For people concerned about global poverty issues, the most pressing problem could very well be rising food prices. As this article points out, Robert Zoellick, head of the World Bank and the handsome fellow shown above, warned that rising food prices could send 100 million people in poor countries into deeper poverty. The IMF leader has said that hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of starvation. Haiti, Egypt, the Philippines, and parts of West Africa have seen riots over food prices, some of which have left people dead. The UN, in response to this problem, is calling for a farming revolution.
As campaigning continues for presidential candidates, global poverty is an issue that deserves more recognition than it gets. Thus far, candidates have at most talked about throwing large amounts of money and resources into poor countries. This is a good start, but they should be pressed to go further. How do they plan to make sure that the money they spend benefits the people, instead of getting taken by corrupt governments? Would they attach preconditions to aid they send, and if so, what kinds of preconditions would they attach to the aid? These questions and more should be asked of the candidates, and specific answers should be expected.
This blog has voiced concern and irritation over the amount of media coverage of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that is not at all relevant to policies or how they would perform as president. One of the explanations I’ve heard for this situation is that they have beaten their policies into the ground, and media outlets are tired of talking about issues such as whether or not there should be a mandate to purchase health insurance. If that is actually true, then why not talk about some different issues, things that have not been discussed as much? First on the list, I offer global poverty and the food crisis.