Water - another global 'crisis'?

If you look at the numbers, it is hard to see how many East African communities made it through the long drought of 2005 and 2006. Among people who study human development, it is a widely-held view that each person needs about 20 litres of water each day for the basics - to drink, cook and wash sufficiently to avoid disease transmission. Yet at the height of the East African drought, people were getting by on less than five litres a day - in some cases, less than one litre a day, enough for just three glasses of drinking water and nothing left over. [...] A changing climate is only one of the factors likely to affect the amount of water at each person's disposal in future. A more populated world - and there could be another 2.5 billion people on the planet by 2050 - is likely to be a thirstier world. Those extra people will need feeding; and as agriculture accounts for about 70% of water use around the world, extra consumption for growing food is likely to reduce the amount available for those basic needs of drinking, cooking and washing.

Barter beware

Before all else, a government must safeguard the basic needs of its citizens. Yet, from north Africa to China, and from Russia to south Asia, governments have started entering into a secretive web of barter deals as a substitute for global commodities markets, because the financing for the international food trade is drying up or becoming too expensive. This is a dangerous trend that rich and poor countries must work to reverse. It is understandable that food-importing countries use any available means to secure supplies. Being cut off from trade puts too much pressure on domestic food markets. In sub-Saharan Africa local food prices have increased even as global commodities prices have fallen. The World Food Programme has too few resources. But beyond the very short run, solutions based on barter will only make things worse.

Abdullah gets WFP award

The World Food Program (WFP) honored Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah as the Champion in the Battle Against Hunger for 2008 at a function held in the Swiss city of Davos on Thursday evening. Minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza received the award on behalf of the king from Josette Sheeran, executive director of WFP, at a dinner in Davos that was attended by representatives of various governments, organizations and corporations. Sheeran thanked King Abdullah for supporting WFP and donating $500 million. WFP is a UN frontline agency in the fight against global hunger and is regarded as the world’s largest humanitarian organization. “King Abdullah’s donation stands out as a beacon of hope for hungry and poor people the world over,” Sheeran was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency as saying.

MILF cites Japan’s role in pushing for Mindanao peace

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) thanked the Japanese government Saturday for its aid to residents displaced by the ongoing conflict in Mindanao. MILF peace panel chairman and spokesman Mohagher Iqbal said the MILF now considers Japan as a "good friend of the peace process." [...] Last Wednesday, Japan formalized an emergency food aid involving $9.5 million or 7,500 metric tons of rice to IDPs in conflict-hit areas through the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP). The signing ceremony took place at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Makati City last Wednesday.