Income distribution continuing to be major issue in Africa

February 24, 2016, 7:55 pm 

A 14-month-old baby undergoes an arm circumference test for severe acute malnutrition in Ogolcho, in Ethiopia's drought affected Oromia region on January 31, 2016 - AFP

Specialized agencies, such as the UNDP, are open enough to admit to the existence of ‘structural factors’ in the world poverty and deprivation situation but there needs to be a more vigorous underscoring of these issues. Clearly, the non-possession of land in substantial amounts by peasants everywhere is a key ‘structural’ constraint to the elimination of poverty and hunger but there needs to be a less timid espousing of land reform by the UN and other organizations that focus on these questions.

‘Africa 2016’, a major investment forum covering the entirety of the African continent has just concluded in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, with a call for ‘Mega African projects to attract investments’, among other things. However, the world has also been put on notice by news from the continent that a million children are severely malnourished in eastern and southern Africa.

To be sure, Africa could no longer be considered ‘a sleeping giant’ among the world’s continents but how is one to reconcile news about Africa’s glowing growth prospects with information about continuing near starvation among section of its population?

Breaking the bad news, an AFP report said: ‘Children in the region face food and water shortages, with rising prices worsening the situation as families are forced to skip meals and sell belongings….Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and most of South Africa have declared drought emergencies, while in Ethiopia, the number of people in need of food assistance is expected to increase from 10 million to 18 million this year.’

What the world has come to recognize as the ‘development process’, featuring mainly investment-led growth, needs to be persisted with in Africa but how effective are these strategies in promoting redistributive justice, which is one of the surest guarantees against mass poverty, malnutrition and health problems that end life prematurely? This is the prime issue that is raised by the spectre of starvation and death which is haunting parts of Africa.

If one is to comprehend the principal factors at the heart of Africa’s food scarcity issues, then s/he ought to read Susan George’s best seller of the seventies: ‘How the Other Half Dies’. This seminal work could be considered a no-nonsense approach at disclosing ‘the dynamics’ behind poverty and deprivation in all of the world’s principal continents and not merely in Africa. Among other things, George points to the role played by MNC-led agribusinesses in world food deprivation. This is a point that warrants refocusing on at a time when mega investments seem to be the major draw for the governing elites of particularly the global South. Whether the aim in foreign investment be infrastructure development or otherwise, ‘development drives’ would come to nought if state intervention does not ensure a fair distribution of accruing wealth among a country’s population.

Specialized agencies, such as the UNDP, are open enough to admit to the existence of ‘structural factors’ in the world poverty and deprivation situation but there needs to be a more vigorous underscoring of these issues. Clearly, the non-possession of land in substantial amounts by peasants everywhere is a key ‘structural’ constraint to the elimination of poverty and hunger but there needs to be a less timid espousing of land reform by the UN and other organizations that focus on these questions.

Volatility of markets and food prices are commonly accepted as being among the prime reasons for food deprivation and poverty but there also needs to be a more thorough working out of ways and means of ensuring the poor are less dependent on market uncertainties.

However, as often pointed out in this column, the fickleness and uncertainties of the market economy comprise chief obstacles to ensuring the economic stability of ordinary people. If food prices are prone to fluctuate, there is no way in which the food security of the people could be guaranteed. Accordingly, if the market mechanism is allowed to play a chief role in the resolution of a country's economic issues, there would little point in speaking about the enduring material stability of a country's populace. In a market economy situation, the latter just cannot be promised by states and other decision-making quarters.

Hence, the need to ensure the survival of the main pillars, at least, of the welfare state. In these times of soaring inflation, when the steady growth of national economies cannot be taken for granted, the compulsion ought to be great among governments to inquire into the 'structural roots' of poverty. While climate change issues do impact the economic stability of populations, and this is particularly true of Africa, the steady development and empowerment of a country's human resources and the stable ownership of economically viable plots of land by the poor, could play major roles in the alleviation of poverty. The corollary of this line of thinking is that excessive land ownership by a few ought to be ended by states.

These questions need to be addressed by the entirety of the international community and not merely by African governments. Because, whereas the more resourceful countries of the South and North are today in a position to lay claim to a degree of robust growth, and the BRICS are a case in point, such achievements cannot be considered as enduring or permanent, to even an extent. As could be seen, there is currently a slowdown in global growth and the G20 has been called upon by its leaders to ensure the dynamic revival of their economies to guard against a full return to recession.

Accordingly, there are no simplistic answers to Africa's travails. The continent's countries could consider accelerating their integration into the world economy, through open market policies, but these measures are no guarantee that the poor of the continent would benefit by them, given the fluctuating fortunes of the world economy. Evidently, the Ethiopean famines of the eighties, for example, which generated mass-scale suffering of unheard of proportions, cannot be dismissed as nightmares of the past which would not return.

These harrowing experiences show every sign of reviving, now that hunger and malnutrition are staging a major comeback in parts of Africa. Lack of empowerment of people and communities is the root cause of human deprivation and poverty and it is nothing short of measures that would guarantee a degree of economic and material independence for these sections that would help in defeating the spectre of mass starvation and death.

Charity was tried out in the eighties as a measure of poverty reduction and alleviation in Africa but charity does not constitute a permanent answer to poverty. IT is people's empowerment that would ensure a degree of deliverance from deprivation.