The Price of Aid

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Every day the U.S. donates millions of tons of food to famine victims and other starving people in the world's poorest countries. This provocative documentary, through an in-depth case study of a recent famine crisis in Zambia, shows how these aid programs may address an immediate crisis but at the same time can create long-term problems for the recipient nation.

THE PRICE OF AID reveals the vast bureaucratic network of American aid agencies involved in the 'hunger business,' one in which rich countries benefit from the problems of poor countries. U.S. aid policies are explained in interviews with representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Coalition for Food Aid, CARE, the World Bank, the Farm and Foreign Agriculture Service, the Food for Peace Program, and U.S. government officials.

Zambian government officials, including former and present Ministers of Agriculture, as well as Zambian farmers, explain how foreign food donations perpetuate a state of dependency among African and other Third World countries, undercutting local agriculture and development projects. U.S. aid programs, rather than assisting developing nations to become self-reliant, primarily serve to implicate them in a globalization process that finally does more harm than good, endangering their health, environment and economies.

THE PRICE OF AID discusses this complex issue in a global context, including the role of the international media in identifying famine crises, how America's export of genetically modified foods creates problems for African agriculture and public health, how foreign aid is involved in trade competition between the U.S. and European countries, and how assistance provided by the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid differs from U.S. policies. In the end, THE PRICE OF AID questions how America's well-intentioned foreign-aid program has spawned a self-serving relationship between humanitarian aid and American business and politics.

'Highly Recommended! A profoundly disturbing examination of the politics of international food relief distribution and its effect on developing African nations. A lucid examination of a very tangled, complex issue. The video, sound, and color are excellent. This very thought provoking documentary provides a good starting point for a discussion of difficult and multifaceted issues. The Price of Aid is an essential addition to collections of African and postcolonial studies.'-Educational Media Reviews Online

'A Winner! Informative, well-balanced, and credible... it should be acquired by libraries of every college offering courses in public administration, agricultural studies, and political science and by every college library that is a government depository.'-Catholic Library World

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Main credits

El-Tahri, Jihan (screenwriter)
El-Tahri, Jihan (film director)

Other credits

Photography, Franck Peter Lehmann; editor, Nadia Ben Rachid; music, Les fréres Guissé.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

foreign aid; food aid; food and hunger; food and hunger; famine; Africa; economic aid; International Monetary Fund; IMF; World Bank; economics; agriculture; hunger; food; farming; humanitarian; charity; "The Price of Aid"; Icarus Films;

WEBVTT

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[VOICES ON CB RADIO]

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Maize harvested in America,
destined for the hungry and

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needy in over 82 of the world\'s
poorest countries.

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Food aid is always seen as a
good and charitable deed.

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But it is also part of a system
that feeds on crises.

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While trying to solve problems,

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food aid creates others--

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less visible, but often
as destructive.

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Food coming from a donor to the
famine-stricken without

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assisting them into becoming
self-reliant--

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it is the use of food as a
weapon of mass destruction.

00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:12.390 align:middle line:90%

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Food aid is the world\'s tool
of choice for responding to

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humanitarian crises.

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But now some of the recipients
of food aid are saying enough.

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They\'re saying food aid is good
business for America, but

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it isn\'t necessarily
good for Africa.

00:01:27.395 --> 00:01:52.970 align:middle line:90%

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Zambia, home of the great
Zambezi River and

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the Victoria Falls.

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In May 2002, Zambia and five of
its neighbors were declared

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an emergency zone by the UN
World Food Programme.

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Officially, this crisis was
attributed to drought.

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The aid agencies, the NGOs,
were quickly on the scene,

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armed with thousands of
tons of food aid.

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[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

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You can say hi.

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Oh, good morning, everyone.

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Good morning.

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CARE is in the entire in the
whole country of Zambia, in

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Kazungula and Livingston
and Kalomo.

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You all know Kalomo
and Kazungula.

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Chibombo and Mumbwa, CARE is
trying to feed 500,000 people.

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CARE does not have enough food
for everybody every month.

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When was the last time you
all received food?

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September?

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October?

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[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

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You received in October.

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[CROWD TALKING]

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October.

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The problem is there is not
enough food, and we only have

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the food that WFP gives us.

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And it is not even one
half of what we need.

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But once again, we know you
need the food and we know

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you\'re very hungry.

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For months, international aid
agencies warned that the peak

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of the crisis would be reached
at the end of year 2002.

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The world\'s media joined the
campaign, saying that famine

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would engulf Southern Africa if
additional food aid was not

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delivered immediately.

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Thousands, they said, would
die of starvation.

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In no time, the voices
had become a chorus.

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We begin this evening with the
specter of famine that\'s now

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threatening millions of people
in Southern Africa.

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Today, the big charities and
aid agencies gathered in

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London to make an urgent
appeal for money.

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Eight and a half million people
are starving, at least.

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The numbers are growing at
a pretty terrifying rate.

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Across Southern Africa, 14
million people are at risk of

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starvation.

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Thousands have already died.

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But it\'s not yet a full-scale
famine.

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The United Nations says it\'s the
most severe crisis facing

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the world today.

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In some countries, it\'s the
second year that the crops

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have failed.

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Local people have done
all they can.

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They need our help right now.

00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:07.530 align:middle line:84%
Any amount will help stop the
crisis from becoming a

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catastrophe.

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Please, don\'t turn away.

00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.610 align:middle line:90%

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One of the things that triggers
a response is when a

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country declares a national
emergency.

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Certain words provoke images and
provoke responses, such as

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\"starvation,\" \"famine.\" When
the word \"famine\" is used,

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among some other trigger words,

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keywords, the machine does--

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the relief effort does
start to kick in.

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And it kicks in large
and strong.

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As an NGO, it\'s important that
we all begin to recognize the

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signs of a crisis and respond
to the signs of a crisis

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before we have starving children
and dying children.

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And it is not acceptable that we
need to wait until we have

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TV pictures of horror before
we can respond.

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The role of the international
media is to sensitize people

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in Europe and so forth to what\'s
happening, or what may

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be happening.

00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:31.990 align:middle line:90%

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Now you know, I think it\'s
a mixed blessing.

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On the one hand, you
get people aware

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that there\'s a crisis.

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And it becomes--

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I mean, organizations like World
Food Programme use the

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media heavily in order to
fundraise or to draw attention

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to their areas where
they\'re needing

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money for food or whatever.

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But food aid\'s a practical
solution to a

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proper, a real crisis.

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The trouble is, you don\'t
want it sort of

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getting out of hand.

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You don\'t want it acquiring a
momentum of its own and a

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meaning of its own that is not
related to people\'s actual

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risks of dying of starvation.

00:07:12.580 --> 00:07:16.560 align:middle line:90%

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But were Zambians really at risk
of dying of starvation?

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For local government officials,
the media campaign

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was blowing their difficulties
out of all proportions.

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Only one of Zambia\'s nine
provinces was severely

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affected by drought.

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Like its five neighbors, Zambia
asked for minimal aid

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to see it through until
the next harvest.

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Instead, the giant international
food aid machine

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was put in motion, pumping in
food exclusively from abroad.

00:07:48.110 --> 00:08:07.240 align:middle line:90%

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He declared only one
province of the

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country a disaster area.

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Meaning that the rest of the
country, surely, can feed

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these people, and from our
resources and from friends.

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We were told, if you do remember
very well, that

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around June, July, there was
a report that came out

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suggesting that by August, there
would be no more maize

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around the country.

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We are still buying.

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We are still buying maize
from farmers today.

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Zambia\'s food shortage was
localized and temporary.

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The country was not on
the brink of famine.

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But once the well-oiled
machinery of the World Food

00:08:51.260 --> 00:08:55.900 align:middle line:84%
Programme went into action, it
was very difficult to stop.

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The WFP is the United Nations\'
front-line agency in the fight

00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.010 align:middle line:90%
against global hunger.

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80% of its resources are devoted
to what it considers

00:09:05.310 --> 00:09:06.560 align:middle line:90%
to be emergencies.

00:09:06.560 --> 00:09:09.820 align:middle line:90%

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The WFP lives entirely off
donations, and it has learnt

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that charity is not
easily handed out

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for development projects.

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It is only when victims of
disasters are visible that the

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money, lots of money,
comes flooding in.

00:09:25.506 --> 00:09:35.720 align:middle line:90%

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The first and foremost response
is to save lives.

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That\'s what WFP is in the
business of, saving lives.

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If you are not--

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WFP is saying every human being
should have the food

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that they need to live an
active, normal life.

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That\'s what we\'re going
to try to do.

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So it can happen in an emergency
context, a drought,

00:09:54.560 --> 00:09:57.070 align:middle line:84%
or there\'s a flood, or something
like this, and

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people need food right now.

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People underestimate, I think,
the scope of the operations.

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How much it takes to keep all
this food getting to the

00:10:05.520 --> 00:10:08.000 align:middle line:84%
places, make sure that the
people who need it get it,

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make sure that it\'s clean.

00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:18.680 align:middle line:90%

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80% or so of our resources,
sometimes, up to 80%, can come

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from the US.

00:10:23.190 --> 00:10:26.940 align:middle line:84%
They\'re definitely WFP\'s biggest
donor, as you can see.

00:10:26.940 --> 00:10:29.700 align:middle line:84%
All this food around is
coming from the US.

00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:32.550 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s one thing when you see
it on paper, how much of

00:10:32.550 --> 00:10:34.600 align:middle line:84%
the donations are coming
from the US.

