FOOD PRODUCTION FOR AFRICA

TO END HUNGER IN AFRICA, IT IS NECESSARY TO SEND FOOD FOR THE ENTIRE AFRICAN POPULATION, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THAT THE MAJORITY OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICANS ARE WELL-FED.

BUT WE CAN ONLY ENSURE THAT THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF FOOD IF WE ENSURE THAT THERE IS SURPLUS FOOD.

THE COST OF DOING THIS IS RELATIVELY LOW, APPROXIMATELY 200 BILLION DOLLARS. THE DIFFICULT THING IS TO ACCEPT A RATIONAL ALTRUISTIC PROPOSAL THAT GOES AGAINST PREJUDICES AND COMMON PLACES, AND WHICH INVOLVES A QUESTIONING OF CURRENT HUMANISM.

FOOD SHOULD BE GROWN ON EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL LAND WHERE THERE IS A MINIMUM SOCIOECONOMIC STABILITY AND GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT. AN AVERAGE HECTARE CAN PERFECTLY FEED 20 PEOPLE. THEREFORE, 60 MILLION HECTARES ARE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE FOR 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE... 2% OF THE PLANET'S ARABLE LAND (ABOUT 3 BILLION HECTARES). IT IS REMARKABLE TO NOTE THAT IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES THAT ARE LARGE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS, THERE ARE MILLIONS OF HECTARES THAT ARE NOT CULTIVATED OR USED AS PASTURE, DUE TO MARKET CONDITIONS. IT SHOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN THEM FOR HUMANITARIAN PURPOSES.

20 MILLION HECTARES CAN BE LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

10 MILLION IN CANADA

10 MILLION IN AUSTRALIA

7 MILLION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

5 MILLION IN ARGENTINA

2 MILLION IN UKRAINE

2 MILLION IN SOUTH AFRICA

1 MILLION IN BRAZIL

1 MILLION IN URUGUAY

1 MILLION IN NEW ZEALAND

1 MILLION IN RUSSIA

THIS IS A MERELY GUIDELINE. RUSSIA IS A LARGE PRODUCER, BUT WHAT POLITICAL STABILITY DOES IT OFFER? IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT UKRAINE, IN ITS APPROACH TO THE EUROPEAN UNION, WILL ENJOY GREATER STABILITY. SOUTH AFRICA WOULD BE THE ONLY AFRICAN NATION OFFERING EXPECTATIONS OF STABILITY.

THE FOOD PRODUCT TO BE MADE - DAILY DEHYDRATED RATIONS WEIGHING HALF A KILO - WILL BE SIMILAR TO OTHER FOODS ALREADY USED BY HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES (A PRODUCT INSPIRED IN TURN BY MILITARY RATIONS). IT IS A PASTE WHOSE CALORIC BASE CAN BE CORN AND PEANUTS, TO WHICH OTHER HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS CROPS ARE ADDED, SUCH AS SOY, WHEAT AND VEGETABLE OIL. A BASIC FOOD WITH A GOOD TASTE, MORE COMPLETE THAN BREAD OR RICE, WHICH CAN BE PREPARED IN VARIOUS WAYS AND CAN EVEN BE CONSUMED DIRECTLY (IN A WAY SIMILAR TO BREAKFAST CEREALS). DEHYDRATED, IT CAN BE PRESERVED FOR UP TO THREE YEARS OR LONGER IN HERMETIC CONTAINERS.

IN EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURE, A SINGLE WELL-EQUIPPED FARMER CAN TAKE CARE OF AN AVERAGE OF 200 HECTARES. 300,000 FARMERS WOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR THE 60 MILLION HECTARES REQUIRED TO PRODUCE 220 BILLION KILOS OF FOOD PER YEAR.

THE CROPS WOULD BE TRANSPORTED TO AN INDUSTRIAL AREA WITH RAIL CONNECTION AND NOT FAR FROM THE PORTS OF DEPARTURE OF THE CONTAINER SHIPS. THERE, THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WOULD BE PROCESSED IN SPECIALIZED HIGH-PERFORMANCE PLANTS. THERE WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY FOUR PROCESSING PLANTS FOR EVERY MILLION HECTARES, EACH ONE HAS TO GENERATE FOOD FOR 5 MILLION PEOPLE (2.5 MILLION KILOS PER DAY AND 900 MILLION KILOS PER YEAR). THE PROCESSED PRODUCT WOULD BE STORED IN BULK IN 30,000-KILO CONTAINERS TO BE LATER TRANSPORTED BY SEA.

   IDEALLY, ON AVERAGE 3,000 TO 5,000 TONNES OF CROPS PER DAY WOULD BE TRANSPORTED TO PROCESSING PLANTS BY TRAIN (A SINGLE TRAIN CAN TRANSPORT 500 TO 3,000 TONNES). IF POSSIBLE, SEA CONTAINERS WITH PROCESSED FOOD COULD ALSO ARRIVE AT THE PORTS OF SHIPMENT BY TRAIN.

