More on the Central American Drought
New York Times writer David Gonzalez wrote a very good article the other day about the ongoing drought-related problems in Central America.
According to Gonzalez, officials in the various countries affected by the drought estimate large crop losses, with about 700,000 farmers losing at least half of their crops. The U.S. Agency for International Development is sending food aid equivalent to a month’s food supply for 365,000 people. The World Food Program already sent an aid shipment which was quickly consumed.
The main thrust of Gonzalez’s article, however, is that political considerations combined with a very poor response by Central American governments have exacerbated the effects of the drought. Gonzalez writes,
The governments of the region have said little. While Honduras has declared an emergency, other countries have tried to minimize the severity of the problem. The mixed and delayed responses, as well as a continued dependence on emergency food aid, point to a persistent inability of the region’s leaders to prepare for disasters and to provide water, financing and social services for the many peasants who live on the edge.
The aid workers Gonzalez interviewed for his story agree, that the governments in the region have largely ignored the infrastructure and other needs of poor rural farmers in favor of political expediency.
That will have to change, of course, or Central America will continue to see natural disasters inflamed into large scale humanitarian crises.
Source:
Drought creates food crisis in Central America. David Gonzaelz, The New York Times, August 28, 2001.
The More on the Central American Drought by Brian Carnell, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
Tags: World Food Program