What do you think when someone talks about Africa? Most people will think of third world countries and civil wars. One thing that many people don’t think of is that some of the African countries could have better economies if the United States would stop their food aid programs. The United States exports millions and millions of pounds of food aid, mainly in the form of wheat or other grains.(1) African farmers can grow all of these crops and the farmers can sell their own grain. This would help to improve their economy and help feed their nations. It would also save the United States a lot of money that could be used to improve our country. I propose that the United States cut back our food aid and instead invest the money saved back into the United States or invest in the African countries. This would serve two purposes: one, African farmers could sell their own crops and stimulate African economies, and two, the United States could use the money saved for many other things.

Currently African farmers cannot sell their own crops because no one wants to buy their crops when they can get American food aid for free. The African crops just sit in barns and rot. This is a huge waste of food, time, and effort. Not only does the food go to waste, but African countries also become dependent on American food aid. This makes the countries even worse off because they don’t need to work very hard in order to get food. People can just do what they want and still be fed while the people who do work cannot sell the products of their labor. This causes almost no money to go into African economies, which keeps the African people dependent on foreign food aid.(2)

Africans are not the only people dependent on food aid programs. The American wheat industry is very dependent on food aid programs. The United States buys all of the wheat and other grain produced for their food aid programs from American farmers.(6) The government basically tells farmers to grow as much food as they can and the government guarantees it will buy all of it at a certain price.(5) Now this may not seem all that bad, which it is not, but if it were not labeled as foreign food aid it could be construed as illegal. The World Trade Organization has laws against dumping, which is the export of goods to a foreign nation below the price that the company charges in its home country. The law was put into effect to protect the nations that are getting products dumped on them, and allow them to sell their own products in their countries.(3) This is what the United States is doing except it is disguised as foreign food aid. Another industry that benefits from food aid is the shipping industry. The shipping industry ships the food aid from America to the Africa. This costs money and the American government pays for it. The ships also need fuel, which is a costly commodity, to make these food aid shipments.(6)

The United States is not the only country trying to help Africans out; many other countries send aid to help them out as well. The difference is that the other nations send money and needed supplies instead of food. The other countries would try to sell their crops in African, but they just cannot compete with the United States just giving wheat and other grains away. This may not seem all that bad, but it hurts the world’s view of America a little.(6)

The United States comes off as the good guy, to the American public, but in reality they are hurting African countries. My proposal would cut off food aid to Africa, and instead we would send money and other needed help. This would allow African nations to improve their economies and farmers to sell their crops. People may say” What about the American farmers?” The American farmers can also sell their crops to African nations; they just would not be able to give them away. The farmers might have to turn to selling the crops for a little less, but the crops would still get sold. This may hurt our farmers slightly, but isn’t worth it to help out another nation? Another option would be to send seeds for crops instead of crops themselves. This would allow African farmers to produce even more bountiful harvests. The farmers could then sell their own crops instead of letting them rot away. This would stimulate jobs because their will be a new need for more farmers and farm workers. This would still allow the United States to buy from American farmers, while letting the Africans produce and sell their own crops.

All struggling nations need help from outside sources, but they cannot be handed everything. If everything is given to these nations then they will gain nothing. If these nations are allowed to try for themselves with just a little help they will be better off in the long run. Allowing African farmers to sell their own crops would strengthen their economy. Over time African economies may improve to the point where they no longer need foreign aid. This would mean even more money that can be spent on our own people or other nations in need. This would also brighten the world’s view of the United States. The American wheat farmers may take a slight hit, but they will still be profitable. This proposal will not solve all of the problems of Africa, but it will go a long way towards solving them.

Citations

1. A Foreign Aid Disaster in the Making, April 2, 2006 http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1715

2. Africa: U.S. Foreign Assistance Issues, April 2, 2006 http://www.cnie.org/NLE/CRSreports/economics/econ-51.cfm?&CFID=6044850&CFTOKEN=71994140&CFID=6044850&CFTOKEN=71994140

3. Anti-Dumping, April 1, 2006 http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/adp_e/adp_e.htm

4. Fifty Years of U.S. Food Aid and Its Role in Reducing World Hunger, April 2, 2006 http://www.ers.usda.gov/Amberwaves/September04/Features/usfoodaid.htm

5. The Price of Aid, April 1, 2006 http://www.frif.com/new2004/aid.html

6. U.N. appeals for greater food aid for refugees, April 1, 2006 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7279844/did/9339348

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