Title--Freedom Is Not Enough
Author--Joshua Hammer
Publication--Newsweek, November 2005 issue
Premise: Droughts occur relatively frequently in Malawi--1994, 1998, and 2002. When droughts occur, much of the southern part of Africa suffers from starvation. The United Nations World Food Program has given money/assistance to southern Africa to help with this problem...but money is only a temporary fix. Droughts occur periodically; therefore, quick fixes do not fully solve the problem at hand. Amartya Sen, a Nobel-Prize winning Harvard economist, argues that more democracy is needed to solve this problem.
- democracy helps reduce famine because election results will be negative towards those in power if famine continues (as opposed to those in repressive one party systems)
- but Malawi has gotten worse in regards to hunger since they have become a democracy (1994)--under their last 'dictator' Hastings Banda, the country did not suffer as much in the food department--there were nearly 1 million farmers and seeds, fertilizers, and good world market prices for crops were available
- under democracy, the government lifted budget-busting subsidies which took away the farmers' safety net--Parliament members also looted Malawi's grain reserves and sold them internationally for big profit (a.k.a. corruption existed)--big scandals also hit right when the worst drought in 10 years occurred in 2002
- the government has also managed water poorly--the Shire River and Lake Malawi have not been exploited properly an efficiently--only 1% of the country's arable land is irrigated--peasant farmers are almost entirely dependent of rainfall to water their crops...and, in turn, be able to survive
- throwing out money for food relief causes Malawians to be dependent on outside help--instead, money should be invested in project designed to sustain the population's food supply
- also, current President Mutharika seems legit and wants to stop corruption--opponents say the opposite, but he claims that these opponents are scared of his anticorruption campaign because they are, in fact, the corrupt ones
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