00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.140 align:middle line:84%
It\'s another thing to
actually see it in

00:10:37.140 --> 00:10:39.200 align:middle line:90%
stacks before your eyes.

00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.880 align:middle line:84%
Well, the United States
overproduces maize.

00:10:42.880 --> 00:10:49.250 align:middle line:84%
And it didn\'t take-- and they
subsidize the export of maize.

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And I mean, in order
to get rid of it.

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It may be cheaper to burn the
maize, of course, if they

00:10:56.850 --> 00:11:01.260 align:middle line:84%
insist on overproducing for the
benefit of the political

00:11:01.260 --> 00:11:05.060 align:middle line:90%
lobbies in the Corn Belt.

00:11:05.060 --> 00:11:06.640 align:middle line:90%
But that doesn\'t look so good.

00:11:06.640 --> 00:11:10.480 align:middle line:84%
I mean, I think that people
would start pointing fingers

00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:14.360 align:middle line:84%
if they were literally
throwing maize away.

00:11:14.360 --> 00:11:17.000 align:middle line:84%
So the idea of trying to kill
two birds or three birds with

00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:21.390 align:middle line:84%
one stone by giving relief food
to the needy, getting

00:11:21.390 --> 00:11:24.880 align:middle line:84%
sort of political kudos for it,
feeling good about it, and

00:11:24.880 --> 00:11:27.670 align:middle line:84%
getting rid of the surplus at
the same time, I think has

00:11:27.670 --> 00:11:29.900 align:middle line:84%
become quite an industry
in the United States.

00:11:29.900 --> 00:11:31.974 align:middle line:84%
I don\'t think there\'s any
question about that.

00:11:31.974 --> 00:11:35.210 align:middle line:90%
[BRASS BAND MUSIC PLAYING]

00:11:35.210 --> 00:11:38.840 align:middle line:84%
Gentlemen, it\'s a pleasure to
hand you this check for $1,500

00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:43.100 align:middle line:84%
for the food package for
the starving in Europe.

00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:45.360 align:middle line:84%
The food aid machine dates
from the end of the

00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:46.850 align:middle line:90%
Second World War.

00:11:46.850 --> 00:11:50.140 align:middle line:84%
The United States was exporting
food to a devastated

00:11:50.140 --> 00:11:52.700 align:middle line:84%
Europe as part of the
Marshall Plan.

00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:55.820 align:middle line:84%
Europe recovered quickly, and
by the early \'50s, its

00:11:55.820 --> 00:11:57.670 align:middle line:90%
agriculture was back on track.

00:11:57.670 --> 00:12:01.460 align:middle line:84%
But American farmers continued
to overproduce, and they

00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:03.680 align:middle line:84%
appealed to the federal
government to help them

00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:06.950 align:middle line:84%
dispose of their ever-growing
surpluses.

00:12:06.950 --> 00:12:10.190 align:middle line:84%
In 1954, the government
responded by adopting the

00:12:10.190 --> 00:12:13.610 align:middle line:84%
Agricultural Trade Development
and Assistance Act, better

00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:16.250 align:middle line:90%
known as Public Law 480.

00:12:16.250 --> 00:12:19.550 align:middle line:84%
Ever since, this program has
been presented as an efficient

00:12:19.550 --> 00:12:22.030 align:middle line:84%
way of combining humanitarian
assistance

00:12:22.030 --> 00:12:24.360 align:middle line:90%
with surplus disposal.

00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:28.930 align:middle line:84%
Food aid started as a charitable
act towards Europe.

00:12:28.930 --> 00:12:32.665 align:middle line:84%
Today, it is a huge business
aimed at the Third World.

00:12:32.665 --> 00:12:40.400 align:middle line:90%

00:12:40.400 --> 00:12:43.740 align:middle line:84%
Food aid has created an
impressive bureaucracy.

00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:47.090 align:middle line:84%
USAID, the Agency for
International Development,

00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:48.600 align:middle line:90%
runs the program.

00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:52.380 align:middle line:84%
It decides where $1 billion
worth of food aid is

00:12:52.380 --> 00:12:53.960 align:middle line:90%
dispatched every year.

00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:56.100 align:middle line:84%
To do so, it has to
predict where the

00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:58.190 align:middle line:90%
next crisis will occur.

00:12:58.190 --> 00:13:01.330 align:middle line:84%
Food that comes from the
US, we give it in kind.

00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:05.170 align:middle line:84%
It takes about four months to
go from the heartland of the

00:13:05.170 --> 00:13:08.460 align:middle line:84%
US to a place like
Southern Africa.

00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:12.660 align:middle line:84%
So it\'s very hard to predict,
four months out, where you\'re

00:13:12.660 --> 00:13:16.350 align:middle line:84%
going to need food and
in what quantities.

00:13:16.350 --> 00:13:17.920 align:middle line:90%
Couldn\'t you just give cash?

00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:21.680 align:middle line:84%
Because if you give cash and
they buy the grain from

00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:26.360 align:middle line:84%
Southern Africa, it\'ll be there
within three weeks.

00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:28.350 align:middle line:90%
Cash would be--

00:13:28.350 --> 00:13:31.250 align:middle line:84%
is often a wonderful way
to get things done.

00:13:31.250 --> 00:13:35.410 align:middle line:84%
But in our farm bill that
legislates how we do food

00:13:35.410 --> 00:13:39.040 align:middle line:84%
programming in the United
States, we are authorized only

00:13:39.040 --> 00:13:42.450 align:middle line:84%
for the purchase of US
agricultural commodities.

00:13:42.450 --> 00:13:48.250 align:middle line:84%
So we do not have the option out
of our food aid program to

00:13:48.250 --> 00:13:51.730 align:middle line:90%
buy food locally.

00:13:51.730 --> 00:13:54.100 align:middle line:84%
That\'s how the legislation is
written, and that\'s the way

00:13:54.100 --> 00:14:02.840 align:middle line:84%
it\'s been written for
the last 50 years.

00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:05.900 align:middle line:84%
In Brussels, the European
Commission has decided to

00:14:05.900 --> 00:14:07.870 align:middle line:90%
intervene differently.

00:14:07.870 --> 00:14:12.110 align:middle line:84%
Since 1996, sending grain has
been replaced by the signing

00:14:12.110 --> 00:14:14.780 align:middle line:90%
of a simple check.

00:14:14.780 --> 00:14:16.030 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]

00:14:16.030 --> 00:14:30.350 align:middle line:90%

00:14:30.350 --> 00:14:36.800 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t give grain except if
we buy it in the region.

00:14:36.800 --> 00:14:39.980 align:middle line:84%
The short version of this
policy is to say,

00:14:39.980 --> 00:14:42.100 align:middle line:90%
visibility is fine.

00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:45.150 align:middle line:90%
Feasibility is better.

00:14:45.150 --> 00:14:47.500 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t do it to
promote Europe.

00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:51.530 align:middle line:90%
We do it to assist people.

00:14:51.530 --> 00:14:57.840 align:middle line:84%
And it\'s also easier to get the
right accent on the more

00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:03.150 align:middle line:84%
long-term food security of work
if we don\'t play up this

00:15:03.150 --> 00:15:06.290 align:middle line:84%
visibility thing about
delivering

00:15:06.290 --> 00:15:08.600 align:middle line:90%
bags of European grain.

00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:17.180 align:middle line:90%

00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:21.560 align:middle line:84%
Lake Charles, Louisiana is one
of at least six major ports

00:15:21.560 --> 00:15:23.360 align:middle line:90%
that rely heavily on food aid.

00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:32.290 align:middle line:90%

00:15:32.290 --> 00:15:36.150 align:middle line:84%
Some industries, working
exclusively for PL 480, have

00:15:36.150 --> 00:15:39.280 align:middle line:90%
set up inside the port.

00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:41.395 align:middle line:84%
Many others are spread
across the country.

00:15:41.395 --> 00:15:45.980 align:middle line:90%

00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:49.840 align:middle line:84%
Close to one million Americans
earn their living directly or

00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.870 align:middle line:84%
indirectly from food
aid programs.

00:15:53.870 --> 00:15:59.970 align:middle line:84%
The PL 480 program is
our largest-volume

00:15:59.970 --> 00:16:02.910 align:middle line:90%
customer that we have.

00:16:02.910 --> 00:16:08.920 align:middle line:84%
And of course, it provides
employment for people in the

00:16:08.920 --> 00:16:12.850 align:middle line:84%
port, as well as the vessels
that come here.

00:16:12.850 --> 00:16:18.145 align:middle line:84%
And any of the industry that
handles the vessels, anything

00:16:18.145 --> 00:16:23.360 align:middle line:84%
from vessel agents to people
that sell goods to the ship

00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.290 align:middle line:84%
for their stores
on the vessel.

00:16:26.290 --> 00:16:29.250 align:middle line:90%

00:16:29.250 --> 00:16:34.810 align:middle line:84%
It is quite a bit of food, but
it takes a lot of food to feed

00:16:34.810 --> 00:16:36.080 align:middle line:90%
the hungry of the world.

00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:41.560 align:middle line:90%

00:16:41.560 --> 00:16:47.930 align:middle line:84%
Every ton that is loaded to
a vessel in Lake Charles

00:16:47.930 --> 00:16:54.310 align:middle line:84%
provides $55 to our economy in
this area, where we\'re talking

00:16:54.310 --> 00:17:00.700 align:middle line:84%
about probably upwards of $55
million to the economy.

00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:04.170 align:middle line:84%
And of course, by these people
keeping employed, it also

00:17:04.170 --> 00:17:07.449 align:middle line:84%
means that it dominoes to
all through the area.

