AfroVerdict

Africa's Food Security: East vs West

While we all understand the importance of having food on the table, food security is a different matter altogether, not only for the African continent, but for the world at large. Your AfroVerdict host sits down with two experts to discuss the role the West plays in destabilizing Africa's food security and how Russia can come to the rescue.
Sputnik
Russia's President Putin recently announced that the country will be shipping 25-50k tons of grain to six African countries, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, Eritrea, "free of charge".
The grain to be supplied by Russia to six African countries "will meet urgent short-term needs, putting a stop-gap measure", Dr Tafadzwa Ruzive, PhD in development finance from the Nelson Mandela University and an international finance expert, explains.

"We can see the West trying to use the grain deal as a bargaining chip at the expense of hunger in Africa, sort of holding Russia hostage through African hunger. So, this grain is very welcome and it is going to alleviate the demands for grain in African populaces, while the negotiations are going on between the West and Russia over Black Sea grain movement," Dr Tafadzwa Ruziwe says.

African states are better off focusing on collaborating with each other than the West, due to "similar climates", "similar skills". Africans have a "better understanding of local markets and tastes", according to Happison Chikova, an expert from the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa.

"Africans share similar knowledge...They share similar knowledge in terms of the indigenous knowledge. They have got the solutions to their problems," he elaborates.

The continent has got "a huge market". It's population is big enough "to consume what's being produced within Africa".

"African people must firstly think that Africans are the first consumers of their products. It's very naive and disappointing for Africa to export agricultural products to the EU and China, whereas Africans are malnourished, food insecure," Chikova explains further.

To hear what else the experts had to say, check out the entire episode of the AfroVerdict podcast, brought to you by Sputnik Africa.
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