  EACH OF THE 240 PROCESSING PLANTS WOULD HAVE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS, SINCE IT WOULD HAVE TO PRODUCE 2.5 MILLION KILOS OF FOOD DAILY (ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND KILOS PER HOUR) FROM AROUND 4 MILLION GRAIN AND OTHER AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS PER DAY. BY COMPARISON, KELLOGS’ LARGE MANCHESTER PLANT MAKES ONE MILLION MEALS A DAY (FIVE TIMES LESS) FROM JUST OVER 400,000 KILOS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT (TEN TIMES LESS), ALTHOUGH THE PLANNED PLANTS WOULD NOT HAVE TO PACK OR CAN, BUT ONLY GENERATE BULK PROCESSED PRODUCT WHICH WOULD ONLY BE PACKED UPON ARRIVAL IN AFRICA. THE PROCESS WOULD INCLUDE CLEANING, GRINDING, MIXING, COOKING AND DEHYDRATING THE FOOD PRODUCT.

A STANDARD CONTAINER SHIP CAN CARRY 2,000 CONTAINERS, OR AROUND 60 MILLION KILOS, TO AN AFRICAN PORT LARGE ENOUGH. THERE THE BULK PRODUCT WOULD BE PACKED IN HALF-KILO RATIONS IN SIMPLE PAPER BAGS, AND EVERY 30 RATIONS WOULD BE PACKED IN AIR-TIGHT, REUSABLE AND EASILY TRANSPORTABLE PLASTIC CONTAINERS WEIGHING 2 KILOS AND HAVING A CAPACITY FOR AROUND 15 KILOS OF CONTENTS (30 RATIONS). THESE WOULD IN TURN BE PUT INTO OTHER CONTAINERS OF 30,000 KILOS - AROUND 1,700 PACKAGES PER CONTAINER - TO BE TRANSPORTED AND DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE AFRICAN CONTINENT BY TRUCK, TRAIN OR RIVER TRANSPORT. THE REUSABLE PACKAGES WOULD LOOK LIKE A SUITCASE AND A RETURN WOULD BE GIVEN.

THE 20 PACKAGING PLANTS IN AFRICA WILL HAVE TO BE HUGE, AS EACH ONE MUST PRODUCE 60 MILLION PACKED RATIONS IN PAPER BAGS EVERY DAY (40,000 PER MINUTE) WHICH IN TURN MUST BE PUT INTO THIRTY AT A TIME IN 2 MILLION REUSABLE PACKAGING SMALL PLASTIC CONTAINERS EACH OF 15 KILOS, WHICH IN TURN WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AMONG AROUND 1,200 TRUCK-CONTAINERS. NEW PLASTIC PACKAGING WILL ALSO BE PRODUCED IN THESE PLANTS AND REUSED PACKAGING WILL BE SANITIZED.

COCA COLA PRODUCES 100 BILLION PET PLASTIC BOTTLES A YEAR. THE QUANTITY OF PLASTIC PRODUCED BY COCA COLA A YEAR IS 3 BILLION KILOS (NON-REUSABLE), WHILE THIS PROJECT WOULD PRODUCE CONSISTENT HERMETIC PACKAGING (WEIGHT APPROXIMATELY 2 KILOS AND REUSABLE) WHICH WOULD ADD UP TO 8 BILLION KILOS OF PLASTIC A YEAR (4 BILLION PACKAGING OUT OF THE 14 BILLION TO BE CONSUMED ANNUALLY, OF WHICH IT CAN BE ASSUMED THAT AT LEAST 10 BILLION WILL BE REUSED AFTER RECOVERY AND SANITIZATION).

A TOTAL OF 24,000 TRUCK-CONTAINERS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO BE DISTRIBUTED DAILY ACROSS AFRICA, EACH CARRYING AROUND 1,700 REUSABLE PACKAGES (CONTAINING 15 KG OF FOOD IN 30 HALF-KILO RATIONS). AT LEAST 20,000 OF THE 24,000 TRUCK-CONTAINERS WOULD HAVE TO BE MOVED INTO THE MAINLAND BY ROAD (THE URBAN AREAS NEAR THE PORTS OF ARRIVAL WOULD CONSUME THE REST, IN ADDITION TO THE RAIL TRANSPORT NETWORKS). TO CARRY OUT JOURNEYS OF SOMETIMES THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS, AROUND 150,000 CONTAINER TRUCKS WOULD BE REQUIRED, WITH SPECIALIZED DRIVERS IN VEHICLE MAINTENANCE.

THE FIRST SHIPMENTS WOULD BE DELIVERED TO FOOD EMERGENCY AREAS. OTHER POSSIBLE PRIORITY DESTINATIONS WOULD BE SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS, PRISONS... BUT TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE IS DEPRIVED OF FOOD, IT IS NECESSARY TO ULTIMATELY REACH THE TOTAL OF 220 BILLION KILOS ANNUALLY (DAILY RATIONS FOR 1.2 BILLION PEOPLE).

SINCE THE OBJECTIVE IS TO ALWAYS HAVE SURPLUS FOOD, THIS COULD SOMETIMES BE TRANSPORTED TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD IN CASE OF EMERGENCY, WITH AFRICA BECOMING A FOOD RESERVE. THE TERRITORY OF HAITI COULD BE INCLUDED WITHIN THE PLAN FOR THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.

