Today on Listen Up. Farmers fight for a better way to use aid dollars in Africa.
Today the battle over wise use of aid dollars to help the hungriest
people. Should foreign aid be used to grow food in Africa
and sustain its struggling agricultural economy, or should it be used
to deliver food
Today, we examine the dilemma from the perspective of the Africans who
are rallying for a farmer-centred solution in their countries.
We’ll also talk to the National Coordinator for Micah Challenge
Canada who is working hard to increase Canadian Foreign Aid and use it
more effectively to help those in need. Stu Clark Malex Aledibikiya The Fraser Valley Gleaners Micah Challenge Canada Fidelis Wainaina Cal Bombay Ministries Lorna's Wrap
Stu Clark is the Senior Policy Advisor for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank is a Christian-based food aid and development
organization that collects donations of grain, cash and other
agricultural commodities for distribution to the world's hungry.
It is owned by 13 Canadian church members who work with international
partners to ensure food gets to where it is intended to go.
The Foodgrains Bank manages a centralized food/grain collection system
on behalf of its member churches, negotiates master agreements with
CIDA, the Canadian Wheat Board and other organizations, manages
procurement and shipping for members, provides expert advice and
services to members on food programming, and engages in policy and
development education activities related to hunger and food security.
Malex Aledibikiya has been a development professional since 1976 when
he started his career as an agricultural extension officer. He earned a
Masters in Development Studies in 1988, with specializations in
“Mobilization Strategies and the Rural Poor” and
“Women and Agricultural Change”. Since 1996 he has been the
Country Programme Coordinator in Ghana for the Centre for Information
on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA) and the
Executive Secretary of the Association of Church Development Projets
(ACDEP), based in Tamale, Northern Ghana. He is a published author on
sustainable agricultural development and a vocal advocate of pro-poor
approaches, global peace and justice.
Malex’s philosophy on Development:
‘Development is as much about change as it is about global
peace and justice. The change starts with yourself. It is
not a job to be done. It is about self-reflection and
transformation”
“Small projects create change for small people. Big projects
intend a revolution for small people, a revolution that neither happens
nor sustains itself. Small projects stimulate the necessary change
that can build up to the revolution that big projects seek for the
poor”
The Fraser Valley Gleaners are a unique and resourceful charity of
Farmers helping Farmers that take unmarketable produce in the Fraser
Valley of BC - process it into dried soup mix - and send it to needy
communities all around the world. John Fast is one of many
volunteers.
Canadian Micah Challenge is focusing on increasing Canadian foreign aid
and using it more effectively, reducing the crippling debts of many
developing countries and making sure that international trade in
agriculture brings benefits to the world’s small farmers. The
National Coordinator for Micah Challenge Canada is Paul Robinson.
Fidelis Wainaina
Fidelis Wainaina is Founder of the
Maseno Interchristian Child Self Help Group (MICH), Kenya and has
served on the international council of the Micah Challenge campaign
from its inception in 2004. Fidelis founded MICH to support orphans and
street children at risk due to hunger and poverty and aggravated
by HIV/AIDS. Her work has been internationally recognized and
celebrated when she was awarded the YARA award recently. As an African
farmer, she says that CIDA made a big mistake when they dropped
agriculture and aiding the small farmers from their priorities. She has
won various awards for her contribution in ensuring food security and
helping widows and orphans in Western Kenya farm their land and grow
food in a sustainable way. She feels strongly that the solution for the
New African Green Revolution has to come out of Africa itself…
and not from the Western World.
We’ve often listened to the voices of the poor, voices translated into
little sound bites and images and explained by others. But today
–African farmers wanting to grow food in Africa, for , asked us to
listen to their ideas. With the help of a Christian farming agency in
Canada, they came to the federal Aid trough – to Canada’s process of
handing out tax dollars for African food, and argued for a smarter way
of doing things. Surely we saw African leadership at its best today
with ideas that deserve to be respected and supported. It comes down
to basic respect and taking the time to understand what is required to
provide the ongoing basic human right of food for all. There’s more on
Canada Food Grains and the programs to grow food for orphans and street
children at www.listenutpv.com.
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
