Oh those BAD capitalists. A Biased BBC reader observes with regard to this item on the BBC ;
Traditionalregurgitation of agitprop press release from “The Oakland Institute”which five seconds googling reveals to be an activist lefty pressure groupdevoted to the usual stuff and established to counter “conservative”influence. All unmentioned in the BBC’s “think tank” description. Thelink from the front page refers to a hedge fund “grab” of”Africa’s land” – ie the land belongs to Africa not to the people whosold it, and it’s a grab not a sale. The “hedge funds” who aregrabbing the land are, en passant, awarded the blame for the 2008 financialcrisis. All capitalists are equal I suppose. To be fair one of the guilty menis allowed to claim he’s innocent, and the commentary mentions that theAfricans get paid better for working on the properties than they get elsewhere,so it’s not uninterrupted propaganda. Just nearly uninterrupted.
A nearly truth one might say, what the BBC does best!
Yes, BBC-NUJ has a warped understanding of Africa’s history, omitting, e.g.:
1. Islamic imperialism and enslavement of blacks over centuries;
2. British, French, American action in 18th & 19th centuries against Islamic slave traders and jihad pirates;
3. Black confiscation of land owned by whites;
4. China’s current ‘neo-colonialism’.
However much Hedge funds grab it will be miniscule in comparison to what China has already “grabbed”.
An eagerly presented peice by the BBC which, of course, has the one object of introducing the concept of ‘land grab’ by ‘Hedge Funds’ and tending towards the ‘neo-colonialist’ view of the Left. The Oakland Institute is based in the US but is decidedly Left. Hedge Funds are, of course, given recent experience universally mistrusted and stereotyped.
A less ‘edgy’ report running to 90 pages has been produced by the FAO which is a full and informative examination of the phenomenon of the acquisition of land in Africa (only 12% of African arable land is currently productive and of that 60% is poorly farmed. Africa could be a breadbasket….why is for another place)
Needless to say it is not just ‘Hedge Funds’…Korea, Qatar, even India are involved among others.
But lets look at what some of the ‘Hedge Funds’ are doing and what has pointed them to Africa.
I quote from the FAO.
“With regard to biofuels, government consumption targets (in the European Union, for instance) and financial incentives have been a key driving force.”
So it is in response to Kyoto Carbon reduction targets that the ‘Hedge Funds’ are active. They are responding to the Green Agenda.
Sure the next stage of development for Africa will be to develop Agriculture and the skills will only come from abroad if it makes business or security sense.
The BBC fails to acknowledge that whatever the issues, starving Africans are the result of indigenous practice and social structures deriving from those cultural norms. Within 30 years, some have argued, Africa will export surplus to its requirements ,but this depends on the building of fully functioning, efficient markets and trade.
But as long as the Neo-colonialist tag is deployed, the BBC is not carrying out its duty to inform but merely trotting out a leftist narrative which does not address the real issues.
PS
the Oakland Institute is pretty pleased with the BBC report.
Scroll along the News Images on their site and there the BBC report is to be found as a trophy screengrab.
http://media.oaklandinstitute.org/
Africans never grab land from other Africans, of course, always treat each other with respect and dignity.
z0mg raysism!!1!
Asuka,
I know my black in-laws would agree 😉
Good catch. The BBC once again fails to inform and is a dishonest propaganda platform for causes they support.