The Regurgitation of Emotive Illustrations

WHAT IS THE BEST FOR THEM?

"There's always a great deal of rhetoric about how we need to race all the faster for economic 'growth' because it will help the poorest people on earth. In practice, of course, the poorest people on earth often just get brushed aside in the rush."

There are contradictory consequences that often derived from the good intentions of the first world countries to aid the third world countries in development. A reason that I have thought of is probably because the first world countries do not realise what the third world countries really need.

Most people think that by helping the third world countries achieve economic growth is helping them. The irony here is that most people are not aware of the trade-off that is involved in the third world in order for them to enjoy 'economic growth'.

Global seed corporations introduced hybrid seeds which promises high percentage increase in yields so that the farmers can earn more from the increased sales volume. However, in actual fact, instead of earning more, these farmers are earning lesser!

Hybrid seeds cannot be saved. They need to be purchased every year at a high cost. Not only that, hybrids are very vulnerable to pest attacks. This has in turn led to the increased spending on pesticides which has also contributed to the inflated cost needed to grow the plants.

The farmers used to sell multiple kinds of crops that are grown in their home gardens. In Java, smaller farmers cultivate 607 species in their home gardens! Using the demand and supply analysis, we can easily understand that the farmers were earning fairly well to survive. Prior to that, they were self-sufficient.

However, with the introduction of the miracle seeds, the farmers now produced million of tons of the same crop which in turn led to the drastic fall in the price of the crops sold. This has resulted in the farmers earning lesser than before. Sadly, they are no longer self-sufficient either.

Many corporations have also visioned great potential in the food processing industries in the third world countries. Under the pressure of globalisation, things changed. Hygiene laws that were passed shut down the local food processing economy. Work for human hands has also been outlawed, to be replaced by machines and chemicals bought from global corporations. This has driven millions into poverty.

Let us think about this.

What do the third world countries really need from us?