Saturday, July 23, 2011

looted

In Madagascar, one in two inhabitants is food insecure. This proportion rises to 68% in the South of the country.

It is currently importing annually 100,000 to 150,000 tons of rice. Yet the system of intensive rice cultivation, a pure Malagasy invention, allows to double, triple or even quadruple yields.

Fishing agreements that Madagascar has entered into with the European Union or with Asian companies are reminiscent of the treaties that colonial empires signed with their colonies in the 19th century.

"Legally or not, the seas are looted while fishing could be an engine of development for the island. The fact that industrial fleets come to fish without quotas, in the context of depleting marine resources, should be impermissible in the 21st century." said United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter.

No comments: