The scramble for resources in Africa

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by annette, Feb 6, 2013.

  1. annette

    annette Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2010
    Messages:
    889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    More wars. And it seems that it is being fought under the guise of the war on terror (I can never get my head around that statement). The author is very well respected and many other articles back up the claims in this article. It smacks of the colonial race for Africa. Shame the mainstream press are silent on the reasons troops are going in to Africa all over the place.

    How much more will we see of this deception and scramble for resources in competition with China? :sweat:


    https://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/30714
     
  2. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 9, 2009
    Messages:
    5,925
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    0
    I'm sure I heard something recently about Australian troops as well? I think it was Mali they were being deployed to. There was I thinking it was just Africans fighting with other Africans. Seems not....

    "War on Terror" always reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw once that said 'Fighting for Freedom is like F&*%ing for Virginity". Apt.
     
  3. annette

    annette Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2010
    Messages:
    889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    haha yes that's right!

    My nephew, who is in the RAAF, is being deployed to the Sudan at the end of this month as part of the UN peacekeepers. It seems that a lot of countries are now sending troops. :(
     
  4. mouseinthehouse

    mouseinthehouse Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2012
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Africa =
    lots of countries
    lots of tribes
    lots of historical baggage
    lots of resources
    lots of conflict
    lots of corruption
    lots of exploitation,

    great complexity of environmental, political, social, economic issues.

    One awful thing that is also going on is the wholesale decimation of Africa's wildlife by international criminal syndicates to fuel markets mostly in Asia (China and Vietnam predominantly). :(
    If you ever dreamed of going to Africa to witness the unique wildlife, I would urge you to do so within the the next 5-10 years.
     
  5. Synergy

    Synergy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2010
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Additionally the African countries have sold off huge tracts of land with resources and some of the better farmland to other countries . I think Ethiopia sold something like 50,000 ha of its best agricultural land to Saudi Arabia , so where do they think they are going to grow food for themselves ?
     
  6. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2008
    Messages:
    2,215
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    36
    My understanding is that similar things are happening here in Australia (in relation to selling farming land offshore). I'm not sure the 'governments' of Oz keep any record of the land that is owned by overseas interests. China and the Saudis and some others are all too aware of the coming food crisis and are being proactive about it. They are doing it with money though - not guns.
     
  7. annette

    annette Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2010
    Messages:
    889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I don't know. I suppose the ones that sold it have lined their pockets to the extent that they will be able to buy food even when it is expensive and hard to come by.
     
  8. Synergy

    Synergy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2010
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Absolutely without a doubt, also Canada and New Zealand etc being bought up . Here wikipedia mentions an estimate of over 80 million ha in land grabs by outside countries as of 2011 and 70% of those being in sub saharan Africa . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_grabbing
    I believe I read elsewhere that leading this action of actual acquisition of land rights was China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea . The penchant for invading feigning other interest of course is another approach and I guess that is easiest to see in the actions of the USA jointly overseeing other nations like Canada and so forth in these actions. I have no doubt strategic resource competition has been heating up quietly and relatively unnoticed by most general public . By the time a soccer mom like me notices the prepping movement , you can bet this was global strategy was on the agenda for at least the last decade.
     
  9. annette

    annette Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2010
    Messages:
    889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Governments do keep records of who owns what. I think it is only when the price is over 250 million (don't quote me on that but it is around that figure) that the sale goes to the foreign investment review tribunal to decide if it is in the country's best interest. That happened with cubby station. The biggest cotton farm in Australia now owned by the chinese. I would like to see some good policy on protecting Australia's food security. Gillard mentioned the other day about how Australia is positioned to provide food to the growing middle class in Asia but didn't elaborate on how we are to do that if we sell our good agricultural land.

    Years ago in Queensland, the government implemented a state planning policy which protected good agricultural land from developers. I know the large tract of land up near Maroochydore that had cane was not able to be developed under this policy. Dont' know if it is still the case.

    Perhaps as Geoff says, urban permaculture has the highest output and that may be our best defence.

    I was just hoping that humanity had come along a little way and stuff that is happening in Africa (and all the other places experiencing conflict) would not happen. Wishful thinking.
     
  10. mouseinthehouse

    mouseinthehouse Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2012
    Messages:
    782
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    The people in power line their pockets whilst they push the peasant farmers off the land they have farmed for generations with little or no compensation. Kenya has sold a lot of good arable farmland to foreign interests in this way. Zambia has China pillaging its resources whilst exploiting its workers and Angola and Botswana and Zimbabwe subcontract major public building works (roads, hospitals etc) to Chinese firms (and get shoddy, dangerous sub-standard work). The corruption involved is immense. Everyone has their hand out for the immediate pay-off with no care for the future.
     
