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buckbova | 8 years ago

Then why must Africa receive millions in aid from the West every single year? Why can't they help themselves?

http://www.chronicle.co.zw/one-million-receive-food-aid

In 2015, the U.S. provided more than $8 billion in assistance to 47 sub-Saharan countries; and USAID maintains 27 regional and bilateral missions in Africa.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/323198-...

discuss

order

no2empire|8 years ago

USAID "assistance" to Africa and other countries is more of a gimme to the US big agriculture lobby than to Africa. The US pays big agriculture to send food and agriculture equipment to Africa and other countries. The temporary food abundance often destroys the country's ability to build up its agriculture. Also, it comes with strings attached where the country has to use patented seeds in order to get the aid, making the local farmers dependent on sending money to Monsanto every year - this happened in Haiti and Monsanto is doing it in Africa as well.

Also, USAID is infamous for spreading money around in order to destabilize governments who do not follow the US's dictates.

This notion that USAID is some benevolent aid program is ridiculous. It is a brutal instrument of US foreign policy and big business, cloaked in a very thin veil of liberalism/charity/humanitarianism.

buckbova|8 years ago

Majority is truly just that, benevolent aid. You want to spin some tall tales conspiracy then let's see some citation on the matter.

http://www.care.org/our-impact/usaid-technical-project-brief...

Sure American companies benefit, sure there's some fraud, sure some of it is a foreign policy decision in the US best interests. But a lot of good is done.

madiathomas|8 years ago

Because West is stealing gazillion times more from Africa in return. When you refuse, war and/or sanctions follow to cripple your country. Then they can loot in peace. You seriously think USA is just helping out of their good hearts?

eru|8 years ago

Alas, if only it was even a zero-sum game were eg Africa only loses what the USA steals from them.

The reality is far bleaker---but also more hopeful: rich countries don't benefit from (causing) bad conditions in poor countries, at least nearly not as much as the bad conditions cost the poor countries.

pizza|8 years ago

Wait til you hear how much Israel gets alone. Aid isn't a no-strings attached handout, it's policy in dollar units.