00:17:07.449 --> 00:17:19.140 align:middle line:90%

00:17:19.140 --> 00:17:22.200 align:middle line:84%
Lake Charles has prospered
thanks to its business ties

00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:24.780 align:middle line:90%
with USAID.

00:17:24.780 --> 00:17:28.270 align:middle line:84%
The port alone, which is the
largest employer in the area,

00:17:28.270 --> 00:17:31.630 align:middle line:84%
has invested $78 million
to maintain its

00:17:31.630 --> 00:17:39.220 align:middle line:90%
lucrative PL 480 contract.

00:17:39.220 --> 00:17:43.190 align:middle line:84%
But the benefits of food aid
can be felt much further

00:17:43.190 --> 00:17:45.015 align:middle line:84%
afield than the state
of Louisiana.

00:17:45.015 --> 00:18:04.090 align:middle line:90%

00:18:04.090 --> 00:18:07.230 align:middle line:84%
The program requires us to use
all American-made products.

00:18:07.230 --> 00:18:11.140 align:middle line:84%
The steel cans, the cardboard,
the glue, the inks that we use

00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:12.950 align:middle line:84%
on the lithograph
of the cans--

00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:16.430 align:middle line:84%
all have to be American
production or made in America.

00:18:16.430 --> 00:18:18.800 align:middle line:84%
The oil has to be grown
by American--

00:18:18.800 --> 00:18:21.980 align:middle line:84%
the soybeans have to be grown
by American farmers, refined

00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:24.930 align:middle line:84%
in American refineries,
and shipped to

00:18:24.930 --> 00:18:27.650 align:middle line:90%
us in American freight.

00:18:27.650 --> 00:18:31.050 align:middle line:84%
So it helps the farmers out
to stabilize their prices.

00:18:31.050 --> 00:18:33.220 align:middle line:84%
It helps the can manufacturers,
the box

00:18:33.220 --> 00:18:36.980 align:middle line:84%
manufacturers, the oil producers
in their production,

00:18:36.980 --> 00:18:41.020 align:middle line:84%
and keeping them people hired
and making money.

00:18:41.020 --> 00:18:43.590 align:middle line:84%
But also, the end result is
feeding people, and it works

00:18:43.590 --> 00:18:45.220 align:middle line:90%
out good for both people.

00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:47.360 align:middle line:84%
We have the capacity
to feed the world.

00:18:47.360 --> 00:18:52.280 align:middle line:84%
We would like to see the program
increase, actually.

00:18:52.280 --> 00:18:55.650 align:middle line:84%
Because the need is there, and
we do have the surplus in the

00:18:55.650 --> 00:18:56.230 align:middle line:90%
United States.

00:18:56.230 --> 00:19:00.100 align:middle line:84%
And to me, it\'s a little
ludicrous to not do it.

00:19:00.100 --> 00:19:09.140 align:middle line:90%

00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:13.110 align:middle line:84%
Aid agencies need a constant
flow of funds to finance their

00:19:13.110 --> 00:19:15.790 align:middle line:90%
offices and staff.

00:19:15.790 --> 00:19:19.220 align:middle line:84%
The American NGOs have created
a pressure group called the

00:19:19.220 --> 00:19:22.190 align:middle line:90%
Coalition for Food Aid.

00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:25.160 align:middle line:84%
To obtain bigger subsidies,
they are paying for the

00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:29.130 align:middle line:84%
full-time services
of a lobbyist.

00:19:29.130 --> 00:19:32.940 align:middle line:84%
In the corridors of power in
Washington, humanitarian aid

00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:37.456 align:middle line:84%
and practical politics are two
sides of the same coin.

00:19:37.456 --> 00:19:41.410 align:middle line:84%
I\'m coordinating with the
agriculture groups in the

00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:45.170 align:middle line:84%
United States, the producers of
commodities, the processors

00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:49.710 align:middle line:84%
of commodities, the companies
that bag commodities, the

00:19:49.710 --> 00:19:52.800 align:middle line:84%
transportation industries
that ship them.

00:19:52.800 --> 00:19:56.110 align:middle line:84%
Coordinating with them on a
lobbying campaign in the next

00:19:56.110 --> 00:20:01.250 align:middle line:84%
month to influence both Congress
and the White House

00:20:01.250 --> 00:20:04.160 align:middle line:84%
that we need to have more
funding for food aid to meet

00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.912 align:middle line:90%
these extraordinary needs.

00:20:05.912 --> 00:20:09.280 align:middle line:90%

00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:12.420 align:middle line:84%
We have chronic hunger right
now in Central America.

00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:15.520 align:middle line:84%
They haven\'t recuperated
from hurricanes of

00:20:15.520 --> 00:20:16.840 align:middle line:90%
several years ago.

00:20:16.840 --> 00:20:19.040 align:middle line:90%
We have West African problems.

00:20:19.040 --> 00:20:20.130 align:middle line:90%
We have Bangladesh.

00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:22.670 align:middle line:84%
We have so many other countries,
so we can\'t just

00:20:22.670 --> 00:20:26.600 align:middle line:84%
take all our resources, shift
them away from those areas,

00:20:26.600 --> 00:20:30.200 align:middle line:84%
and just put them into Africa
for these emergencies, and

00:20:30.200 --> 00:20:34.180 align:middle line:84%
then drop literally 30 million
people from ongoing food aid.

00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:48.280 align:middle line:90%

00:20:48.280 --> 00:20:50.540 align:middle line:84%
The Senate Agriculture
Committee runs

00:20:50.540 --> 00:20:52.740 align:middle line:90%
the food aid program.

00:20:52.740 --> 00:20:57.320 align:middle line:84%
Its chairman, Tom Harkin of
Iowa, is a powerful ally whose

00:20:57.320 --> 00:20:59.850 align:middle line:84%
staff cannot be lobbied
enough.

00:20:59.850 --> 00:21:00.980 align:middle line:90%
Yeah.

00:21:00.980 --> 00:21:04.320 align:middle line:84%
A rare glimpse into an official
lobbying session says

00:21:04.320 --> 00:21:08.700 align:middle line:84%
a lot about how business is
really done in Washington.

00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:12.310 align:middle line:84%
Today, Ellen Levinson has a
single mission in mind--

00:21:12.310 --> 00:21:15.320 align:middle line:84%
to get more food aid money
allocated for Southern Africa.

00:21:15.320 --> 00:21:17.910 align:middle line:90%

00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:22.440 align:middle line:84%
Well, just want you to know
why I\'m here, OK?

00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:25.080 align:middle line:84%
I\'m here for the Coalition
for Food Aid.

00:21:25.080 --> 00:21:29.200 align:middle line:84%
Our current situation right now
is that we want Congress

00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:34.330 align:middle line:84%
to be very much aware of the
food aid needs in Africa that

00:21:34.330 --> 00:21:37.420 align:middle line:84%
are way above anyone\'s
expectation.

00:21:37.420 --> 00:21:41.360 align:middle line:84%
Right now, the only plan is to
rob food aid from other food

00:21:41.360 --> 00:21:44.140 align:middle line:84%
aid programs around the world
in order to get at least a

00:21:44.140 --> 00:21:47.570 align:middle line:84%
little bit of food aid into
Ethiopia and Southern Africa.

00:21:47.570 --> 00:21:49.660 align:middle line:84%
Are you being asked, in other
words, to divert some money

00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:50.680 align:middle line:90%
from development--

00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:50.900 align:middle line:90%
Absolutely.

00:21:50.900 --> 00:21:52.430 align:middle line:90%
Over to emergency needs?

00:21:52.430 --> 00:21:55.460 align:middle line:84%
And then does that mean that
on down the line, we might

00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:57.245 align:middle line:84%
face another crisis elsewhere
in the world?

00:21:57.245 --> 00:21:58.780 align:middle line:90%
Absolutely.

00:21:58.780 --> 00:22:01.510 align:middle line:84%
The strong interest, from a
humanitarian standpoint, is to

00:22:01.510 --> 00:22:02.590 align:middle line:90%
alleviate the crisis.

00:22:02.590 --> 00:22:06.780 align:middle line:84%
But in addition, from the
agricultural standpoint, a lot

00:22:06.780 --> 00:22:10.620 align:middle line:84%
of our better customers now for
food, as you know, were

00:22:10.620 --> 00:22:12.005 align:middle line:84%
once recipients of
US food aid.

00:22:12.005 --> 00:22:12.610 align:middle line:90%
That\'s true.

00:22:12.610 --> 00:22:16.625 align:middle line:84%
So it\'s not entirely just a
charitable proposition, from

00:22:16.625 --> 00:22:17.670 align:middle line:90%
the US standpoint.

00:22:17.670 --> 00:22:19.910 align:middle line:84%
It has a lot to do with helping
people, certainly.

00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:21.702 align:middle line:84%
But it\'s also good for the
United States, from the

00:22:21.702 --> 00:22:23.240 align:middle line:84%
standpoint of eventually
developing some

00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:24.490 align:middle line:90%
markets and so forth.

00:22:24.490 --> 00:22:28.070 align:middle line:84%
There\'s so many right reasons
to be providing food aid.

00:22:28.070 --> 00:22:30.630 align:middle line:84%
The problem is the
budget crunch.

00:22:30.630 --> 00:22:33.680 align:middle line:84%
What\'s the figure that
you\'re working on?

00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.610 align:middle line:84%
In terms of what do you
think the need is?

00:22:35.610 --> 00:22:38.080 align:middle line:84%
Where do we stand now and
what do we really need?

