Gas prices affect us all

I want to get back to writing about the programs a little bit.

When we were in Lilongwe, we had the opportunity to visit Farmer's Club. This project is extremely important for a couple of reasons. First of all, 80% of the Malawian population make their living through agriculture. The Farmer's Clubs organize farmers into groups where they learn farming methods which are better for the environment(so that the field will remain usable year after year) and produce a better yield. The extension workers also emphasize diversification of crops, which allows for a more secure income. Farmers in the clubs share their resources and knowledge. They also raise animals, improve irrigation and storing methods and much, much more.

The other reason agriculture is significant is the limited source of oil in the world. When the Soviet Union broke down and North Korea lost their source of oil, 1 million people died of hunger. Cuba, however, foresaw the problem and reorganized their society to have local agriculture. We need to do this in the U.S. and all over the world, since a lot of our food comes to us on trucks fueled by oil.
In this way, Africa has an advantage over the majority of the world: their agriculture does not depend on oil, but rather physical labor. We need to keep these local farms going in Africa, and projects like Farmers Club are making them better.

Speaking of oil (which I know everyone is sick of hearing about) I couldn't believe when I saw on the news that Bush still wants to hack up Alaska. I truly hope and pray he does not get the opportunity before he leaves office, and that the next president will not follow in his footsteps. It blows my mind that people are still searching for a limited resource, rather than focusing on cultivating renewable energy like solar, wind and some forms of ethanol like sugar cane. (In Brazil they have been using sugar cane to fuel their cars for over 20 years).

I say some forms of ethanol because the use of corn for fuel has been part of the global food crisis. I myself was uneducated and proud when I bought hangers from Walmart (of all places I thought!) made of corn. However, I felt pretty sheepish when I learned of the implications of using corn for things other than food.

Back to oil...even in a country like Malawi, where 90% of the people do not own cars, rising gas prices are felt by everyone. The price of the minibus increased by 20 kwacha, which is maybe somewhere around 15 U.S. cents. This is not a big deal for me, but I make much more than most Malawians. For people living on the equivalent of one or two American dollars a day, 15 cents is a big deal.