THE GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THIS WORK WOULD PROBABLY BEGIN WITH THE FOOD PROCESSING PLANTS (THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT WOULD BE PURCHASED) AND ITS TRANSPORT TO AFRICA. IT WOULD GRADUALLY INCORPORATE ALL OTHER SECTORS, REDUCING THE COST.

THE CONSEQUENT DISAPPEARANCE OF SUBSISTENCE AGRICULTURE FOR AFRICAN PEASANTS AND SUBSISTENCE WAGES FOR AFRICAN WORKERS CAN ONLY BUT BRING BENEFITS TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SINCE IT WOULD INCREASE AVAILABLE INCOME FOR CONSUMPTION, INVESTMENT AND TRADE. AFRICAN FARMERS, FOR EXAMPLE, COULD DIVERSIFY THEIR CROPS TO PRODUCE FOOD TO COMPLEMENT A MONOTONOUS DIET OR FOR EXPORT (COCOA, FRUIT, etc.), FEED LIVESTOCK OR PRODUCE NON-FOOD CROPS SUCH AS COFFEE AND COTTON.

FINANCING THE AFRICAN FOOD PLAN

THE APPROXIMATE SUM TO CARRY OUT THIS PROJECT OF UNEQUIVOCAL VALUE IS 200 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, SIMILAR TO THE CALCULATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS' INEFFECTIVE PLANS. ONE FIGURE MENTIONED IN THESE PROJECTS IS 267 BILLION DOLLARS... FOR INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, UNDOUBTEDLY VERY VALUABLE FROM A POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW AND WITH BENEFICIAL EFFECTS FOR THE POPULATION... BUT WHICH DO NOT GUARANTEE THE END OF HUNGER AND FOOD INSECURITY. ONLY CORRECT NUTRITION GUARANTEES THE END OF MALNUTRITION.

THE 200 BILLION IN THIS "UNEQUIVOCAL" PLAN WOULD BE BROKEN DOWN AS FOLLOWS:

80 BILLION FOR CROPS PRODUCTION ON 60 MILLION HECTARES

The cultivation of one hectare of extensive agriculture of average value costs between 1,000 and 1,500 dollars (capable of producing, for example, 8,000 kilos of corn or 3,500 kilos of peanuts or 3,000 kilos of soybeans or 3,000 kilos of wheat). This cost includes the price of land (rent), seeds, fertilizers, use of machinery...

20,000 MILLION FOR PROCESSING CROPS IN ORDER TO PRODUCE 220,000 MILLION KILOS OF FOOD (HALF A KILO OF RATION PER PERSON PER DAY, WITH AN AVERAGE OF 2200 CALORIES AND OTHER NUTRIENTS)

Four processing plants for every million hectares are 240 plants capable of producing, from about one hundred and thirty thousand kilos of crops (corn, peanuts, soybeans, wheat...) an average of one hundred thousand kilos of food per hour (2.5 million per day): cleaning, grinding, mixing, cooking, cooling, dehydration... The process is relatively simple and economical since the product would be stored in bulk in sanitized containers for maritime transport. Each plant (buildings, machinery, energy, industrial space and other expenses) that must process 1.2 billion crops annually to generate 900 million kilos of food (for 5 million people) would cost about 80 million dollars. One dollar for every 11 kilos of processed product. The cost of the harvest is one dollar for every 2.5 kilos of harvested vegetables. The total cost of the product (220 billion kilos of product times 200 billion dollars) is 1 dollar per kilo (feeding 2 people per day, 0.5 the ration of one person per day). Of this cost, 0.4 is the cost of the harvest and 0.1 is the cost of processing. Packaging, packing and transport take up the other costs.

30 BILLION FOR LAND TRANSPORT OF CROPS AND PROCESSED RATIONS

Every day, 24,000 truck-containers of food must be distributed in Africa, each containing about 1,700 small plastic containers (each containing food for one person per month). The vast majority will be transported in container trucks with an average load of 30 thousand kilos (150,000 trucks in total). In the producing countries there will be cheaper transport systems (mainly railways) and the total costs could add up to ten billion. Fuel costs in Africa would be around ten billion per year to distribute rations, and costs for vehicles and other means of transport (trains...) could be a similar figure.

40 BILLION FOR NAVAL TRANSPORT FROM PRODUCING COUNTRIES TO AFRICA

Some 460 vessels with a capacity of 60,000 tons (2,000 containers), each of which would make about eight trips a year. About 3,700 trips a year in total. Considering the distance to be travelled there and back, each trip could cost 10 million dollars (to transport 60 million tons of processed food). A container ship of this capacity has a new price of 250 million dollars and a useful life of 25 years.

30 BILLION FOR THE MANUFACTURE AND PREPARATION OF REUSABLE RATION PACKAGING

They would be manufactured in the ports where the packaged food is received in bulk, in Africa, which would create jobs among the local population. Some twenty large plants are needed, where not only would some 4 billion containers be manufactured each year (at a cost of 5 dollars each, and only a part of the 14 billion needed each year), but the used containers would be sanitised and all the product that has to go on to the distribution process would be packaged, labelled and packed.

THE MONEY WOULD COME THROUGH HUMANITARIAN FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS, LIKE MANY ALREADY EXISTING. COSTS CAN BE REDUCED IF THE MAJORITY OF THE WORKERS ARE VOLUNTEERS, BUT IF WAGES HAVE TO BE PAID THIS WOULD NOT INCREASE THE COST BY MORE THAN 20%. IN PACKAGING PLANTS IN AFRICA, WAGES CAN BE PAID TO LOCAL WORKERS, WHICH WOULD BENEFIT THE INCOME OF THE POPULATION.

THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF MONEY IN THE WORLD, AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE LARGE NUMBER OF BILLIONAIRES (MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND) AND CENTIMILLIONAIRES (ALMOST THIRTY THOUSAND). IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN 12 TRILLION DOLLARS IN TAX HAVENS, AND LET'S NOT FORGET THE CAPITAL IN BITCOINS. LOGICALLY, MONEY DOES NOT COME OUT OF NOTHING: IT IS A CONSEQUENCE OF GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES... ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HIGH PERFORMANCE OF EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROCESSING WHERE THE CONDITIONS ARE GIVEN FOR THEIR PRACTICING.

OF THE 8 BILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, ONE EIGHTH (1 BILLION) HAVE A GOOD STANDARD OF LIVING. IT IS ENOUGH THAT EACH PERSON CONTRIBUTES 200 DOLLARS A YEAR TO MAKE THIS PROJECT VIABLE. THE POPULATION OF RICH COUNTRIES IS AROUND 1.2 BILLION (NORTH AMERICA, WESTERN EUROPE, FAR EAST ASIA AND OTHER SMALLER ENCLAVES). FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM STATES CANNOT BE DISCARDED, BOTH FROM PROSPEROUS NATIONS THAT ALREADY CONTRIBUTE TO HUMANITARIAN CAUSES AND FROM AFRICAN NATIONS THEMSELVES.

IN ADDITION, IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED THAT THE SPENDING OF 200 BILLION ON THIS PROJECT WOULD LEAD TO SAVINGS IN MANY OTHER RELATED HUMANITARIAN PROJECTS CURRENTLY IN EXISTENCE, SOME OF WHICH MENTION EXACT FIGURES RELATING TO HELPING HUMAN GROUPS AT GREAT RISK: 23 BILLION FOR EXTREME HUNGER AND 14 BILLION FOR CHRONIC HUNGER... OTHERS GIVE THE FIGURE OF 53 BILLION FOR ECONOMIC AID TO AFRICA. ALL OF THESE FIGURES WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THIS UNEQUIVOCAL PROJECT.

THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO AFFECT FOOD IMPORTS FROM AFRICA, ESTIMATED AT AN ANNUAL EXPENDITURE OF 40 BILLION, WHICH WOULD PROPORTIONALLY REDUCE POVERTY ON THE CONTINENT, AS WELL AS MEDICAL EXPENDITURES DERIVED FROM PROBLEMS DUE TO POOR NUTRITION.

ON THE OTHER HAND, WITHIN THE POSSIBILITIES OF FINANCING, UNPRECEDENTED SOURCES OF CAPITAL SHOULD NOT BE DISCARDED.

IT COULD HAPPEN THAT THIS UNEQUIVOCAL PROJECT AGAINST HUNGER, GIVEN ITS UNPRECEDENTED CHARACTERISTICS, WOULD ONLY BE VIABLE IF IT IS NECESSARILY ASSOCIATED WITH A NEW CULTURAL PHENOMENON OF AN ALTRUISTIC NATURE, AND THEN IT WOULD BE LOGICAL FOR IT TO HAVE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF A NEW KIND.

EVEN IF THE VOLUNTEERS FULLY COMMITTED TO THIS PROJECT ARE NOT MORE THAN 1 PERSON FOR EVERY 10,000 (A FIGURE SIMILAR TO THE NUMBER OF CATHOLIC CLERGY WORLDWIDE), THE PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECT OF THIS CULTURAL PHENOMENON (CUSTOMS OF EXTREME PROSOCIAL MORALITY) AND ECONOMIC (CHARITABLE WORK ON A MULTINATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SCALE) COULD MAKE ORIGINAL STRUCTURES VIABLE, SUCH AS NON-FRAUDULENT PYRAMIDAL CAPITALIZATION. IN THIS SCHEME, A PERSON COULD DONATE 200,000 DOLLARS TO THE HUMANITARIAN FOUNDATION WITH THE PROMISE OF RECEIVING 20,000 IN ANNUAL INCOME. WHETHER OR NOT THE DONOR RECEIVES THE DONATIONS WOULD DEPEND ON WHETHER THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION CONTINUES TO RECEIVE DONATIONS (WHETHER OR NOT IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A PROFIT). IF THIS STOPS HAPPENING, THE DONOR-ANNUITANT IN THEORY LOSES EVERYTHING, ALTHOUGH HE CAN COUNT ON THE PROMISE OF RESTAURATION OF HIS ASSETS BASED ON THE MORAL PRESTIGE OF THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION. THE DONOR CAN ALSO RECOVER SOME OF HIS MONEY IF THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION HAS USED IT TO BUY ASSETS FOR HUMANITARIAN USE, SUCH AS FARMLAND, REAL ESTATE OR MACHINERY WHICH CAN BE SOLD TO REIMBURSE HIM.

