational people and most governments also agree. China certainly did before most others, and has managed to stabilise its rapid population growth - albeit by population control measures that brought the condemnation of many western countries. So what do you do about India which will soon be the world's most populous nation?

 

As far as the third world is concerned, we'll not get far without doing something about the dogma of the Catholic Church. I believe it's no coincidence that The Philippines, as the only Catholic nation in the region, has never been able to drag most of its people out of miserable poverty. Any economic advance is counterbalanced by yet more mouths to feed.

 

And what about the orthodox Jews in Israel who are raising more and more children so that they will eventually be in a position to be a greater influence on the government? How do we control them and other groups who may have similar ideas?

[Guest]

Speculating:

In a few decades time, hungry Indians could vote for a government which would try to expand it's territory by force. The softest target would be to the east. Going north would be plain stupid and going to the West could be almost as bad.

 

On the other hand, the Philippines are unlikely to pose any threat whatsoever to any well armed nation. So if they choose to be really dumb about population growth, that's their problem, not a shared one.

 

Of course, progression to food shortages is unlikely to be a linear process. Sudden major harvest failures in more than one region could result in a sudden transition from high prices to millions of hungry people.

[Guest fountainhall]

So far we have looked at how the world is going to feed itself. But the availability of water is surely as pressing. In this part of the world, we know that global warming is starting to have an effect on the run-off from the area's reservoir - the Himalayas. This will eventually reduce the volume of water flowing down to feed the region's ten main rivers.

 

In recent days we have seen more controversy in the media about the controversial new Xayaburi dam on the Mekong River as it flows through Laos. The Mekong River Commission has been woefully unsuccessful in stopping any dams from being built as each nation pursues its own selfish goals. Not surprisingly, China has never joined the Commission.

 

China is presently in the middle of the construction of 8 dams which will change the river’s natural flood-drought cycle and block the transport of sediment, affecting ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions living downstream in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and here in Thailand. The Mekong is destined to become China’s new water tower and electrical powerhouse.

 

This cascade of dams will amazingly be able to store half the entire flow of the Mekong before it leaves China. In future, the river will rise and fall at the whim of engineers rather than nature. And when the Himalayan run off does become more pronounced, China will end up as the least affected.

 

Humans can live without food for quite a time. They cannot live long without water.

[Guest]

Unless the distribution system fails totally, people should get their 2 litres of water a day and be at no risk of dying due to lack of water.

The more significant risk is to agriculture and fishing, which require much more water. I gather Cambodia gets a high proportion of its protein from the Tonle Sap, which varies in level significantly according to the season. Dams will change that.

 

However, if there is a degree of co-operation between countries, well planned dams should also reduce flooding and improve the security of supply for irrigation.