While millions starve foreign investors are harvesting tonnes of cereals to be exported

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/Famine_and_abundance_rub_shoulders_in_Ethiopia.html?cid=30732812

Jul 21, 2011 - 14:26

Famine and abundance rub shoulders in Ethiopia

by Philipp Hedemann in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Infosud/swissinfo.ch


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While millions of people in the Horn of Africa suffer a terrible drought, foreign investors are harvesting tonnes of cereals to be exported to Asia and the Gulf states.

swissinfo.ch reports from western Ethiopia on farmland leased by an Indian entrepreneur, where it is not unusual to see young children labouring in the fields.

Kneeling in the middle of a sugar-cane field in blistering 40-degree Celsius heat, a young boy is digging up weeds. An Indian worker stands over him to make sure he doesn’t miss any. Red is eight years old and earns €0.83 (SFr0.96) for a day’s work, less than the cost of using pesticides.

The United Nations says 4.5 million people in Ethiopia are currently in need of aid as a result of a devastating drought. Three million are affected in Somalia, where there are pockets of famine, 3.5 million in Kenya and 120,000 people in Djibouti.

[HopeHoops]

1. Anyone want to place bets on how long it will take to trace this to Nestle or the Koch brothers?

Just sayin'.

[jwirr]

2. Okay, why is Tanzania not mentioned? They are between Ethiopia and

Kenya. I have a foster child there - very worried about the whole area.