THE EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT, ONCE THE HUMANITARIAN AND CULTURAL CHANGE PROJECT IS LAUNCHED, WE WOULD ENTER INTO A PROCESS OF GLOBAL ECONOMIC CHANGE. AS FAR AS DONORS ARE CONCERNED, THIS CHANGE COULD BRING THEM TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE BENEFITS FOR MANY YEARS TO COME DUE TO THE ARRIVAL OF NEW DONORS (ATTRACTED BY THE SUCCESS OF THE ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ALTERNATIVE, AND WHO MIGHT NO LONGER BE INTERESTED IN GETTING THEIR MONEY BACK), OR THE ENTIRE CAPITALIST SYSTEM WOULD COLLAPSE AND BE REPLACED BY AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM GENERATED BY CULTURAL CHANGE, A SYSTEM BASED ON ALTRUISTIC INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION, AND IN SUCH CASE THE FINANCIAL FUNDS COULD BE WORTH NOTHING IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

ANOTHER OPTION WOULD BE "REVERSE MORTGAGE" TYPE PRACTICES, ALSO BASED ON EXPECTATIONS OF FUTURE STRUCTURAL CHANGES ON A GLOBAL SCALE.

FINANCING FROM CRIMINAL PRACTICES BASED ON SUPPOSED "MORAL DILEMMAS" SHOULD BE DISCARDED BECAUSE THEIR CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE UNCONTROLLABLE (A CRIMINAL PRACTICE OF THIS TYPE WOULD BE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE EMBEZZLEMENT OF BANK DEPOSITS FOR SUPPOSEDLY ALTRUISTIC MOTIVATIONS). NOR DOES IT SEEM APPROPRIATE TO ORGANIZE ALGORITHM FORMULATION TEAMS TO OBTAIN LARGE AMOUNTS OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES IN THE STOCK MARKET AND IN GAMES OF CHANCE, SINCE VIABILITY WOULD NOT BE GUARANTEED AND INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES MAY BE WASTED ("OPPORTUNITY COST").

ANY OTHER NON-CRIMINAL FINANCING RESOURCE THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE LOSSES OF THE "OPPORTUNITY COST" TYPE MAY BE ACCEPTABLE.

THE NEW HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION

ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE FEASIBLE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, WITHIN THE FIELD OF ITS HUMANITARIAN CONSENSUS INITIATIVES, TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN, IT IS MOST LIKELY THAT POLITICAL PROBLEMS WOULD MAKE THIS UNFEASIBLE

IT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO CREATE A NEW SOCIAL HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE PROJECT AND INVOLVE THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF AT LEAST HALF A MILLION STRONGLY MOTIVATED AND EXCLUSIVELY DEVOTED PEOPLE.

THE SIZE OF THE WORK TO BE UNDERTAKEN, PARTICULARLY THE FOOD PROCESSING AND PACKAGING PLANTS, IS COMPARABLE TO THE EMERGENRY INDUSTRIAL EFFORTS UNDERTAKEN DURING WORLD WAR II IN TERMS OF MACHINE BUILDING AND TRAINING OF TECHNICAL PERSONNEL. NOR SHOULD THE SOVIET EFFORT TO RELAUNCH HEAVY INDUSTRY AROUND 1930 BE FORGOTTEN. 

THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTOR CAPABLE OF TRYING SUCH A COORDINATED EFFORT MUST THEREFORE BE CONSIDERED AS ESSENTIAL AND IS HARDLY COMPARABLE TO THE CONVENTIONAL DYNAMIC OF TODAY´S HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATIONS. IT IS ABOUT FREELY AND PRODUCTIVELY ASSOCIATING A SUM OF STRONGLY MOTIVATED INDIVIDUALS WITH PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR WHOSE CHARACTERISTICS WOULD ALLOW PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS OF EXTREME TRUST, WITH ZERO AGGRESSIVENESS AND MAXIMUM ECONOMIC FUNCTIONALITY (DECISION-MAKING, TASK ASSIGNMENT, TRAINING, EASE OF COORDINATION AND PERFORMANCE CONTROL). LET US REMEMBER THE DIFFERENCES ALREADY EXISTING BETWEEN DIFFERENT CULTURES IN TERMS OF LABOR PRODUCTIVITY. THE MEMBERS OF THIS NEW HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION WOULD DEVELOP AN ECONOMY OF VERY HIGH LABOR PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CONTEXT OF A SUBCULTURE OF EXTREME PROSOCIAL MORALITY.

THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM BASED ON PRIVATE PROFIT AND STATE CONTROL, WHILE IT HAS ALLOWED FOR GREAT TECHNOLOGICAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO END MALNUTRITION IN THE POOREST REGIONS OF THE PLANET. THE ENORMOUS ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IS A MORAL PROBLEM OF SUCH DIMENSION THAT IT DEMANDS INNOVATIVE, RUPTURIST PROPOSALS. EQUALIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS OF CLASS STRUGGLE ARE RULED OUT DUE TO THEIR INTRINSIC IMMORALITY - "THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS" - AND THEIR POOR HISTORICAL RECORD. AN EFFECTIVE EQUALITARIAN ALTRUIST MOVEMENT MUST BE BASED ON COMPASSIONATE, ALTRUISTIC AND BENEVOLENT MORAL PRINCIPLES.

AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS THAT ENABLE LARGE-SCALE COORDINATED ECONOMIC ACHIEVEMENTS - HIGH PRODUCTIVITY - DEVELOP A DYNAMIC THAT HAS BEEN UNPREDISCIPHERABLE UNTIL NOW. IT SEEMS EVIDENT THAT SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE PLAYS A FUNDAMENTAL ROLE IN SETTING INTO ACTION AN AFFECTIVE EMOTIONALITY THAT GENERATES MUTUAL TRUST THAT ENCOURAGES EFFORT, PREDISPOSITION TO LEARNING AND SACRIFICE. SOME INTERPRET THIS AS "RELIGIOUS BEHAVIOR" BUT SUCH LARGE-SCALE EMOTIONAL PHENOMENA HAVE ALSO OCCURRED IN POLITICAL MOVEMENTS (NATIONALIST AND/OR CLASS STRUGGLE TYPES). ALTHOUGH THROUGHOUT THE CIVILIZATION PROCESS THEY HAVE USUALLY BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH PHENOMENA OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE, THERE ARE SOME PRECEDENTS ASSOCIATED WITH NON-VIOLENT MOVEMENTS. IN SHORT, WE SHOULD CONSIDER "THE RELIGIOUS" AS A PSYCHOSOCIAL MECHANISM FOR THE CONTROL OF BEHAVIOR THAT HAS EVOLVED THROUGHOUT HISTORY LINKED TO SUPPOSEDLY ANCESTRAL TRADITIONS. THE ESSENCE OF THIS MECHANISM OF SOCIAL INNOVATION MUST BE PRESERVED AND DISTILLED, IN A SIMILAR WAY TO WHAT WAS ALREADY DONE WITH DISCIPLINES SUCH AS ASTROLOGY AND ALCHEMY, WHICH ENDED UP GIVING RISE TO MODERN ASTRONOMY AND CHEMISTRY.

ACHIEVING THE LAUNCH OF AN ALTRUISTIC AND PEACEFUL IDEOLOGICAL MOVEMENT, NON-AUTHORITATIVE OR NON-HIERARCHICAL, NON-POLITICAL, RATIONALLY ORGANIZED AND CAPABLE OF ACTIVATING THE PSYCHOSOCIAL MECHANISMS OF HIGH ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY COULD REPRESENT THE CULMINATION OF THE CIVILIZING PROCESS. NO ONE CAN EXPECT SUCH A CHANGE TO OCCUR SUDDENLY AND MASSIVELY ON A PLANETARY SCALE, BUT IT MAY BE VIABLE AS A MONASTIC STRUCTURE, UNDERSTANDING THIS PHENOMENON - MONASTICITY - OF RELIGIOUS ORIGIN AS THE SELF-SELECTION OF INDIVIDUALS STRONGLY MOTIVATED TO UNDERGO BEHAVIOR CONTROL IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A SPECIFIC IDEALITY OF SOCIAL EXCELLENCE IN A RESTRICTED ENVIRONMENT. IF A PHENOMENON OF THIS TYPE MANAGES TO BECOME EMOTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE TO A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS, THE START-UP OF THE EVOLUTIONARY-CIVILIZATION PROCESS WOULD BE APPRECIABLE FOR CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY AS A WHOLE AND COULD INFLUENCE IT IN A PRO-SOCIAL SENSE.

FOR A HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION REALLY COMMITTED TO EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM, THIS ALTRUISTIC WORK IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA WOULD BE A PROJECT OF THE HIGHEST VALUE, EQUIVALENT TO THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY IN THE PAST, AND OF A MATERIAL SPECTACULARITY COMPARABLE TO THE ARRIVAL OF MAN ON THE MOON.

IT IS HARDLY BELIEVABLE THAT, ONCE THE RESULTS OF THE TASK ARE CONSIDERED (THE ARRIVAL IN AFRICA OF THE FIRST SHIPMENTS OF THOUSANDS OF TONS OF FOOD), THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY WOULD NOT BE RECEPTIVE TO THE VALUE OF THIS EFFORT AND TO ITS CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE. OBTAINING FINANCING DOES NOT SEEM TO BE THE BIGGEST PROBLEM (THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THE BEHAVIOURAL DESIGN OF THE ALTRUIST SUBCULTURE).

BY SOLVING AN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEM, ONE ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO SOLVING THE CIVILIZATIONAL CONFLICT (CONTROL OF AGGRESSION AND ANTI-SOCIALITY; COHERENT STIMULUS OF PROSOCIALITY). IT WOULD BE THE ECONOMIC MANIFESTATION OF A DEFINITIVE CULTURAL ADVANCE.