00:22:38.080 --> 00:22:40.280 align:middle line:84%
Well, first we need
the budget, which

00:22:40.280 --> 00:22:41.730 align:middle line:90%
is about $1.2 billion.

00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:46.710 align:middle line:84%
That\'s the baseline budget
for fiscal year 2003.

00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:52.140 align:middle line:84%
Then after that, they\'re going
to need at least $300 million,

00:22:52.140 --> 00:22:57.800 align:middle line:84%
and probably a more realistic
number is $500 million for the

00:22:57.800 --> 00:23:02.150 align:middle line:84%
supplemental, additional needs
for the emergencies.

00:23:02.150 --> 00:23:06.970 align:middle line:84%
And perhaps you can, or the
Senate can, get a letter going

00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:08.930 align:middle line:90%
to get to the president.

00:23:08.930 --> 00:23:11.780 align:middle line:84%
I think that would be great, if
you could-- and you may be

00:23:11.780 --> 00:23:14.510 align:middle line:84%
able to get a lot of support
incentive for that.

00:23:14.510 --> 00:23:16.880 align:middle line:84%
And if you\'re doing it at the
same time, where if the

00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.160 align:middle line:84%
Congress is doing it, all the
interest groups in the United

00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:23.110 align:middle line:84%
States are saying it,
I think it helps to

00:23:23.110 --> 00:23:24.360 align:middle line:90%
get the message out.

00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:30.760 align:middle line:90%

00:23:30.760 --> 00:23:31.520 align:middle line:90%
It\'s a game.

00:23:31.520 --> 00:23:36.720 align:middle line:84%
And I think you\'ve got this
supply-led process I believe

00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:41.620 align:middle line:84%
you\'ve seen from the
relief-dispatching end, where

00:23:41.620 --> 00:23:42.630 align:middle line:90%
people are actually looking--

00:23:42.630 --> 00:23:47.400 align:middle line:84%
I mean, the sort of world
system, the US and world food

00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:50.450 align:middle line:84%
programs, are looking for
droughts, looking for famines,

00:23:50.450 --> 00:23:53.280 align:middle line:90%
looking for victims, right?

00:23:53.280 --> 00:23:56.160 align:middle line:84%
And I think in Zambia and
similar countries, we\'ve

00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:00.900 align:middle line:84%
learned to play the victim
quite well if we want to.

00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:05.510 align:middle line:84%
So it\'s actually looking a bit
like we\'ve got a supply-led

00:24:05.510 --> 00:24:09.600 align:middle line:84%
situation, where the crisis
was exaggerated because it

00:24:09.600 --> 00:24:12.240 align:middle line:84%
suited everybody to
exaggerate it.

00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:20.630 align:middle line:90%

00:24:20.630 --> 00:24:23.490 align:middle line:84%
For months, enormous quantities
of cereals have

00:24:23.490 --> 00:24:26.180 align:middle line:84%
been shipped to African ports
from across the Atlantic.

00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:30.410 align:middle line:90%

00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:33.560 align:middle line:84%
The same old scenario was
being played out.

00:24:33.560 --> 00:24:37.760 align:middle line:84%
Africans were dying of hunger,
and generous Westerners were

00:24:37.760 --> 00:24:39.740 align:middle line:90%
rushing to their aid.

00:24:39.740 --> 00:24:42.860 align:middle line:84%
But some African governments
weren\'t so sure that this

00:24:42.860 --> 00:24:45.490 align:middle line:84%
version of events
was accurate.

00:24:45.490 --> 00:24:48.040 align:middle line:84%
Then, the Zambian government
sparked off a

00:24:48.040 --> 00:24:49.670 align:middle line:90%
dramatic turn of events.

00:24:49.670 --> 00:24:52.140 align:middle line:84%
It threw out the script
because of genetically

00:24:52.140 --> 00:24:54.080 align:middle line:90%
modified maize.

00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:59.010 align:middle line:84%
His Excellency, Mr. Levy Patrick
Mwanawasa, president

00:24:59.010 --> 00:25:00.270 align:middle line:90%
of the Republic of Zambia.

00:25:00.270 --> 00:25:03.920 align:middle line:90%

00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:10.450 align:middle line:84%
We have expressed concern over
the true impact of GMOs on our

00:25:10.450 --> 00:25:13.410 align:middle line:90%
people and their soil.

00:25:13.410 --> 00:25:17.700 align:middle line:84%
Given the lack of and often
conflicting international

00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:22.650 align:middle line:84%
information on the possible
consequences of genetically

00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:27.370 align:middle line:84%
modified products on humans, the
government has opted for

00:25:27.370 --> 00:25:30.490 align:middle line:84%
the procurement of
non-GMO foods.

00:25:30.490 --> 00:25:33.740 align:middle line:84%
Zambia categorically refused
to accept food aid that

00:25:33.740 --> 00:25:36.360 align:middle line:84%
contained genetically
modified grain.

00:25:36.360 --> 00:25:39.110 align:middle line:84%
But the bulk of food was
coming from America.

00:25:39.110 --> 00:25:40.460 align:middle line:90%
It was mainly maize--

00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:41.940 align:middle line:90%
GMO maize.

00:25:41.940 --> 00:25:44.520 align:middle line:84%
Zambia\'s decision revealed
that the crisis had been

00:25:44.520 --> 00:25:45.790 align:middle line:90%
exaggerated.

00:25:45.790 --> 00:25:49.390 align:middle line:84%
If it could afford to refuse GMO
food, clearly it was not

00:25:49.390 --> 00:25:51.430 align:middle line:90%
on the brink of famine.

00:25:51.430 --> 00:25:53.890 align:middle line:84%
What\'s happened here is that
you\'ve had a certain sort of

00:25:53.890 --> 00:25:55.240 align:middle line:90%
cut in the pipeline.

00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:59.810 align:middle line:84%
And in theory, everybody was
expecting people to start

00:25:59.810 --> 00:26:01.400 align:middle line:90%
dropping dead.

00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:02.210 align:middle line:90%
But they haven\'t.

00:26:02.210 --> 00:26:05.940 align:middle line:84%
And in four months, they\'ve
failed to start turning up in

00:26:05.940 --> 00:26:09.810 align:middle line:84%
hospitals with sort of
starvation-related diseases.

00:26:09.810 --> 00:26:16.580 align:middle line:90%

00:26:16.580 --> 00:26:19.920 align:middle line:84%
The main effect of Zambia\'s
decision was not starvation

00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.830 align:middle line:84%
among its people, but rather,
it sent the country\'s

00:26:22.830 --> 00:26:27.100 align:middle line:84%
popularity among international
donors into free-fall.

00:26:27.100 --> 00:26:31.520 align:middle line:84%
The issue of GMO became
topical in June.

00:26:31.520 --> 00:26:35.160 align:middle line:84%
We started receiving literature
and it was showing

00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:36.540 align:middle line:90%
us these risks.

00:26:36.540 --> 00:26:42.500 align:middle line:84%
And then, the WFP said, why
should you complain when we

00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:46.876 align:middle line:84%
have been feeding you on GM
for the last seven years?

00:26:46.876 --> 00:26:51.370 align:middle line:84%
Zambians could not believe it,
that we could not be given an

00:26:51.370 --> 00:26:53.510 align:middle line:90%
opportunity to know.

00:26:53.510 --> 00:26:57.220 align:middle line:84%
Because we had already read that
where this GM comes from,

00:26:57.220 --> 00:27:01.510 align:middle line:84%
they label it so there
would be a choice.

00:27:01.510 --> 00:27:03.260 align:middle line:84%
But we were told, no,
you are poor.

00:27:03.260 --> 00:27:05.000 align:middle line:90%
You have no choice.

00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.550 align:middle line:84%
You are beggars and you
can\'t be choosers.

00:27:07.550 --> 00:27:10.430 align:middle line:84%
All along, the Zambia government
had been accepting

00:27:10.430 --> 00:27:12.430 align:middle line:84%
the commodities from
the US government.

00:27:12.430 --> 00:27:16.000 align:middle line:84%
So that\'s where the hiccup came,
in terms of the American

00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.390 align:middle line:84%
food was available, and we were
moving this into all six

00:27:18.390 --> 00:27:19.390 align:middle line:90%
of the countries.

00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:24.440 align:middle line:84%
So that\'s what happened when
they decided no more GM.

00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:28.300 align:middle line:84%
Something that had never
happened, and especially after

00:27:28.300 --> 00:27:31.610 align:middle line:84%
we were already into an
emergency and food was in the

00:27:31.610 --> 00:27:34.530 align:middle line:84%
pipeline and food had been
going in, was there an

00:27:34.530 --> 00:27:38.250 align:middle line:84%
absolute reversal of the
government\'s decision.

00:27:38.250 --> 00:27:42.160 align:middle line:84%
So we\'ve had to move the GM
out while we\'re trying

00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:45.630 align:middle line:90%
to move non-GM in.

00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:51.630 align:middle line:84%
WFP is financing the transfer
of 27,000 tons of GMO maize

00:27:51.630 --> 00:27:54.413 align:middle line:84%
from Zambia to neighboring
Malawi.

00:27:54.413 --> 00:28:10.890 align:middle line:90%
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]

00:28:10.890 --> 00:28:15.260 align:middle line:84%
Zambia officially justifies
its opposition to GM food,

00:28:15.260 --> 00:28:17.780 align:middle line:84%
citing concerns for
public health.

00:28:17.780 --> 00:28:20.180 align:middle line:84%
But the story does
not end there.

