the war against farmers Part 2

 this is a follow up on several posts on the war on farmers, the latest one is here if you wish to read it.

World Bank launches first global framework for agri-food emissions
"to halve current agri-food emissions by 2030... by ensuring that the environmental and health costs borne by society are fully included in food prices"
So, less food, higher priceshttps://t.co/Avbazsf5FA pic.twitter.com/gyWw46Z78G

— Tess Summers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇪 (@tesssummers98) May 7, 2024

here is article behind a wall of course from the UKTelegraph: or read copy at the wayback machine link.

after lamenting the cacao bushes are in trouble (whoops there goes Cadbury), they go on to insist:

Globally, agriculture is responsible for around 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions,

That's us: Rice growing is a major source of greenhouse gas, especially if you prefer to rot weeds by flooding instead of using herbicides. Oh yes: We can either use a diesel powered handplow, or a methane emitting water buffalo to plow.

and is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss

yup. Growing food and getting rid of weeds does that. 

yup. Reminds me of hundreds of Nat Geo documentaries lamenting the loss of habitat for those beautiful wild animals.

Those dang Africans prefer to grow food and not starve, so are moving into the areas displacing those lovely wild animals that the rich Europeans and Yanks love.

Yes, I am being sarcastic: I mean, who do you lament: a dead elephant or a starving African? Don't answer quickly: because Botswana is now telling Germany to take 20 thousand elephants that are too many for the environment to support.

”It is very easy to sit in Berlin and have an opinion about our affairs in Botswana. We are paying the price for preserving these animals for the world – and even for Lemke’s party,” Masisi said. Germans should try to “live together with the animals, in the way you are trying to tell us to,” he added.

This imperialist mindset can be found in the UKT article I cited above:

“I think we’re seeing the end of the era of cheap food, because of the impact of that cheap food – not just on people’s health but the external impact, the environmental impact, the societal impact of that cheap food. We need to witness the end of cheap food and a reversal of the value of the food people are eating.”

Does this guy realize what he is saying? He is saying make food so expensive that the poor can't afford to buy it. Do you know what happens when you do this? People starve or die of disease because of malnutrition. 

yup. the poor are hungry? Let them eat cake. Sound familiar? 

the proposal is growing food in the same way that people farmed  200 years ago: when farms produced a lot less food.

Waitrose is hoping to appeal to its existing shoppers, who have both the time and money to choose a more expensive product that has a lower climate impact.

and the other folk? The average worker in Manila who lives on 9 dollars a day?

I lived in Liberia when the government allowed an increase in the price of rice. The result was a coup that eventually led to years of civil war and a lot of deaths. But hey, they are poor Africans so who cares (/sarcasm). 

But never mind: Because luckily for Africa, the Chinese are coming and they are teaching how to grow enough food to feed the population by the old fashioned way: Modern agriculture.

the dirty little secret: A lot of western NGOs opposed modern agriculture and made these government afraid of growing such food. 

Well, duh. We see this in the Philippines where our government encourages organic food and although they encourage modern hybrids they try to avoid GMO foods. 

Hey, we grow organic brown rice, and I agree it is a lot healthier. But if I had to chose between dying of hunger or facing the side effects of modern GMO food or food raised with chemicals, then guess what I would chose?

(the answer: we need both, enough cheap food for the poor but allowing organic and old fashioned ways to grow food and preserve the genes of older crops, but hey the green zealots don't seem to recognize this is possible).

So the Philippines is pushing organic growing in some areas, but has to import rice to feed the city poor, (which makes the rice importers rich) and I suspect a lot of this cheap imported rice is GMO and full of chemicals.

Guess what: GMO seeds which are being used more and more in China to feed their huge population and export to other countries

..but in Africa, thanks to the green mindset of many GMOs, some countries have avoided embracing these modern crops: Indeed, in the midst of a famine a decade ago, Zimbabwe refused to accept life saving food aid from the USA for fear it included GMO crops.

Enter China, who is heavily investing in Africa at many levels...So will China be the world's savior by helping Africa to feed their growing population by using these modern methods that are now being prohibited  by the green lobbies in the modern west? 

Mulwa said that by cooperating with China, African nations will enjoy enhanced access to technologies, innovations and research required to develop new crop varieties that can withstand climate shocks, pests and diseases. He noted that the exchange of germplasm between China and African countries will thrive under the plan to ensure local smallholder farmers' access to high-yielding crops.