My friend Thomas writes about hoe so called environmentalists care little for the struggling people's of Africa.
Agriculture is vital for Africa’s development. Countries such as Kenya, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda are using crops such as palm oil to support economic development and improved infrastructure. Although Africa accounts for only 4% of the world’s palm oil production, West Africa has attracted $6bn in investment in this sector and this is likely to rise. In countries that desperately need new investment and jobs, such as Liberia and Uganda, hundreds of thousands of hectares are being developed to produce this crop. Palm oil has encouraged s outh- s outh investment, with Malaysian firms investing in Uganda. With palm oil, African agriculture can be a significant player in feeding and powering itself and the rest of the world.
These much-needed agricultural investments are creating thousands of jobs, providing livelihoods for African families and helping pay for education and healthcare. But it’s too soon to pop champagne corks. There are well-organised and deep-pocketed obstacles to realising the full potential of palm oil in Africa.
First, many western environmental organisations are hostile to the continent’s rapid economic growth. They have sworn to prevent African countries from doing what they did decades ago in order to be prosperous. Some of the groups are familiar to the African public. Pesticide Action Network, for instance, has long opposed DDT and other insecticides for fighting malaria.
Other environmental groups have taken to other causes, such as blocking genetically modified food production across the world, which is a key source for alleviating hunger and starvation in parts of Africa.
So it is hardly surprising that "green" groups have found fault with the palm oil trade. It seems that any time Africans are keen to use their own resources, new technology and trade to better their lives, a European nongovernmental organisation (NGO) wants to stand in the way. These environmental NGOs will have a large presence in Durban and their propaganda campaigns against African development should be strongly resisted.
Interestingly, the World Bank has lately made common cause with the environmental NGOs. The bank recently decided to subject lending decisions to NGO preferences and standards. This undermines the ability of African farmers to benefit from palm oil expansion.
And the World Bank has even begun criticising investment in Africa, claiming it threatens the very farmers that stand to benefit from better infrastructure, cheaper input costs and greater agriculture opportunities.
I also found this funny article. Green peace is accusing industry of blocking climate change "consensus". That's pretty funny because greenpeace and the other greenies are funded by big industry and big government. Big companies are busy rent seeking from government climate change cash. Greenpeace and the other greenies seem to care little for the poor of the world. Indeed it is a greenie dream that there would be billions less of us. The environmental movement like Stalinism is a fundamentally anti human thing.