Don't Convert Africa's Savanna to Agricultural Land

[rangerrebew]

Don't Convert Africa's Savanna to Agricultural Land

Leaving the continent’s grasslands intact is good for the climate, for biodiversity and for the health of the soil

    By Esther Ngumbi, Sam Dindi on November 7, 2017
 

To feed the increasing number of Africans who are poor, hungry and malnourished, during the launch of the Transformation of the African Savannah Initiative, the African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina proposed developing Africa’s 400 million hectares of cultivatable savanna lands. The soils are healthy there and can support the cultivation of many crops, including corn and soybeans.

To begin this initiative, the AfDB plans to convert approximately 2 million hectares of savanna into farmland in eight African countries: Ghana, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Mozambique. It will be used to cultivate maize and soybeans, and to keep livestock.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/dont-convert-africas-savanna-to-agricultural-land/

[Joe Wooten]

Written by a well fed leftist academic who hates human development.

[Oceander]

Let Africans decide for themselves.

[Free Vulcan]

Buh, buh buh, I thought we were for diversity! How dare we impose our insidious and nefarious bourgeoisie imperialist Western cultural values on these people!

[roamer_1]

They might like eating...

[Cyber Liberty]

Don't Convert Africa's Savanna to Agricultural Land

Leaving the continent’s grasslands intact is good for the climate, for biodiversity and for the health of the soil

    By Esther Ngumbi, Sam Dindi on November 7, 2017
 

To feed the increasing number of Africans who are poor, hungry and malnourished, during the launch of the Transformation of the African Savannah Initiative, the African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina proposed developing Africa’s 400 million hectares of cultivatable savanna lands. The soils are healthy there and can support the cultivation of many crops, including corn and soybeans.

To begin this initiative, the AfDB plans to convert approximately 2 million hectares of savanna into farmland in eight African countries: Ghana, Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Mozambique. It will be used to cultivate maize and soybeans, and to keep livestock.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/dont-convert-africas-savanna-to-agricultural-land/

For perspective, 2 Million Hectares is about the size of Massachusetts, or about 0.5% of the total savanna.   (Always keep a pocket calculator and conversion table handy when reading these articles to keep your eyes from glazing over.)

I read the article, not a word about how to replace that capacity, just a passing reference to the people who could use it.  Typical for the enviros.  They didn't much care about the explosion in Malaria cases when they banned DDT, either.  They think humans are a plague on the Earth, anyway, do no big deal.

They've been handling the problem of overpopulation the same way for centuries, at least as far back as Revolutionary France:  Starve them.

[Oceander]

For perspective, 2 Million Hectares is about the size of Massachusetts, or about 0.5% of the total savanna.   (Always keep a pocket calculator and conversion table handy when reading these articles to keep your eyes from glazing over.)

I read the article, not a word about how to replace that capacity, just a passing reference to the people who could use it.  Typical for the enviros.  They didn't much care about the explosion in Malaria cases when they banned DDT, either.  They think humans are a plague on the Earth, anyway, do no big deal.

They've been handling the problem of overpopulation the same way for centuries, at least as far back as Revolutionary France:  Starve them.

They also don’t care about the rise in food prices caused by the use of food-stock to create fuels for their vehicles.  A rise that mostly hits poor third world countries.

[Free Vulcan]

They also don’t care about the rise in food prices caused by the use of food-stock to create fuels for their vehicles.  A rise that mostly hits poor third world countries.

Unrelated. Price of agricultural commodites is way down, and what US producers grow doesn't go for human consumption.

[dfwgator]

Africans need to stop listening to white liberals.

[goodwithagun]

The only thing that will help these people is the total elimination of their foreign aid. If Netflix still has Poverty Inc check it out. It breaks down exactly how and why helping these poor people hurts them instead.

[Cyber Liberty]

The only thing that will help these people is the total elimination of their foreign aid. If Netflix still has Poverty Inc check it out. It breaks down exactly how and why helping these poor people hurts them instead.

It ought not to come as a surprise when you drown a population with free grain, you will destroy the local market for grain.  Many of these dirt-poor African nations used to be net exporters of food.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

What are africans supposed to do then?

[dfwgator]

The only thing that will help these people is the total elimination of their foreign aid. If Netflix still has Poverty Inc check it out. It breaks down exactly how and why helping these poor people hurts them instead.

SPIEGEL Interview with African Economics Expert
"For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/spiegel-interview-with-african-economics-expert-for-god-s-sake-please-stop-the-aid-a-363663.html

[truth_seeker]

The only thing that will help these people is the total elimination of their foreign aid. If Netflix still has Poverty Inc check it out. It breaks down exactly how and why helping these poor people hurts them instead.

Seems to be a Biblical story about learning to fish, versus getting fish handed to them.

It really is an ever relevant story, for homelessness, unemployment, etc.,

[Cyber Liberty]

What are africans supposed to do then?

Ignore the BS artists at Scientific American for starters.  But, these envirofreaks won't let up easily.  They will viciously attack anybody trying to help the Africans, and will strut around their victory lap if they can stop the Africans entirely.  The article speaks glowingly of stopping some other development effort.

[Fishrrman]

Weird wrote:
"What are africans supposed to do then?"

They could start by getting their exploding populations under control.
The fertility rates there are amongst the highest on earth.

I don't care much for that French president Macron, but he was absolutely right about the over-fertility of Africans:
"What are the problems of Africa? Failed states, complex democratic transitions, the demographic transition which, as I said this morning, is one Africa’s fundamental challenges. When countries still have seven or eight children per woman, you can spend billions of Euros, you will not stabilize anything."

[Joe Wooten]

It ought not to come as a surprise when you drown a population with free grain, you will destroy the local market for grain.  Many of these dirt-poor African nations used to be net exporters of food.

Only the former Rhodesia and old South Africa. The rest farmed back then like they farm now, poor subsistence farming peasants.