How do you disguise environmental destruction as development or how do you present the destruction of forests as development projects for the benefit of the residents?
Bruce Wrobel is a man "with his heart in the right place", as Bruce is an entrepreneur in the agricultural business who plans to solve the hunger problems of the people of the world in general and the people of the African continent in particular, by involving residents in sustainable ventures.
Bruce is the "operations officer" of Herakles Farms, a company with very rich friends. Bruce loves Africa and that's why he and his friends meet (on golf courses) and ponder (among other things) how they can end hunger, for that they also founded an association (not for profit) called "All for Africa". Of course, Bruce and his friends do not state that they are engaged in farming to make money, instead they try to show that they are "devoting themselves to a noble human cause".
But what Bruce says is not what Bruce does ("between saying and doing" T.K. Persa). Bruce wants to grow an oil palm plantation, a plantation whose area will be about 750 square kilometers and which will extend in areas bordering nature reserves with one of the richest biodiversity in the world (south-west Cameroon).
If Bruce succeeds in his ambitions, it will be the largest oil palm plantation in Africa. The realization of the project will cause settlements to be "moved" to the detriment of people and environmental destruction. A joint report from the "Oakland Institute" and "Green Peace" reveal the real threat of the initiative to establish an oil palm plantation in areas that will be leased to the company for 99 years.
The global appetite for palm oil shows no sign of retreat and to satisfy the demand, Africa is becoming a target for investors. Research by "Green Peace" shows the extent of the investments and the danger that the giant plantations will pose to the environment in which they are planted, a danger that must be prevented.
The discussions between companies, entrepreneurs and governments are conducted in a fog that does not allow for transparency, since the leasing of huge areas by commercial companies is part of the land robbery that takes place in Africa, the case of Bruce and his "friends" is a typical example of the process. a process whose legality is in doubt.
The legality of the companies (and subsidiaries) that sign the agreements is put to the test when residents are evicted from their lands and lose their headquarters. "Green Peace" researchers in the field (in Cameroon) discover that Bruce and his friends continue to develop the plantation despite lawsuits from locals that are pending in courts. Bruce claims that "the project will stimulate the local economy, and create jobs". "Revenues from the plantation will be used to finance development", but so far there is no detail of how and how many jobs there will be.
The "loudest silence" is around the fact that the project will cause the destruction of the natural forest and fatal damage to a rich and diverse natural environment, if the damage was for food production it could be said that it is "half trouble". But destruction and damage for fuel production?! It must be said honestly and simply that the Herakles Farms venture is the wrong venture, in the wrong place. Bruce and his "friends" must be stopped now.
What brought me to tell the African story is the need and importance to consider every development project in all its aspects and the future consequences. This need is not always realized, as I have long seen how Israeli entrepreneurs develop huge dairy farms in India. For many Indians, cows like many other animals are sacred and therefore vegetarianism is an accepted way of life in the subcontinent.
We have already seen that vegetarianism is an economical way of utilization compared to the consumption of animal food, economical in production, economical in consumption and economical in environmental damage. So really, kudos to the entrepreneurs who develop production methods (farms) for food for vulnerable populations. But perhaps it would be worthwhile, simple, cheap, environmental and more correct to develop improved methods for field crops. Perhaps it is more correct to teach the (vegetarian) residents to grow vegetables and fruits (and not meat), perhaps it is more correct to rely on local tradition when they come to "improve the living conditions" of a mostly vegetarian population?
Because as in the African story: when promoting projects it is right and proper that they be adapted to the area, to the tradition and to the local population while doing minimal damage to the natural environment.
10 תגובות
I don't understand why you deny the Kalashnikov, which is one of the smartest inventions of the twentieth century.
In my opinion, the area of palm plantations should be tripled, the elephants and the various kinds of palm plantations are unimportant even though they are very fashionable.
I didn't understand how you saw all this in what your daughter said. Nothing and a half was said about intelligence. It is possible that their lack of understanding of development was a little exaggerated, but only a little - from many conversations with Africans (in Africa, not in Israel) many of them do look to the West in the hope that it will redeem them.
And it's interesting that you brought Ethiopia, one of the most failed countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as a development model for something. It is true that the tribal rivalries are negligible compared to the other African countries (except for the tribes in the Omo Valley whose unique length of life still creates such rivalries), but the class differences between women and men are still beautiful to them. And let's not forget the period of the reign of General Mengasto, who, except for the socialist ideas by which he was influenced, had no hint of colloquialism in his bloody reign.
