Final Presentations

The final presentations today were very informative and interesting. The presentation on Mozambique was insightful because it opened up the debate on Japan's involvement in the country and if promoting martial arts was really beneficial for people who are facing food insecurity. However I think that this particular case of Japan promoting its culture in an African country will help build bilateral ties between the two countries and cement diplomatic ties that can lead to increased involvement by Japan in different issues in Mozambique. Perhaps this cultural relationship between the two countries will even lead to development work that wont be implemented in a top-down fashion but rather in a participatory manner.

Kenya also opened up very interesting issues, the fact that the Masai tribe drinks blood of the animals  killed leads to questions of HIV/AIDS infection. One thing we did not find out is whether there is food insecurity among the Masai or if there are particular health issues which could be traced to particular cultural practices.

Somalia has diverse issues of food security due to war, terrorism, piracy etc the list is almost endless. Whilst depressing it seems in the short term the only hope for many people there is the food aid provided by international agencies.

Wednesday Presentations

Sabrina's presentation I thought was extremely well done and enhanced by the informational videos. Clearly grassroots development & microfinance are powerful tools in the fight to reduce poverty and improve food security.
Grassroots development was also showcased in Ahmed's work which shows the impact community based participatory approaches can have on development. This is a departure from the usual top down approach which neglects the input of local people.
Participatory approaches it seems have the potential for positively affecting poverty.
My own presentation I hope entailed the causes, impacts and consequences of food security in Burkina Faso. Hopefully it was informational and insightful into the problems the country faces.

Comments on Tuesday's Presentations

Sierra Leone's problems are already numerous, in addition to the many problems is the crucial issue of food security. It is amazing to consider the fact that the amount of people whose limbs have been chopped off may not be able to contribute their full quota to development in terms of agriculture, and other sectors. It seems that the physical and emotional scars of the war in Sierra Leone will remain for quite a while. The challenge of food security for some people especially those maimed in rural areas might not only be availability of food but also the lack of access due to lack of transportation etc. The situation is a long term food security issue due to the handicapping of the potential labor force not to mention the psychological scars and social problems generated by the conflict. one other interesting aspect was the fact that many people in the country suffer from iodine deficiency despite the fact that it is not a landlocked country. Then again the concept of access and availability comes into play here.

Rhoda's presentation on The Gambia was really insightful and gave insights into the interconnected issues of  geography, policy, agricultural practices etc that are inked to food security

Lenora's presentation was very interesting (the food also helped). According to her the problem of food security in Tanzania is complex since the country does produce enough food.

Overall the presentations were all well organized and well presented.

Comments on Class Presentations

Today's presentations were quite excellent. Each of the presenters were very knowledgeable and passionate about the country they worked on. Perhaps because they all worked on the countries they are from.
Ben's presentation on Ghana was good what I really liked was the fact that he questioned the rationality of policy which in itself is a major factor in terms of food security. From what his presentation, it seems that debt relief for poor countries might not have any substantial effect on improving poverty and subsequently food security. For example a country that has been given debt relief might want to use the funds for building hospitals which would lead to better health however under the conditionalities of debt relief that might not be possible. Thus the problem of the top-down approach to development is still visible.
Hassan's presentation was quite insightful into the situation in Nigeria. Amazingly the inhabitants of the oil rich areas are the poorest and most food insecure people despite the fact that most of Nigeria's oil wealth is derived from their lands. It is a terrible situation when the people who might be expected to be the most secure have to resort to all kinds of violent activities because of poverty.
Sam's presentation on Liberia was also very good and insightful into the many complex causes of the food security issues there.
Overall all the presenters did an excellent job.

unfair world trade

the causes and consequences of food security in Burkina Faso are diverse. Malnutrition is major consequence of food insecurity however it seems that more emphasis is put on food aid than tackling the root causes of poverty, It seems to me that in people in Burkina Faso dont want a handout they need to be able to have a fair chance to sell their products mainly cotton for a fair price on the world market. if this happens the effect will tricle down and enable them to be able to afford food, send kids to school etc and in general break the vicious cycle of poverty.

the domino effect of malnutrition

The problem of iodine deficiency as we learned in class today may be more acute in landlocked countries. Burkina Faso being a landlocked country may have issues of iodine deficiency and this is an issue i will look at when preparing my presentation. as we learned in class malnutrition leads to further impoverishment in diverse ways

other nutritional issues I will look at will include the types of foods consumed and possible consequences of lack of certain food groups in the diet.

I also read about the Hunger Project helping women to set up markets much like the farmers market in athens. These initiatives have helped to reduce , HIV/AIDS, poverty, infant mortatity and in general empowering women and giving them a voice to work together with men to address issues of food security. 

these are all interesting items i hope to explore further and incorporate in my paper

difficulties of defining food security in developing countries

It is interesting that food and food security is not to be seen generally as what's edible but also in terms of the nutritional value, and what people in a defined area consume for energy, growth and sustenance by drawing on an area's natural endowments or available resources.Whilst adapting these measurement methods for use in other countries may be as simple as translating the questions in the module into another language certain factors that affect access to food such as gender, age, and other sociocultural issues need to be taken into consideration

compiling data for analysis of food security can be difficult in a situation where household composition is variable especially in a communitarian environment where adult members of a household may have strong incentives not to reveal the full extent of their individual earning power or assets
In Burkina Faso Gender Inequality is strongly related to food insecurity since women are responsible for a lot of the food grown, however these women are also the main victims of HIV/AIDS which reduces their productivity thus indirectly influencing food security.
With these issues in mind I hope to incorporate some of these issues of gender and obstacles to food access in my presentation on food security in Burkina Faso

Food & Nutrition Security in Africa

Today's class was very interesting, what I really liked in this class was the fact that Food Security was linked not only to availabilty and acess to food but also to the the utilization of food. I think the aspect of food utilization tends to be overlooked a lot whenever food security is discussed. It is interesting that in a community or a family but there would still be issues of food security due to lack of nutritous food items.
In terms of my assignment on Food Security in Burkina Faso my initial thoughts are to look at the food security situation in Burkina Faso. The impact of economic policies (structural adjustment etc), on food security and also what steps have been taken in the country to address food security concerns