00:28:20.180 --> 00:28:23.530 align:middle line:84%
We have 275 million Americans
who consume

00:28:23.530 --> 00:28:25.360 align:middle line:90%
biotech food every day.

00:28:25.360 --> 00:28:28.600 align:middle line:84%
They\'ve consumed large
quantities of it since 1996.

00:28:28.600 --> 00:28:29.960 align:middle line:90%
And there\'s not one case--

00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:33.570 align:middle line:84%
not one case-- of any
adverse human health

00:28:33.570 --> 00:28:35.260 align:middle line:90%
effect from that food.

00:28:35.260 --> 00:28:38.220 align:middle line:84%
Yet you have people starving in
Africa, and you have people

00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:40.570 align:middle line:84%
saying, perhaps you shouldn\'t
eat that food.

00:28:40.570 --> 00:28:43.700 align:middle line:84%
The food that we\'re sending as
food aid to Africa is the food

00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:45.990 align:middle line:84%
that we consume here in
the United States

00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:47.370 align:middle line:90%
every single day.

00:28:47.370 --> 00:28:49.050 align:middle line:90%
We tell them, you don\'t need--

00:28:49.050 --> 00:28:52.450 align:middle line:84%
you\'re maybe not eating
like we are.

00:28:52.450 --> 00:28:56.880 align:middle line:84%
Because we rely purely on
maize and nothing else.

00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.340 align:middle line:84%
If you say you eat GMs, maybe
it\'s for your breakfast, some

00:29:01.340 --> 00:29:04.620 align:middle line:90%
corn flakes, two, five spoons.

00:29:04.620 --> 00:29:09.750 align:middle line:84%
I eat my staple food, porridge
made of maize,

00:29:09.750 --> 00:29:10.970 align:middle line:90%
three times a day.

00:29:10.970 --> 00:29:13.500 align:middle line:90%
Big lumps.

00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:16.560 align:middle line:84%
Because we live mainly
on carbohydrates.

00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:20.780 align:middle line:84%
The average American has
a variety on his diet.

00:29:20.780 --> 00:29:24.430 align:middle line:84%
This is a case of people
starving, of people\'s lives

00:29:24.430 --> 00:29:28.430 align:middle line:84%
being lost, and you\'re having
people who are trying to

00:29:28.430 --> 00:29:32.300 align:middle line:84%
invoke the precautionary
principle, or some other

00:29:32.300 --> 00:29:35.630 align:middle line:84%
non-science-based principle,
to say to people, you

00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:37.830 align:middle line:84%
shouldn\'t consume a certain
kind of food.

00:29:37.830 --> 00:29:39.080 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]

00:29:39.080 --> 00:30:09.530 align:middle line:90%

00:30:09.530 --> 00:30:15.370 align:middle line:84%
If America does not use her
power to force people into a

00:30:15.370 --> 00:30:20.320 align:middle line:84%
technology where even America
has not gone far enough--

00:30:20.320 --> 00:30:25.570 align:middle line:84%
America has told our scientists
that they don\'t

00:30:25.570 --> 00:30:28.530 align:middle line:84%
have the guarantee
that it is safe.

00:30:28.530 --> 00:30:31.350 align:middle line:84%
The fact that Americans are
still alive does not mean that

00:30:31.350 --> 00:30:32.800 align:middle line:90%
it is safe.

00:30:32.800 --> 00:30:36.720 align:middle line:84%
What\'s the long-term risk as
compared to saving people\'s

00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:38.010 align:middle line:90%
lives today?

00:30:38.010 --> 00:30:40.980 align:middle line:84%
And I think that\'s the moral
dilemma that countries are

00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:43.400 align:middle line:84%
going to have to grapple
with right now.

00:30:43.400 --> 00:30:45.100 align:middle line:84%
Do we let people starve
to death when

00:30:45.100 --> 00:30:46.230 align:middle line:90%
there\'s food available?

00:30:46.230 --> 00:30:48.960 align:middle line:84%
That\'s the dilemma I think
we need to look at.

00:30:48.960 --> 00:31:00.140 align:middle line:90%

00:31:00.140 --> 00:31:06.490 align:middle line:84%
The food pipeline is largely
filled by American food, which

00:31:06.490 --> 00:31:07.500 align:middle line:90%
is largely GM.

00:31:07.500 --> 00:31:11.650 align:middle line:84%
My understanding is it\'s
in excess of 50%.

00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:15.970 align:middle line:84%
There is another 50% of food in
the region and from other

00:31:15.970 --> 00:31:19.790 align:middle line:84%
donors, and it hasn\'t
reached Zambia.

00:31:19.790 --> 00:31:21.030 align:middle line:90%
Is maize the problem?

00:31:21.030 --> 00:31:24.890 align:middle line:84%
Why can\'t you give
anything else?

00:31:24.890 --> 00:31:26.980 align:middle line:84%
We don\'t have anything
else to give.

00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:28.170 align:middle line:90%
We could give other things.

00:31:28.170 --> 00:31:29.720 align:middle line:90%
We could give sorghum.

00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:33.220 align:middle line:84%
We could give rice, which is a
very high-value commodity, but

00:31:33.220 --> 00:31:34.540 align:middle line:90%
people here would eat it.

00:31:34.540 --> 00:31:37.900 align:middle line:84%
I suppose we could even give
wheat, Rodney, couldn\'t we?

00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:41.710 align:middle line:84%
Yeah, well in maybe selected
communities.

00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:48.020 align:middle line:84%
But sorghum, millet, beans,
and some oils are non-GM.

00:31:48.020 --> 00:31:51.070 align:middle line:90%
So why don\'t they get that?

00:31:51.070 --> 00:31:52.320 align:middle line:90%
I don\'t know.

00:31:52.320 --> 00:31:55.716 align:middle line:90%

00:31:55.716 --> 00:32:09.160 align:middle line:90%
The number is 10 290.

00:32:09.160 --> 00:32:12.230 align:middle line:84%
We have to work with the
resources that we are given.

00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:15.970 align:middle line:84%
The US government decides what
they\'re going to send to the

00:32:15.970 --> 00:32:18.190 align:middle line:84%
World Food Programme, so
it\'s their decision.

00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:20.630 align:middle line:84%
It\'s not necessarily
our decision.

00:32:20.630 --> 00:32:23.540 align:middle line:84%
And our discussions with them
was to look at other

00:32:23.540 --> 00:32:25.780 align:middle line:84%
commodities while we were
trying to deal with

00:32:25.780 --> 00:32:27.160 align:middle line:90%
the issue of GM.

00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:30.400 align:middle line:84%
Only about a quarter of
the corn is biotech,

00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:32.650 align:middle line:90%
and it can be separated.

00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:34.470 align:middle line:84%
But what happens to the
developing world--

00:32:34.470 --> 00:32:37.750 align:middle line:84%
But why aren\'t you sending
non-GMO to Southern Africa?

00:32:37.750 --> 00:32:38.370 align:middle line:90%
It\'s food aid.

00:32:38.370 --> 00:32:39.000 align:middle line:90%
It\'s food aid.

00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:40.330 align:middle line:90%
And food aid has to be GMO?

00:32:40.330 --> 00:32:41.250 align:middle line:90%
In the market--

00:32:41.250 --> 00:32:44.220 align:middle line:84%
in the market, the consumers
will pay a premium price.

00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:46.040 align:middle line:84%
They\'ll pay for that
separation.

00:32:46.040 --> 00:32:48.040 align:middle line:84%
Separate storage, separate
transportation.

00:32:48.040 --> 00:32:49.290 align:middle line:90%
This is food aid.

00:32:49.290 --> 00:32:52.030 align:middle line:90%
This is donated product.

00:32:52.030 --> 00:32:55.420 align:middle line:84%
Although the International Food
Aid Convention stipulates

00:32:55.420 --> 00:32:59.520 align:middle line:84%
that donations have to respect
local eating habits, it seems,

00:32:59.520 --> 00:33:04.950 align:middle line:84%
however, that beggars must
accept what they can get.

00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:07.830 align:middle line:84%
Well, we think that this
hasn\'t gone well with

00:33:07.830 --> 00:33:12.230 align:middle line:84%
Americans, because although
we\'ve asked them to support us

00:33:12.230 --> 00:33:16.130 align:middle line:84%
in acquiring non-GMO foods,
they have not been

00:33:16.130 --> 00:33:16.810 align:middle line:90%
forthcoming.

00:33:16.810 --> 00:33:19.360 align:middle line:84%
They\'ve said to us, if
you want GMO maize,

00:33:19.360 --> 00:33:20.720 align:middle line:90%
we\'ve got it in Durban.

00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:22.980 align:middle line:84%
It\'s already come all the
way from America.

00:33:22.980 --> 00:33:25.510 align:middle line:84%
If the developing world doesn\'t
accept food aid--

00:33:25.510 --> 00:33:29.510 align:middle line:84%
doesn\'t accept biotech, then the
developing world gets even

00:33:29.510 --> 00:33:32.285 align:middle line:84%
further behind in terms of
economic development.

00:33:32.285 --> 00:33:37.009 align:middle line:90%

00:33:37.009 --> 00:33:51.313 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

00:33:51.313 --> 00:33:59.150 align:middle line:90%

00:33:59.150 --> 00:34:05.160 align:middle line:84%
Normally, an African farmer
would take aside and store

00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:10.510 align:middle line:84%
some of the harvest to be used
as seed material for the next

00:34:10.510 --> 00:34:13.000 align:middle line:90%
planting season.

