Should rich countries help poor ones?
How Canada copes with food crises.
The head of a UN agency says that richer countries need to increase aid to developing nations. That's because countries like Canada are willing to provide aid during crises that have already happened, and we need to prevent them.
"We continue going from food crisis to food crisis. If we don't invest now, very likely we will go through the same issues in the next shock, whether it's because of a climate shock, an income shock or a pandemic," Alvaro Lario, head of the International Fund of Agricultural Development.
The food crisis is nothing new today: pandemics, wars, droughts, fires and floods all hit food production and raise prices. Since February 24, the crisis has worsened in many countries in Asia and Africa, which depend on grain imports from that region.
We recently wrote about the G7 summit in Japan. There, the world's most progressive and prosperous economies pledged to work with IFAD to ensure that farmers have a central role in solving food crises.
In the budget the Trudeau government cut back its development assistance by 15 per cent, a $1.3 billion drop from the previous year.
Still, international development official Harjit Sajjan said Ottawa expects to increase spending on development and crisis prevention as humanitarian disasters become more frequent.
"We will still look at those challenges and be there for the developing world where it's needed," Sajjan said at the time.
Canada is one of the top 10 contributors to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Nevertheless, at a time of terrifying wildfires, it is Canada that may need the help of the world community, since several provinces have already been hit very hard by the devastation. Rescuers from France and Africa have recently arrived in Canada.
According to statistics, every 10 years there is a major food crisis: some regions experience drought, floods or war conflicts. And very many developing countries depend on agriculture in other countries.
That is why it is important to prevent any crisis potential, not to fight it.