800,000 MEN AND WOMEN ARE ENOUGH FOR THE PROJECT OF ENDING HUNGER IN AFRICA, AND THIS WOULD ONLY REPRESENT ONE PERSON IN TEN THOUSAND OF THE TOTAL PEOPLE ON THE PLANET. IT IS A FIGURE COMPARABLE TO THAT OF SOME EXISTING MINORITIES THAT LEAD AN UNCONVENTIONAL LIFESTYLE, SUCH AS CATHOLIC CLERGY.

THIS MOVEMENT COULD RECEIVE SUFFICIENT SUPPORT FROM OTHER SOCIAL FACTORS ONCE ITS EFFECTIVENESS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED. IT IS UNLIKELY THAT IT WOULD HAVE EMERGED INITIALLY FOR THIS PARTICULAR PLAN, GIVEN ITS MATERIAL SCOPE. IT WOULD BE MORE LIKELY THAT THE MOVEMENT WOULD BEGIN TO CARRY OUT MORE AFFORDABLE BUT EQUALLY UNEQUIVOCAL ALTRUISTIC WORKS, AND THAT THE PLAN FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA WOULD APPEAR TO BE A LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE OF ITS MEDIUM-TERM ALTRUISTIC APPROACHES.

NON-HIERARCHICAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION COULD BE STRUCTURED INTO PLANNING CENTERS MANAGED BY SPECIALISTS, FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS, TECHNICAL TRAINING CENTERS AND ACTION GROUPS ON THE GROUND, ALWAYS IN COORDINATION, TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE, WITH CONVENTIONAL POLITICAL AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL HUMANITARIAN ACTION ORGANIZATIONS.

GIVEN ITS IDEOLOGICAL AND SUBCULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS - A LIFESTYLE FOCUSED ON CONTROLLING AGGRESSION, PROMOTING COOPERATION AND ALTRUISM - IT WOULD BE LOGICAL FOR IT TO DEVELOP NETWORKS OF ACTIVE SYMPATHIZERS WITHIN CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY WHO COULD PROVIDE FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND MANY OTHER SERVICES NECESSARY TO CARRY OUT THE ALTRUISTIC WORK.

THE MATERIAL BASIS OF THE NEW HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION WOULD BE AN ECONOMY BASED ON ALTRUISM.

A LARGE-SCALE "ALTRUISTIC PRODUCTION SYSTEM" WOULD WORK BASED ON THE FACT THAT, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE HIGH LEVEL REACHED BY TECHNOLOGY, A MINORITY OF TECHNICALLY TRAINED AND SUBCULTURALLY MOTIVATED INDIVIDUALS - A DIRECT OR INDIRECT PART OF THE HUMANITARIAN SOCIAL MOVEMENT - WOULD PRODUCE FREE OF CHARGE ALL THE GOODS AND SERVICES NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN A GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE: FOOD, HOUSING, MEDICAL CARE, EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. LET US REMEMBER THAT, TODAY, THE PRODUCTIVE ECONOMY IS ONLY A SMALL PART OF THE GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME.

WHETHER THE ALTRUISTIC PRODUCTION SYSTEM IS VIABLE WILL DEPEND ON THE NEW HUMANITARIAN MOVEMENT BEING ATTRACTIVE TO A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS. ONE PERSON WHO IS A BELIEVER IN THIS NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENT FOR EVERY 10,000 PEOPLE WOULD BE ENOUGH TO START THE FEED AFRICA PROJECT WITH HIS/HER WORK. ONE PERSON WHO IS A BELIEVER FOR EVERY 1,000 PEOPLE WOULD BE ENOUGH TO END ECONOMIC PRECARITY ON THE ENTIRE PLANET. ONE PERSON WHO IS A BELIEVER FOR EVERY 100 PEOPLE WOULD GUARANTEE A GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE PLANET.

THIS SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH SOCIALISM, WHICH IS BASED ON THE POLITICAL IMPOSITION OF ECONOMIC DIRECTIVES SUPPOSEDLY AIMED AT THE COMMON GOOD ON ALL OF SOCIETY, THROUGH LAWS AND COERCION. THE ALTRUISTIC SYSTEM WOULD OPERATE ON THE BASIS OF A MINORITY OF VOLUNTEERS AND DOES NOT SEEK TO INTERVENE IN CONVENTIONAL SOCIETY ANY MORE THAN GENUINE MONASTIC STRUCTURES COULD DO IN THE PAST (INDIRECT CULTURAL INFLUENCE). AND AS IN THE MONASTIC STRUCTURES OF THE PAST, THE MOTIVATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A NON-CONVENTIONAL LIFESTYLE MUST BE OF A PRIVATE KIND.

HOWEVER, IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE MOBILIZATION OF THIS NUMBER OF BELIEVERS, ASSOCIATED WITH ITS UNEQUIVOCAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS, WILL POSITIVELY AFFECT THE CIVILIZATION PROCESS AS A WHOLE.

