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.