Angelique Kidjo on her support for Oxfam's Grow Campaign

Monday June 20, 2011

from Huffington Post

No Excuse

I love food. There is nothing better than sitting down to a meal of Tchep bou djen, a Senegalese dish with fish, rice and vegetables.

Unfortunately I also know what it’s like to go without it. Hunger is no joke. It feels like there is a fire in your belly. I wouldn’t wish it on a single person. But close to 1 billion men, women and children — one in seven of us — are hungry today.

But there is no good reason why anyone should go hungry. The world can feed every single one of us. The problem is the way we grow and share food.

Our global food system is broken. It might not seem immediately obvious to everyone. The supermarket shelves in many countries are piled high with foods from around the globe and are well within the means of the average shopper. But take a closer look and it’s not hard to see the cracks in the system.

We live in a world where the number of hungry people is rising rather then falling for the first time in decades; where almost half of all food produced goes to waste; where rising food prices eat up over three quarters of poor peoples weekly income. We live in a world where climate change and dwindling natural resources will make feeding our growing population harder still; where millions more men, women and children will feel the fire in their bellies.

Look again, through the eyes of one of the millions of poor food producers, and you will see where it’s all going wrong.

There are 500 million small farms in developing countries which together feed one third of humanity. These farmers get little or no support from their governments or the international community yet they are thrust into competition with a handful of wealthy farms in industrialized countries which receive billions of dollars worth of government subsidies.

Read the full article here

Baby, I Love You feat. Dianne Reeves	3:10	Angélique Kidjo
Zelie	2:04	Angélique Kidjo
Move On Up feat. John Legend	3:46	Angélique Kidjo
Ae Ae	3:31	Angélique Kidjo

[+] open in new window

Watch what's on

Move On Up
Afirika (2010 FIFA World Cup™ Kick-off Concert)

[+] open in new window

News Archive

IMN - International Music Network