POLITICAL PROBLEMS TO END HUNGER IN AFRICA

   IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEND A MESSAGE OF DIGNITY AND RESPECT TO THE DESTINATION GOVERNMENTS, ASSOCIATIONS, PARTIES, CHURCHES, CULTURAL GROUPS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS OF ALL KINDS, SO THAT THIS PLAN CAN BE DEVELOPED WITHOUT STRONG OBJECTIONS AMONG THE POPULATION FOR WHICH IT IS INTENDED. IT CAN BE FORMULATED AS PARTIAL REPARATION FOR THE HISTORICAL CATASTROPHES SUFFERED BY THE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN PEOPLE THROUGH THE FAULT OF THE WHITE MAN, SUCH AS SLAVERY, COLONIALISM AND NEOCOLONIALISM.

  GREAT CARE MUST BE TAKEN TO SHOW THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD PRODUCT, TO SEE THAT ITS NUTRITIONAL VALUE IS NOT DISPUTED, TO HAVE GOOD TASTE AND A CAREFUL PRESENTATION, AND TO HAVE IT PROCESSED UNDER HIGHLY HYGIENIC CONDITIONS. IT IS ALWAYS POSSIBLE THAT THEY WILL TRY TO DENIGRATE IT AS IF IT WERE FODDER FOR HUMAN BEINGS, WHEN IN REALITY IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A HIGHLY EVOLVED "STAPLE FOOD".

  CONVENTIONAL PROJECTS TO FIGHT HUNGER IN AFRICA HAVE SO FAR BEEN BASED ON CRITERIA OF CONVENTIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: MARKET IMPROVEMENT, INDUSTRIAL ADVANCES AND INCOME PROGRESS. IN THIS SENSE, THIS HUMANITARIAN WORK COULD ARISE SUSPICIONS, SINCE IT IS UNLIKELY TO DIRECTLY BENEFIT CONVENTIONAL PRODUCTION FACTORS: ALL THE FOOD WOULD BE GIVEN AWAY (JUST AS IS ALREADY DONE WITH GOODS SUCH AS EDUCATION, MEDICAL CARE OR DRINKING WATER) AND THERE WOULD BE PRODUCERS AND MERCHANTS WHO WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR ECONOMIC ACTIVITY.

  HOWEVER, THE CONVENTIONAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS ALSO SEEM OBVIOUS, SINCE THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SUBSISTENCE ECONOMY (WORKING ONLY TO FEED ONESELF) FREES UP A LARGE AMOUNT OF PRODUCTIVE FORCES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION AND INCOME.

  ANOTHER POSSIBLE OBJECTION IS TO CONSIDER THAT THE ENTIRE AFRICAN POPULATION WOULD REMAIN DEPENDENT ON THE PRODUCTION OF SUBSISTENCE GOODS SENT FROM RICH NATIONS. BUT THIS CAN BE EASILY CORRECTED IF AFRICA IMPROVES ITS POLITICAL CONDITIONS AND MAKES IT VIABLE FOR CROPS TO BE PRODUCED ON THE SAME AFRICAN LANDS (THE INITIAL EXAMPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA AS A PRODUCING COUNTRY COULD BE THE KEY). ON THE OTHER HAND, AFRICA IS ALREADY DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS - NOT FREE - OF FOOD FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD.

  IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE SOCIAL PRESSURE SO THAT NO ONE OBSTACLES AN UNEQUIVOCAL GOOD SUCH AS THE DEFINITIVE END OF THE FOOD EMERGENCY. IN REGIONS OF GREAT INSECURITY, THE TRANSIT OF TRANSPORTS WITH RATIONS CAN BE SUBJECT TO POLITICAL AND/OR CRIMINAL ATTACKS. IT IS TO BE HOPED THAT ALL SOCIAL FACTORS -INCLUDING CRIMINAL GROUPS- WILL BE INFLUENCED BY THE UNMISTAKABLY BENEVOLENT NATURE OF THESE SHIPMENTS. THIS HAS GENERALLY BEEN THE CASE WITH HUMANITARIAN WORK FROM ABROAD, WHICH HAS RARELY BEEN SYSTEMATICALLY ATTACKED IN AFRICA.

 

  ON THE OTHER HAND, ALTHOUGH THE CASE OF POLITICAL DISPUTES OVER THE CONTROL OF HUMANITARIAN AID IN VERY POOR COUNTRIES IS WELL KNOWN, IT SHOULD BE BEARED IN MIND THAT DISPUTES ONLY OCCUR WHEN THIS AID IS SCARCE AND AS A SCARCE GOOD IT LOGICALLY HAS MARKET VALUE. THIS PLAN MUST THEREFORE ALWAYS MAKE IT CLEAR THAT ITS OBJECTIVE CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED IF PRODUCTION IS MASSIVE AND SUBSISTENCE GOODS BECOME ABUNDANT TO THE POINT OF LOSING THEIR MARKET VALUE.

  ANOTHER POSSIBLE PROBLEM MIGHT HAVE TO DO WITH THE IDEOLOGY OF THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION, IF THIS IS, AS SEEMS LIKELY, OF AN UNCONVENTIONAL KIND. AFRICAN NATIONALISM IS OFTEN LINKED TO DEEPLY DEEP-ROOTED RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS AND CAN BE HOSTILE TO OPPOSED BELIEF, EVEN IF THOSE WHO HOLD SUCH BELIEF KEEP THEM PRIVATE.