1985 - Maurice F. Strong - Beyond the Famine: New Hope for Africa

In this lecture Maurice F. Strong looked at the problems facing Africa through the lens of colonialism. Noting how it wrenched Africans from their traditional ways of life and made them subject to alien political and economic interests, he argued that many current problems emanate from this historical context. The recent famine in Ethiopia was as much caused by the political conditions as it was from a lack of rainfall over consecutive years, specifically the deficiencies and imbalances within the development processes in different African societies. Some of the more stable African countries were able to successfully implement drought preparedness programs, but for others such as Ethiopia the scope of the problem was overwhelming. In addition, logistical problems and the lack of sufficient infrastructure meant that though food aid was plentiful, transportation for the food was not. This was all part of a backdrop of population growth that exceeds agricultural growth, low commodity prices - combined with the 1970s oil crisis leading to the debt crisis - and rising military expenditures. On the other hand, Africa has a higher ratio of arable land per capita that any other developing region, a strong culture and value system based on the extended family and mutual support to promote development, energy and mineral resources and receives substantial foreign aid. He finally reviewed the Lagos Plan of Action on development and critiqued some of its elements.