00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:14.750 align:middle line:84%
They normally do that
with the maize

00:34:14.750 --> 00:34:18.500 align:middle line:90%
they have in the household.

00:34:18.500 --> 00:34:24.860 align:middle line:84%
And when they get maize in the
form of food aid, they will

00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:29.070 align:middle line:84%
probably do the same, which
means that they get a

00:34:29.070 --> 00:34:35.810 align:middle line:84%
variation of maize in their
field which is not adapted to

00:34:35.810 --> 00:34:40.360 align:middle line:84%
the climatic and other
circumstances of agriculture

00:34:40.360 --> 00:34:44.000 align:middle line:90%
in the dry part of Zambia.

00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:51.929 align:middle line:84%
So the adequacy, or inadequacy,
of using this as

00:34:51.929 --> 00:34:54.290 align:middle line:84%
the seed material is
a big problem.

00:34:54.290 --> 00:34:56.639 align:middle line:84%
Because if they think they have
something, and it turns

00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:01.690 align:middle line:84%
out that in the next season of
harvest, that it didn\'t work,

00:35:01.690 --> 00:35:03.790 align:middle line:90%
that is even more problematic.

00:35:03.790 --> 00:35:11.310 align:middle line:84%
If we adopt GM, we will not
have our own seed bank.

00:35:11.310 --> 00:35:17.960 align:middle line:84%
We have wonderful crops in
Zambia that are indigenous.

00:35:17.960 --> 00:35:21.540 align:middle line:84%
We will be forced to be
buying American seed.

00:35:21.540 --> 00:35:23.840 align:middle line:90%
Surely you can\'t every year.

00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:25.790 align:middle line:90%
We can\'t afford that.

00:35:25.790 --> 00:35:29.480 align:middle line:84%
It is a risk, first of all,
to our health, to our

00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:32.080 align:middle line:84%
environment, and finally,
to our economy.

00:35:32.080 --> 00:35:38.390 align:middle line:84%
The worry is that the company
who has the patent might turn

00:35:38.390 --> 00:35:42.130 align:middle line:84%
up one day and say, but you
have a large part of your

00:35:42.130 --> 00:35:53.120 align:middle line:84%
country covered with seed
material of GM, which is our

00:35:53.120 --> 00:35:55.430 align:middle line:90%
protected property.

00:35:55.430 --> 00:35:57.230 align:middle line:90%
And then what do we do?

00:35:57.230 --> 00:36:00.780 align:middle line:90%
This is part of the worry.

00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:03.510 align:middle line:84%
The long-term implications
for Zambia\'s

00:36:03.510 --> 00:36:05.310 align:middle line:90%
agriculture remain uncertain.

00:36:05.310 --> 00:36:10.330 align:middle line:90%

00:36:10.330 --> 00:36:13.600 align:middle line:84%
But it is not easy for a poor
country to benefit from

00:36:13.600 --> 00:36:16.170 align:middle line:84%
joining the world\'s
economic system.

00:36:16.170 --> 00:36:19.620 align:middle line:84%
For Zambia, globalization has
done more harm than good.

00:36:19.620 --> 00:36:28.620 align:middle line:90%

00:36:28.620 --> 00:36:32.440 align:middle line:84%
Why is Zambia experiencing a
food shortage at all, when it

00:36:32.440 --> 00:36:37.510 align:middle line:84%
boasts 42% of the water
resources of Southern Africa?

00:36:37.510 --> 00:36:41.220 align:middle line:84%
How can a region with such
reserves lose the capacity to

00:36:41.220 --> 00:36:46.480 align:middle line:84%
feed its people after just two
years of patchy rainfall?

00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:49.750 align:middle line:84%
Zambia itself has experienced
a serious economic

00:36:49.750 --> 00:36:52.600 align:middle line:84%
deterioration over the
last 10 years.

00:36:52.600 --> 00:36:55.340 align:middle line:84%
And in addition to that, we
began the food crisis here in

00:36:55.340 --> 00:37:00.770 align:middle line:84%
Zambia with several factors
which place this population at

00:37:00.770 --> 00:37:01.840 align:middle line:90%
serious risk.

00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:06.270 align:middle line:84%
60% of the population are
chronically undernourished to

00:37:06.270 --> 00:37:07.750 align:middle line:90%
start with.

00:37:07.750 --> 00:37:12.510 align:middle line:84%
We have a population which lives
on less than $1 a day.

00:37:12.510 --> 00:37:14.940 align:middle line:84%
This population has nothing
to draw on.

00:37:14.940 --> 00:37:16.430 align:middle line:90%
They have no resilience.

00:37:16.430 --> 00:37:19.180 align:middle line:84%
They have no coping
mechanisms left.

00:37:19.180 --> 00:37:23.620 align:middle line:84%
They\'re down to eating one meal
a day, and not a very

00:37:23.620 --> 00:37:24.870 align:middle line:90%
good meal at that.

00:37:24.870 --> 00:37:29.670 align:middle line:90%

00:37:29.670 --> 00:37:32.800 align:middle line:84%
Years of corruption and
government mismanagement are

00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:35.630 align:middle line:84%
partly to blame for the
country\'s problems.

00:37:35.630 --> 00:37:37.930 align:middle line:84%
But that is not the
whole story.

00:37:37.930 --> 00:37:41.310 align:middle line:84%
The policies prescribed by the
World Bank and the IMF over

00:37:41.310 --> 00:37:43.610 align:middle line:84%
the last decade have
contributed to the

00:37:43.610 --> 00:37:45.470 align:middle line:84%
impoverishment of the
average Zambian.

00:37:45.470 --> 00:37:49.010 align:middle line:90%

00:37:49.010 --> 00:37:50.260 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

00:37:50.260 --> 00:39:08.480 align:middle line:90%

00:39:08.480 --> 00:39:12.250 align:middle line:84%
The IMF medicine is known as
structural adjustment, which

00:39:12.250 --> 00:39:14.730 align:middle line:84%
simply means state withdrawal
from most

00:39:14.730 --> 00:39:16.320 align:middle line:90%
sectors of the economy.

00:39:16.320 --> 00:39:20.190 align:middle line:84%
But this policy has often been
counterproductive, and Zambia

00:39:20.190 --> 00:39:24.390 align:middle line:84%
has not been an IMF
success story.

00:39:24.390 --> 00:39:28.170 align:middle line:84%
Here, the first to suffer from
this liberalization are the

00:39:28.170 --> 00:39:29.420 align:middle line:90%
small farmers.

00:39:29.420 --> 00:39:56.830 align:middle line:90%

00:39:56.830 --> 00:39:59.560 align:middle line:84%
So the reforms the government
introduced at that stage were

00:39:59.560 --> 00:40:03.680 align:middle line:84%
to liberalize the economy, to
start the process of taking

00:40:03.680 --> 00:40:05.260 align:middle line:90%
away government inefficiencies.

00:40:05.260 --> 00:40:07.950 align:middle line:84%
They liberalized the exchange
system, so they had a market

00:40:07.950 --> 00:40:09.900 align:middle line:84%
exchange rate, just like almost
everywhere else in the

00:40:09.900 --> 00:40:10.835 align:middle line:90%
world does.

00:40:10.835 --> 00:40:12.680 align:middle line:84%
They liberalized
price controls.

00:40:12.680 --> 00:40:15.930 align:middle line:84%
And they started dismantling
these inefficient

00:40:15.930 --> 00:40:16.550 align:middle line:90%
enterprises--

00:40:16.550 --> 00:40:18.270 align:middle line:90%
started, I say.

00:40:18.270 --> 00:40:21.340 align:middle line:84%
Liberalizing the market without
giving sufficient to

00:40:21.340 --> 00:40:23.870 align:middle line:84%
protection to local industries,
we have

00:40:23.870 --> 00:40:26.500 align:middle line:84%
discovered, wasn\'t
a good idea.

00:40:26.500 --> 00:40:30.650 align:middle line:84%
The local markets here needed
some more protection from the

00:40:30.650 --> 00:40:31.640 align:middle line:90%
liberalism.

00:40:31.640 --> 00:40:37.730 align:middle line:84%
We were not allowed to, because
our cooperating

00:40:37.730 --> 00:40:40.080 align:middle line:84%
partners take their
[INAUDIBLE]

00:40:40.080 --> 00:40:42.680 align:middle line:84%
Said if you want assistance from
us, then we want you to

00:40:42.680 --> 00:40:44.340 align:middle line:90%
do A, B, C, D.

00:40:44.340 --> 00:40:47.420 align:middle line:84%
But when we said no, we couldn\'t
do it, we\'re not

00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:49.420 align:middle line:84%
ready, said, well, OK, if you\'re
not ready, then you

00:40:49.420 --> 00:40:51.700 align:middle line:90%
don\'t take our assistance.

00:40:51.700 --> 00:40:53.560 align:middle line:84%
It will not be made
available to you.

00:40:53.560 --> 00:40:56.940 align:middle line:84%
So really, it was a culture of
doing things in times in order

00:40:56.940 --> 00:40:59.470 align:middle line:84%
to please those who
were helping us.

00:40:59.470 --> 00:41:03.410 align:middle line:90%

00:41:03.410 --> 00:41:07.090 align:middle line:84%
Before liberalization, Zambia\'s
agricultural system

00:41:07.090 --> 00:41:09.410 align:middle line:84%
was managed by a
state-controlled company

00:41:09.410 --> 00:41:11.800 align:middle line:90%
called them NAMBOARD.

00:41:11.800 --> 00:41:15.340 align:middle line:84%
NAMBOARD was the main link
between subsistence farmers

00:41:15.340 --> 00:41:17.310 align:middle line:90%
and the country\'s food chain.