  11. Earth's Internet

    Earth's Internet Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2012
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Earth's Internet

    Earth's Internet Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2012
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Even nations not necessarily historically known for Imperialist Colonialism are on the land boom purchasing bandwagon like Sweden where I presently reside. When I first came here, the News Reports on Television in 2006 were loaded with film footage of Ghana citizens protesting and angry with Sweden for Eco-Land Grabbing. The own 30,000 hectares of land in Ghana and it is planted in Sugar Cane and manage for Sweden by a Brazilian company which as you know is way ahead of others in distillation processes for creation of Ethanol production. Sweden has no ability to produce it's own ethanol, so it must go elsewhere for this. The people of Ghana were upset because it meant land taken from food production would raise food prices. Most citizens of Industrial countries have very little clue as to most of your wages going towards feeding a family. Any raises in prices, even if seemingly minuscule, are a burden on these peoples. Anders Frederiksson head of the Ethanol program in Sweden commented by criticizing the protesters who he said were ignorant of the 5000+ jobs which would be created and how 8,000 people would be able to afford higher food prices. The statement to me seemed like something only an ignoramus would state without knowing the facts. Sure enough I looked up the stats for Ghana and they have a population of 23+ million people. 5000+ new jobs wouldn't make any type of noticeable dent. Never underestimate the power of propaganda by a country to pat itself on the back as an Eco-Greenie.

    BTW, Sweden also has issues with land grabbing from Tanzania and other countries, but this isn't commonly known. It also isn'y commonly known that they are the 7th largest production producer of munitions arms in the world of all types and that their biggest customer is the USA which used Swedish sophistication in Iraq & Afghanistan. Google is your friend!
     
  13. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2011
    Messages:
    2,984
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    38
    The tragedy, and subsequent movie Hotel Rwanda really put Africa into perspective for me.
     
  14. Synergy

    Synergy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2010
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    As we see these desperate global strategies and power plays , I think we need to not lose sight of the fact of what we can actually do about it and that is to act locally , our individual actions are how we can subtley influence the world we live in . It may seem insignificant but collectively maybe it isn't.
    What I take from it this thread is that the governments , the big corporations, they see that the competition for resources is intensifying . We know that a more dire situation is imminent so we should make our very best efforts for what we want in this world . I think we will see change whether we want it or not but we might actually be able to influence and modify the outcome some with our actions acting locally.
     
  15. annette

    annette Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2010
    Messages:
    889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Yes the more I look into this, the murkier and more deceitful it all gets. BUT!!!!! What you gonna do? As you say Synergy, perhaps the best thing to do is to act locally and hopefully influence those around to make a change for the better.

    I just read that in Argentina, hyperinflation is taking hold and food prices are rising expodentially, enough for the government to freeze supermarket prices for 2 months. Of course all this does is clear out the supermarket shelves with people trying to stock up before the prices go up. Then what they gonna do?

    Of course it will be different for different countries but I fear a lot more people are going to go hungry and experience having their lives ripped apart by outside forces taking what they want either by stealth or force.

    I have felt over the past 5 years or so, an urgency to get growing food and learn as much as I can about self sufficiency. It just got that much more urgent.
     
  16. Synergy

    Synergy Junior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 3, 2010
    Messages:
    54
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Well today, February 7th, I am in tshirt and shorts working outside shoveling and pushing wheelbarrows, and I am sweating . Coastal British Columbia, Canada is clearly benefiting temporarily in global climate change . There are a lot of people who would not make the effort to get down and dirty and sweaty but I am also going to be putting organic food on the table for my family . All winter I managed to have greens under coldframes and next winter I will grow a lot more winter fare now that I have had this success .

    Wherever you are , whether it is urban , suburban lots, or out in the country side our positive efforts to create biodiversity , biomass , food sovereignty etc are all going to count in some small fractional way.
     
  17. Pakanohida

    Pakanohida Junior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2011
    Messages:
    2,984
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    38
    I am south of you, & I too am dealing with 50f degree days. Radishes, fava beans, and peas have already started poking through the earth & this is the middle of our winter! Bok choy & other greens are also doing well. I also learned my swale kitchen garden / kitchen Chinampa take 4 days to fully drain. I see buds already forming on the fruit trees in the food forest area as well.
     

Share This Page

-->