Hunger ... What associations do you have when pronouncing this word? Empty fridge or skinny wallet? Believe me, for millions of people around the world this is not just a vague concept, meaning only a grumbling stomach, but a cruel and predatory animal, from whose fangs people constantly die.
In any case, the famine in Africa, which has recently acquired truly enormous proportions, has already claimed the lives of many thousands of people. Why is this happening, because the courtyard is relatively enlightened in the 21st century?
The main reason is the complete absence of what could be called a state, albeit with some stretch. Those structures that now exist in the poorest and most problematic African regions do not fall under the definition of a state. Their main activity is trying to put the next president on the throne, who is unlikely to hold his post even a couple of months. Of course, almost all
humanitarian aid sent to these countries also settles in the pockets of the “powers that be”. That is why famine in Africa basically has social prerequisites superimposed on the general specifics of the region.
Due to the lack of normal infrastructure, local residents sometimes have to leave their children to certain death, going to the nearest ("just" 100-150 km) settlements for the most necessary medicines and food concentrates. Many of them still do not have time to help kids who simply die from exhaustion.
However, this does not happen everywhere. For example, in Uganda the situation is difficult, but to some extent controlled by the government. The local population is adequately provided with food, and therefore the hunger in Africa in 2011 did not affect it.
However, not only the infantility of the authorities contributes to the deterioration of the situation. With vast areas of land, the population could provide themselves with food, but constant droughts and rapid degradation of soil resources nullify all attempts at farming to nothing. That is why hunger in Africa remains a constant companion to millions of people.
Unfortunately, the economies of all African countries are not able to prevent the effects of droughts. However, experts have repeatedly noted that by combining the efforts of several countries in the region, hunger in Africa could be defeated. However, given the increasing Islamization of the population, the "Arab riots" and the general instability of the global economy, one can not hope for this. None of the developed countries is interested in investing in a semblance of a local economy, while the UN and the Red Cross will not achieve much alone.
Scientists, answering the question of why there is hunger in Africa, complain about the deception in the society of geneticists offering genetically improved crops that can be grown on poor and even saline soils. This happens not because of ostentatious concern for human health, but because of the banal thirst for profit. After all, it is much more profitable to sell products grown in Europe and America to the starving regions.