00:41:17.310 --> 00:41:20.200 align:middle line:84%
But then international
institutions obliged the

00:41:20.200 --> 00:41:23.470 align:middle line:84%
government to abolish
this costly system.

00:41:23.470 --> 00:41:26.190 align:middle line:84%
Until today, no viable
alternative

00:41:26.190 --> 00:41:29.330 align:middle line:90%
has replaced NAMBOARD.

00:41:29.330 --> 00:41:30.580 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

00:41:30.580 --> 00:42:39.690 align:middle line:90%

00:42:39.690 --> 00:42:42.720 align:middle line:84%
When farmers had a market and
they knew that the state would

00:42:42.720 --> 00:42:47.140 align:middle line:84%
come and buy through NAMBOARD,
they produced, knowing fully

00:42:47.140 --> 00:42:49.470 align:middle line:84%
well that at the end of
the day, NAMBOARD

00:42:49.470 --> 00:42:50.660 align:middle line:90%
would come and buy.

00:42:50.660 --> 00:42:53.790 align:middle line:84%
What they were doing before is
you had NAMBOARD with vast

00:42:53.790 --> 00:42:55.760 align:middle line:90%
deficits, 4%, 5% of GDP.

00:42:55.760 --> 00:42:57.730 align:middle line:90%
That\'s over $200 million.

00:42:57.730 --> 00:42:59.870 align:middle line:84%
So the country running deficits
of $200 million,

00:42:59.870 --> 00:43:03.200 align:middle line:84%
perhaps trying to meet the
needs of a few farmers.

00:43:03.200 --> 00:43:05.820 align:middle line:84%
And I don\'t think their needs
were met any better back then

00:43:05.820 --> 00:43:07.970 align:middle line:84%
under that system than
they are today.

00:43:07.970 --> 00:43:11.410 align:middle line:84%
So that was a very inefficient
system, and extremely costly.

00:43:11.410 --> 00:43:14.860 align:middle line:84%
The cost of subsidies was
driving Zambia to bankruptcy.

00:43:14.860 --> 00:43:17.920 align:middle line:84%
The government had no choice
but to comply with IMF

00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:21.430 align:middle line:84%
instructions, which seemed
harsh but doable.

00:43:21.430 --> 00:43:24.340 align:middle line:84%
The new measures were introduced
at breakneck speed,

00:43:24.340 --> 00:43:26.390 align:middle line:84%
disregarding the absence
of viable

00:43:26.390 --> 00:43:28.300 align:middle line:90%
infrastructure in Zambia.

00:43:28.300 --> 00:43:31.370 align:middle line:84%
Without a real market and
without an adequate transport

00:43:31.370 --> 00:43:33.760 align:middle line:90%
system, the train of transition

00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:35.290 align:middle line:90%
couldn\'t switch lines.

00:43:35.290 --> 00:43:36.620 align:middle line:90%
It crashed.

00:43:36.620 --> 00:43:38.860 align:middle line:84%
We thought we were
the champions.

00:43:38.860 --> 00:43:42.130 align:middle line:84%
We were always told, the IMF
would tell you, you must

00:43:42.130 --> 00:43:43.920 align:middle line:90%
privatize everything.

00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:45.380 align:middle line:90%
And so we went.

00:43:45.380 --> 00:43:50.560 align:middle line:84%
We ask ourselves, we have
privatized more than anyone

00:43:50.560 --> 00:43:53.310 align:middle line:84%
else in the region, but
we are still poor.

00:43:53.310 --> 00:43:57.910 align:middle line:84%
So what is it, really, that
we\'ve gained from this?

00:43:57.910 --> 00:44:02.840 align:middle line:84%
Other than selling some of our
assets very, very cheaply to

00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:04.070 align:middle line:90%
foreign companies?

00:44:04.070 --> 00:44:06.850 align:middle line:84%
If I were doing it all over
again, I would think very

00:44:06.850 --> 00:44:11.130 align:middle line:84%
carefully about this question
of how quickly should

00:44:11.130 --> 00:44:16.080 align:middle line:84%
government withdraw from certain
functions, and where

00:44:16.080 --> 00:44:20.640 align:middle line:84%
would the private sector that
would take that come from?

00:44:20.640 --> 00:44:25.200 align:middle line:84%
It\'s something that I think we
would need to look at very,

00:44:25.200 --> 00:44:27.070 align:middle line:90%
very carefully, going forward.

00:44:27.070 --> 00:44:32.550 align:middle line:90%

00:44:32.550 --> 00:44:35.530 align:middle line:84%
International institutions are
now admitting that their

00:44:35.530 --> 00:44:37.170 align:middle line:90%
policies were damaging.

00:44:37.170 --> 00:44:39.420 align:middle line:90%
But yet nothing has changed.

00:44:39.420 --> 00:44:41.870 align:middle line:84%
The rich countries continue
to benefit from the

00:44:41.870 --> 00:44:43.230 align:middle line:90%
problems of poor ones.

00:44:43.230 --> 00:44:48.360 align:middle line:90%

00:44:48.360 --> 00:44:52.800 align:middle line:84%
Zambia\'s plight has revealed the
hidden agenda behind USAID

00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:56.050 align:middle line:84%
and highlighted the
role of GMO food.

00:44:56.050 --> 00:44:59.410 align:middle line:84%
It has also uncovered this
simmering trade war between

00:44:59.410 --> 00:45:03.935 align:middle line:84%
the US and Europe, a war in
which GMO is a vital weapon.

00:45:03.935 --> 00:45:07.970 align:middle line:90%

00:45:07.970 --> 00:45:10.820 align:middle line:84%
We want to export
crops from here.

00:45:10.820 --> 00:45:13.640 align:middle line:84%
We will not succeed because
the export market is

00:45:13.640 --> 00:45:16.240 align:middle line:90%
saying no to GM.

00:45:16.240 --> 00:45:22.670 align:middle line:84%
Even if we didn\'t grow GM for
export, but we grew GM side by

00:45:22.670 --> 00:45:26.970 align:middle line:84%
side with non-GM crops for
export, the EU will be the

00:45:26.970 --> 00:45:29.840 align:middle line:90%
first to refuse to accept it.

00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:32.680 align:middle line:90%
And we would lose employment.

00:45:32.680 --> 00:45:39.410 align:middle line:84%
There are so many farm workers
who would lose earnings from

00:45:39.410 --> 00:45:40.970 align:middle line:90%
the exports.

00:45:40.970 --> 00:45:43.250 align:middle line:84%
Because we badly need foreign
exchange here.

00:45:43.250 --> 00:45:44.874 align:middle line:90%
We need the dollar.

00:45:44.874 --> 00:45:47.840 align:middle line:90%
We need the euro.

00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:52.670 align:middle line:84%
If the reason for being
extraordinarily cautious about

00:45:52.670 --> 00:45:56.170 align:middle line:84%
this genetically modified thing
is that it is going to

00:45:56.170 --> 00:46:01.080 align:middle line:84%
interfere with future
agricultural exports to

00:46:01.080 --> 00:46:06.250 align:middle line:84%
Europe, that one has to balance
that very carefully

00:46:06.250 --> 00:46:08.990 align:middle line:90%
with the realities.

00:46:08.990 --> 00:46:13.210 align:middle line:84%
The reality now is that the
markets in Europe for

00:46:13.210 --> 00:46:17.380 align:middle line:84%
agricultural products from
Africa are virtually closed.

00:46:17.380 --> 00:46:22.630 align:middle line:84%
If we compare Europe with the
other markets in the north,

00:46:22.630 --> 00:46:28.190 align:middle line:84%
the figure out that we import
into Europe agricultural

00:46:28.190 --> 00:46:30.980 align:middle line:90%
products from the Third World.

00:46:30.980 --> 00:46:34.680 align:middle line:84%
We import more than the combined
import into the

00:46:34.680 --> 00:46:39.260 align:middle line:84%
United States, Japan, Canada,
and other rich

00:46:39.260 --> 00:46:41.330 align:middle line:90%
countries in the north.

00:46:41.330 --> 00:46:45.470 align:middle line:84%
So into Europe, we import more
than all the others combined.

00:46:45.470 --> 00:46:46.720 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]

00:46:46.720 --> 00:47:27.700 align:middle line:90%

00:47:27.700 --> 00:47:30.710 align:middle line:84%
I think the Europeans
are playing some

00:47:30.710 --> 00:47:32.420 align:middle line:90%
political game here.

00:47:32.420 --> 00:47:35.690 align:middle line:84%
And yes, they\'re probably
thinking about that.

00:47:35.690 --> 00:47:39.560 align:middle line:84%
They\'re making veiled threats
that if you plant these

00:47:39.560 --> 00:47:43.070 align:middle line:84%
biotech crops, they won\'t be
acceptable in our markets.

00:47:43.070 --> 00:47:47.220 align:middle line:84%
That of course discourages
people in the developing world

00:47:47.220 --> 00:47:48.870 align:middle line:90%
from planting those crops.

00:47:48.870 --> 00:47:51.990 align:middle line:84%
So the Europeans are not only
denying starving people food

00:47:51.990 --> 00:47:54.600 align:middle line:84%
aid with this position, but
they\'re also affecting the

00:47:54.600 --> 00:47:56.400 align:middle line:84%
future rates of economic
growth.

00:47:56.400 --> 00:47:57.690 align:middle line:90%
It\'s a selfish reason.

