THE Chichewa people in Malawi have a saying: Njala ndi chilombo. It means “Hunger is a beast”.
Today, the beast is rampaging around the world and particularly Africa, where shortage of food threatens to undo recent economic and political gains. Food prices have doubled over the last three years and the cost of cereals to the neediest countries in Africa is projected to rise by another 74 per cent in 2007/08. There have been food riots in Egypt, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Madagascar.
Climate change is partly to blame. By lowering yields in grain-exporting countries…
