How AIDS brings famine nearer

Concern chose participants, handed out vegetable and corn seeds, hauled in fertilizer, brought in some 150 small manpowered pumps, explained the process, and pushed for a change of attitude. It also helped to encourage the farming of marshlands that are traditionally not used for cultivation.

"The objectives of the program are to produce food for consumption or sale and to produce seed for subsequent planting," says Danny Rowen, spokesman for Concern in Malawi. "In each of the five locations where the program is being implemented, we are reaching out to approximately 50 villages. The average number of [families] per village is 30, so it is estimated that there are 45,000 beneficiaries," he says, accounting for six people per family.

The Malawian government, meanwhile, has begun a massive crop-diversification project.

"We have embarked on a civic-education campaign to teach our people to diversify their eating habits and move away from a total dependence on corn to tubers for example, and other foods like rice," says Lucius Chikuni, government commissioner for disaster preparedness relief and rehabilitation. He adds that the government was using social workers in the villages to spread the word on the value of drought-resistant crops such as cassava versus corn, which is sensitive to climatic conditions.

With the help of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, the Malawian government has also begun a project to provide 200,000 small pumps to poor rural families. "It will take $240 million to address the current food crisis here," says Mr. Chikuni. "To buy 200,000 pumps requires only $80 million. It's a sensible investment."

Throughout Africa, there are hundreds of groups like Concern, governments like that of Malawi, and many donors worldwide that run, fund, and encourage development projects, big and small, which work to change people's behavior and, thus, better their long-term prospects.

There are NGOs and UN agencies working to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and change sexual behavior; there are church groups, government bodies, and donor agencies encouraging better farming techniques; and there are lobby groups and individuals agitating for fairer trade conditions and begging for more international attention to the development issues and problems at hand.

"I am able to bring home food, and I have a feeling I will be able to do this again next year," says Mr. Kamoja, the winter-cropping farmer, as he pulls his old straw hat over his eyes. "What more can I say?"

CARE
800-521-CARE
www.care.org

Catholic Relief Services
800-736-3467
www.catholicrelief.org

Concern Worldwide
800-59-CONCERN
www.concernusa.org

Oxfam America
800-77-OXFAM
www.oxfamamerica.org

Save the Children
800-729-1446
www.savechildren.net

The First Church of Christ, Scientist
Healing Response Fund
PO Box 865, Boston, MA 02117
800-288-7155 ext. 3205
www.tfccs.com

United Nations World Food Program
(011) 39 06 6513 2411
www.wfp.org

World Vision
888-511-6571
www.worldvision.org

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