Think Bigg

Sometimes actions done with the best of intentions can have unintended ill effects.

Because of concerns about the impact of heavily-subsidized American farm products on the farmers of African countries, CARE, one of the world’s biggest charities, is walking away from $45 million a year in federal financing.

Image Source

According to the NY Times,

Under the system, the United States government buys the goods from American agribusinesses, ships them overseas, mostly on American-flagged carriers, and then donates them to the aid groups as an indirect form of financing. The groups sell the products on the market in poor countries and use the money to finance their antipoverty programs. It amounts to about $180 million a year.

The Christian charity World Vision and 14 other groups, which call themselves the Alliance for Food Aid, say that CARE is mistaken; they say the system works because it keeps hard currency in poor countries, can help prevent food price spikes in those countries and does not hurt their farmers. Not least, they argue, it also pays for their antipoverty programs.

But some people active in trying to help Africa’s farmers are critical of the practice. Former President Jimmy Carter, whose Atlanta-based Carter Center uses private money to help African farmers be more productive, said in an interview that it was a flawed system that had survived partly because the charities that received money from it defended it.

The politics of food production and distribution are complex and interesting, and I believe destined to become even more so with the current frenzy over corn-based ethanol production.

What ultimately happens with CARE remains to be seen, but I applaud them for trying to think three steps ahead of what might be most politically and financially expedient.

Share This