00:47:57.690 --> 00:48:01.650 align:middle line:84%
They just want to ensure that
this subregion will be a big

00:48:01.650 --> 00:48:03.600 align:middle line:90%
market for their farmers.

00:48:03.600 --> 00:48:04.590 align:middle line:90%
That\'s all.

00:48:04.590 --> 00:48:08.010 align:middle line:84%
The US-European trade war
perpetuates the poverty of

00:48:08.010 --> 00:48:10.260 align:middle line:90%
Zambia and countries like it.

00:48:10.260 --> 00:48:12.680 align:middle line:84%
But other factors are blocking
poor countries

00:48:12.680 --> 00:48:14.950 align:middle line:90%
from becoming exporters.

00:48:14.950 --> 00:48:17.930 align:middle line:84%
The excessive subsidies rich
nations grant their own

00:48:17.930 --> 00:48:21.550 align:middle line:84%
farmers are a luxury with which
developing countries can

00:48:21.550 --> 00:48:22.800 align:middle line:90%
never compete.

00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:28.650 align:middle line:84%
Developing countries,
especially, have the

00:48:28.650 --> 00:48:31.960 align:middle line:84%
perception that our farm bill
subsidizes our producers, and

00:48:31.960 --> 00:48:34.200 align:middle line:84%
their producers must
compete with ours.

00:48:34.200 --> 00:48:36.235 align:middle line:84%
Ours are heavily subsidized
and theirs aren\'t.

00:48:36.235 --> 00:48:38.690 align:middle line:84%
They don\'t have the national
treasuries to do that, so they

00:48:38.690 --> 00:48:39.990 align:middle line:90%
make that claim.

00:48:39.990 --> 00:48:43.340 align:middle line:84%
We point out, of course, that
we are well within the WTO

00:48:43.340 --> 00:48:48.230 align:middle line:84%
rules, and that we\'re not going
to violate any rules,

00:48:48.230 --> 00:48:50.910 align:middle line:84%
and that our subsidies are
relatively small--

00:48:50.910 --> 00:48:54.210 align:middle line:84%
small relative to the European
Union and small relative to

00:48:54.210 --> 00:48:54.960 align:middle line:90%
the Japanese.

00:48:54.960 --> 00:49:02.980 align:middle line:84%
We are not trying to play down
the fact that the subsidy of

00:49:02.980 --> 00:49:08.270 align:middle line:84%
export in our system
should be taken up.

00:49:08.270 --> 00:49:11.730 align:middle line:90%
We are offering to do that.

00:49:11.730 --> 00:49:16.110 align:middle line:84%
But that is not the same as
saying that the other problem

00:49:16.110 --> 00:49:24.670 align:middle line:84%
of using food aid as a way of
accessing and expanding one\'s

00:49:24.670 --> 00:49:27.920 align:middle line:84%
own export, that this
is also wrong.

00:49:27.920 --> 00:49:32.730 align:middle line:84%
You know, we\'re talking about
subsidies of about $1 billion

00:49:32.730 --> 00:49:35.340 align:middle line:90%
a day in the OECD countries--

00:49:35.340 --> 00:49:37.940 align:middle line:84%
that is, in Japan, Europe,
and North America--

00:49:37.940 --> 00:49:39.230 align:middle line:90%
a day.

00:49:39.230 --> 00:49:43.590 align:middle line:84%
The subsidies that go to
farmers, calculated on the

00:49:43.590 --> 00:49:47.310 align:middle line:84%
basis of per cow that
exists in Europe, is

00:49:47.310 --> 00:49:50.200 align:middle line:90%
about $2.5 a day.

00:49:50.200 --> 00:49:53.330 align:middle line:90%
It\'s $7 in Japan.

00:49:53.330 --> 00:49:59.020 align:middle line:84%
This compares to 75% of the
population or sub-Saharan

00:49:59.020 --> 00:50:02.880 align:middle line:84%
Africa that lives on
less than $2 a day.

00:50:02.880 --> 00:50:06.050 align:middle line:84%
Subsidies should be tackled
in the north.

00:50:06.050 --> 00:50:10.250 align:middle line:84%
Because they have another
very perverse impact.

00:50:10.250 --> 00:50:15.080 align:middle line:84%
Because we\'re subsidizing
farmers in the north, we are

00:50:15.080 --> 00:50:18.795 align:middle line:84%
shutting markets for products
from the south.

00:50:18.795 --> 00:50:36.500 align:middle line:90%

00:50:36.500 --> 00:50:39.990 align:middle line:84%
I believe we are caught up here
in a trade war, because

00:50:39.990 --> 00:50:44.600 align:middle line:84%
America would like to promote
what is essentially a highly

00:50:44.600 --> 00:50:47.780 align:middle line:90%
productive sort of science.

00:50:47.780 --> 00:50:50.090 align:middle line:90%
And we are saying no.

00:50:50.090 --> 00:50:54.770 align:middle line:84%
So as the two battle it out--
that is, the EU and America--

00:50:54.770 --> 00:50:59.074 align:middle line:84%
we are also part of that,
yes, we\'re caught in.

00:50:59.074 --> 00:51:02.370 align:middle line:84%
But in this country and in
African languages, we have a

00:51:02.370 --> 00:51:05.480 align:middle line:84%
saying that when two elephants
fight, it\'s

00:51:05.480 --> 00:51:07.090 align:middle line:90%
the grass that suffers.

00:51:07.090 --> 00:51:11.490 align:middle line:84%
Well, there has been concerned
about food aid being used as a

00:51:11.490 --> 00:51:16.480 align:middle line:84%
surplus disposal tool, about
food aid disrupting normal

00:51:16.480 --> 00:51:18.700 align:middle line:90%
commercial transactions.

00:51:18.700 --> 00:51:22.480 align:middle line:84%
And we\'re the first to say,
sure, there may have been

00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:24.730 align:middle line:84%
certain instances of
that occurring.

00:51:24.730 --> 00:51:27.110 align:middle line:84%
But what we need is more
food aid, not less.

00:51:27.110 --> 00:51:28.360 align:middle line:90%
[SPEAKING FRENCH]

00:51:28.360 --> 00:51:43.020 align:middle line:90%

00:51:43.020 --> 00:51:46.170 align:middle line:84%
If somebody told me that we
need more food aid and not

00:51:46.170 --> 00:51:49.740 align:middle line:90%
less, I would simply disagree.

00:51:49.740 --> 00:51:56.280 align:middle line:84%
It\'s very important not to
support some sort of

00:51:56.280 --> 00:51:59.610 align:middle line:84%
prolongation of the
dependency.

00:51:59.610 --> 00:52:06.672 align:middle line:84%
It can be damaging if food aid
automatically is expected.

00:52:06.672 --> 00:52:11.760 align:middle line:90%
[DOGS BARKING]

00:52:11.760 --> 00:52:15.100 align:middle line:84%
The people that are being
assisted must be assisted to

00:52:15.100 --> 00:52:17.350 align:middle line:90%
be self-reliant.

00:52:17.350 --> 00:52:19.470 align:middle line:90%
That is most important.

00:52:19.470 --> 00:52:26.650 align:middle line:84%
The West must show us the
abundant resources in Zambia

00:52:26.650 --> 00:52:28.260 align:middle line:90%
that we must exploit.

00:52:28.260 --> 00:52:35.440 align:middle line:84%
Otherwise, food aid that makes
a person a slave every year--

00:52:35.440 --> 00:52:38.920 align:middle line:84%
in fact, there are people that
have reached a stage where

00:52:38.920 --> 00:52:42.580 align:middle line:84%
they harvest and sell their crop
and say, government will

00:52:42.580 --> 00:52:43.520 align:middle line:90%
come and feed us.

00:52:43.520 --> 00:52:46.290 align:middle line:84%
This is what food
aid has done.

00:52:46.290 --> 00:52:48.130 align:middle line:84%
It has turned people
into zombies.

00:52:48.130 --> 00:52:50.950 align:middle line:84%
It has turned people
into beggars.

00:52:50.950 --> 00:52:55.940 align:middle line:84%
We can\'t continue to be
called, or even call

00:52:55.940 --> 00:53:00.510 align:middle line:84%
ourselves, beggars in a land of
plenty like this, where we

00:53:00.510 --> 00:53:02.940 align:middle line:90%
have plentiful resources.

00:53:02.940 --> 00:53:05.450 align:middle line:84%
Outsiders are not going
to be the solution

00:53:05.450 --> 00:53:07.440 align:middle line:90%
for Africa\'s problems.

00:53:07.440 --> 00:53:10.290 align:middle line:84%
The solutions are going to
come from African people.

00:53:10.290 --> 00:53:13.080 align:middle line:84%
I think what we need to do as
outsiders-- if there is a mea

00:53:13.080 --> 00:53:18.260 align:middle line:84%
culpa, it is that we have not
been as supportive of real

00:53:18.260 --> 00:53:22.560 align:middle line:84%
African and genuine African
leadership and ownership of

00:53:22.560 --> 00:53:24.470 align:middle line:90%
development programs.

00:53:24.470 --> 00:53:29.440 align:middle line:84%
We have tended to want to
recommend the models that we

00:53:29.440 --> 00:53:30.665 align:middle line:90%
think are good for Africa.

00:53:30.665 --> 00:53:33.870 align:middle line:84%
I think we should listen to
Africans for a change, and let

00:53:33.870 --> 00:53:35.898 align:middle line:90%
them write their own future.

00:53:35.898 --> 00:55:15.210 align:middle line:90%
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:55:15.210 --> 00:55:19.548 align:middle line:90%