And blaming all tribal rivalries on the white man is no less a colonialist concept than what you described... from the moment you absolve them of responsibility for blood feuds, you treat them as "the slow kid in class" - what is this if not colonialism at its best?
Asaf Shalom
There were some mistakes in your list
* Palm oil is not fuel, it is a raw material in the food industry. Most of the "vegetable fat" that appears in the ingredient lists is palm oil.
* Indian vegetarians drink milk and eat dairy products.
* Where "we have already seen that vegetarianism is an economical way of utilization compared to the consumption of animal food"?
It turns out that years of meetings and conversations with people and women in Ethiopia,
in Kenya and Tanzania, in South Africa, in Zimbabwe and Zambia, in Namibia and Botswana,
are considered less than a chance meeting with an African woman in Israel.
It turns out that the Kalashnikov was invented and created by the lazy African men,
It turns out that a western economy that disadvantages anyone who is not strong enough
Better than a simple existence from a household or a small herd,
It turns out that colonialism is positive as it is the impetus for the desire for self-government
and economic development,
It turns out that only in Africa is there hostility between neighboring nations.
In short, it turns out that globalization for all its harms, troubles and damages....
constitutes the best and correct method for human existence,
Hallelujah!
To assemble
Thanks for the link. I thought if it was possible to grow it in the Negev, but apparently it is out of bounds.
Happy Holidays
Yehuda
And what about Andrea Rossi? What about Andrea for God's sake!!,,,!!
Western 'perception', perhaps? But have you ever had a conversation, a real conversation, with African women. Women who have learned that in the Western world men are the main breadwinners, while they have to work hard to support the household, while the men sit and do nothing, and then as soon as they are very bored they just decide to use the same Kalashnikovs, and the main sufferers are the women again.
In addition, conquering countries ruled almost everywhere on earth, including Israel. And when nations rebelled and gained independence, they immediately realized that they had to develop the economy, but most Africans continue to live from day to day, because of those tribal wars, wars that the West did not invent. Until the people of Africa accept the existence of one with the other, any foreigner who makes promises and pays money will succeed there.
To Judah
http://www.gamnon.net/AG-NewHerbal/Herbs04-Dalet/Heb-Dalet-AfricanOilPalm.htm
to her daughter
I don't suspect you of any of the qualities I will immediately list (arrogance and racism), but you are a captive
In the accepted view in Western countries, a view according to which:
"The Africans lack skills and will, have low "intelligence", are lazy and lack "motivation",
A perception that is measured according to a Western scale that does not fit African conditions,
A concept that brought upon Africans the occupation and "colonization" of "developed" countries,
Those "developed" countries applied to the territories that were divided between tribes the division into states,
Countries whose borders were enforced on the residents without any understanding and consideration of data on the ground,
And so the occupation and "colonization" by "developed" Western countries created situations in them
There is no separation between tribes, there is no separation between traditional enemies
And to intensify the problems, sources of "modern" weapons were opened,
So if in the past there were conflicts solved with sticks and knives
Today there are ... Kalashnikovs and Rumi-Pomegranates,
and the results accordingly,
In many African countries it is possible to identify the occupier from whom they were liberated
By the level of development and form of government, with the countries at the bottom of the list
that were under the rule of Portugal and in ascending order: Germany and Great Britain,
Perhaps the best example is a country that has been independent for most of its history... Ethiopia
Indeed, there are almost no "tribal or gender wars" in it.
And again with all due respect to the Israelis who are "running" to develop backward countries,
With all due respect to the skills and abilities of entrepreneurs
Even when the entrepreneurs and developers do it on the mission of the homeland,
Neither they (nor the homeland) act for altruistic reasons.
You can write a lot, and also talk, about environmental destruction in Africa, but the political reality there is the one that does not allow the development of agriculture. There have been many attempts, including by Israelis, to develop agriculture in Africa, but tribal or gender wars, women against men, prevented further development, on the other hand, people with a lot of money succeed in bribing tribal leaders there, and thus they get all kinds of privileges to cultivate the land, And sometimes it is land that is not at all clear to whom it belongs, because each time a different tribe sits on it that won one war or another. Moreover, most Africans do not even understand the concept of development, for them everything that the white man does, and pays them money for it - is development, and if the white man teaches them to work, even if the work is easier and more productive, then the very fact that they have to work - transmits They have a kind of slavery.
Is it possible to get details about the requirements of the oil palm for growing it - water, soil temperature, etc.?
Happy holiday
Sabdarmish Yehuda