Skip to main content

Egyptian Bread Riots

One important aspect of sustainable agriculture that often remains overlooked is the negative effect which it can have on the stability of governments. Although these may seem unrelated, governments have been hit hard by food shortages due to climate related natural disasters, which without sustainable agriculture, can proceed to wipe out entire food supplies. The Middle East has been hit particularly hard by these food shortages due to the nature of their governments subsidy system. In the mid to late 1900s, many governments attempted to launch plans of food subsidies in an attempt to maintain power and favor of the people. Suddenly, citizens were receiving more aid than ever before and put much trust in the previously unstable relationship with the government. However, although good in principle, the citizens soon became reliant on these subsidies and expected them from their government. Many nations have attempted to receive aid for the debt that these subsidies have placed them in however the International Monetary Fund will only reward loans when subsidies are dramatically reduced. This article discusses Egypt in particular and the struggle which the government has had with their system of subsidies. In Egypt, both times in which food subsidies have been reduced, in 1977 and 2008, massive protests have endured. Their cries were answered with the reinstatement of subsidies; however, the Egyptian government has still not found a way to affordably provide these subsidies, continuing on a dark path for their economy. Every time the government attempts to address this problem, solve their debt, or work to instate the IMF’s plans, they are met with resistance and disapproval by their people. Now, the issues have even been heightened to a new level in the face of climate change and mass crop shortages. The decrease in supply causes the people to blame the government for rising prices. Currently, out of Egypt’s population of 90 million citizens, a whopping 70 million receive subsidy cards. These cards on average would turn a 75 piastres loaf of bread into a 5 piastres loaf of bread. With recent shortages in sugar and bread, two of the most highly subsidized items, the government has been met with violence upon reductions of these subsidies. Given Egypt’s past history of food riots, talk of violence has begun to emerge again. This article goes more in depth about the history of these subsidies within Egypt and the large part they play within the stability of the citizens’ relationship with their government. The most important sections to read are the first two sections: “Theoretical Framework” and “History of Food Subsidies.” Don’t worry about reading the last section “Food Subsidy Reform,” unless you are further interested. I hope this article makes you realize how impactful these food shortages caused by the lack of sustainable agriculture can be in many nations and gives you an interesting perspective to the topic!


http://publicspherejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/05.egypt_.pdf




Comments


  1. As a nation that has seen major issues with its own subsidy system in the past, Malaysia wholeheartedly agrees that reform is needed immediately. When Malaysia created a food support program, the government quickly realized the plan had backfired due to the immense amount of smuggling that was undermining government efforts. Many within the nation misused the generous gestures and began selling the less expensive food to neighboring countries for a profit. Not only did this create shortages of commodities for those who truly needed the assistance, but it also contributed to major economic problems. In 2009, the country saw a devastating 7% drop in its GDP simply due to its subsidy efforts. Understanding the necessity for a change in policy, Malaysia decided to completely redesign its subsidiary methods. Instead of overarching lower prices, the nation is now directly giving cash payments to those who are actually in need. This has assisted in gradually improving Malaysia’s economic state. Hence, the delegation of Malaysia strongly believes that the committee should look towards solutions that benefit those in need of food and other resources while not harming the nation as a result.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soil Power!

To follow up on the article on the projected maize and wheat production in the world due to climate change, New York times has  this article  by Jacques Leslie that provides a possible solution to both potentials food shortage and global warming. The author describes how a method of carbon sequestration can help solve both. " Now scientists are documenting how sequestering carbon in soil can produce a double dividend: It reduces climate change by extracting carbon from the atmosphere, and it restores the health of degraded soil and increases agricultural yields. Many scientists and farmers believe the emerging understanding of soil’s role in climate stability and agricultural productivity will prompt a paradigm shift in agriculture ,..." The article is pretty loaded with one of the solution that have become popular among environmental scientists. Read and ask any questions you might have.

CRISPR and genome edited crops - what it means for agriculture

In the last few years, you may have heard the term “CRISPR” – pronounced ‘crisper’ – pop up a few times. But what exactly is CRISPR, and why is it so important? Well, in order to answer that, let’s first pay a quick visit to 2012. That was the year that Jennifer Doudna – a professor of molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley – and her team characterized the activity of what’s now known as CRISPR-cas9. The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology and CRISPR Associated System (cas) was first discovered in bacteria as a defense against foreign viruses and DNA. Eventually, its use progressed into eukaryotic cells for purposes of modification, as the technology was adapted by the Broad Institute for genetic engineering. So how is this accomplished? Basically, CRISPR-cas9 consists of two main parts: the cas9 enzyme, which is capable of cutting DNA at specific locations within the genome – think of pair of molecular scissors – and ...