African Environmental and Human Security in the 21st Century By ...

Policy makers must also consider the regional effects of food security. For example, during the 2005 famine (or what others referred to as the food crisis) in Niger, it was clear that food aid was entering the country only to be drifting south to Nigeria. Unfortunately, when Nigeria resold the food to Niger, the Nigeriens suffering from hunger could not afford to purchase the food that was originally intended for them. Food insecurities know no boundaries, especially among countries that share growing environmental depletion of food sources.

One of the factors that Malthus could not forecast is technology. Between 1950 and 1984, grain production outpaced population increase; however, after 1984, grain harvests declined, especially in Africa. Some of the major causes included soil erosion, desertification, transfer of cropland to nonfarm purposes, falling water tables, and rising temperatures. Moreover, shocks such as natural disasters, droughts, and disease can contribute to food insecurities. These conditions may reveal themselves globally in the form of higher food prices, which further emphasize the disparity between the haves and the have-nots, but at the state level, these conditions can develop into grave instabilities and conflict.³⁹

Health Insecurities

It should be no surprise that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Africa directly exacerbates food insecurities. Clearly, the loss of workers due to AIDS adversely affects the ability to harvest crops, for example.⁴⁰ In some African countries, HIV/AIDS has infected 20 to 30 percent of the adult population.⁴¹ But Africa is not alone. According to Nicholas Eberstadt, “major epidemics are already underway in China, India, and Russia, and the local social mores and behavioral practices are set to further spread the disease.”⁴² Of course, HIV/AIDS is but one aspect of health insecurity. On a recent trip to Africa, the authors were appalled by the prevalence of malaria. Water-related diseases account for 3.4 million deaths per year, and 1 billion people lack access to clean water. Even in the United States, 218 million people live within ten miles of a polluted body of water—and that is more than thirty years since the legislation of the Clean Water Act.⁴³ The recent scare of bird flu and SARS reveals