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POOR SUPER RICH EMASWATI

29/06/2024 07:30:00 Mfanukhona Nkambule

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We are poor but rich.

Eswatini has opportunities for economic and business growth. This is one country that provides a conducive environment for personal prosperity and national growth. EmaSwati are a blessed people to have vast lands to produce sufficient food for exports. Virgin land is plenty and fertile. That is the only viable and rich resource that we have. One never goes wrong with food production. Those who live in the rural areas or peri-urban communities have thousands of fields which are lying idle. Government has unused farms throughout the country that should be leased out to serious farmers interested in large scale commercial farming.

We have to study the global market to ascertain the type of crops each of the 163 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) need. Many countries need food. We can supply them, only if we change our mindset to be a highly productive society. Some countries have built industries and homes where they should be doing farming. They now expect us to supply them with vegetables and fruits. We have rivers and streams. We have Great Usuthu, Lusushwana, Komati, Lomati, Ngwemphisi, Mponono, Mbuluzi and other dams that we can use for irrigation. The problem with many of us is that we expect government to always create jobs for us. Our undoing is that we don’t create jobs for ourselves and the nation at large.
We have goats and sheep, we have cattle and pigs, we have horses and donkeys, we have chickens and rabbits.

Testimony

The European Union (EU) can bear testimony that our beef nourishes the body and that our soil produces the right citrus for their body. Let us penetrate the global market with our garlic. Our garlic is healthy and curative. China wants it. We have to ship it to Taiwan and Turkey and the USA, it looks like, is ready to place orders. We have to invoice the international community. The problem with us is that we want to always hold rallies, deliver speeches and shout at government. Instead of venturing into agriculture and other blue-collar jobs, we are thinking of how we can march and deliver petitions. When we are not marching and insulting leaders, we are definitely drinking alcohol.

In December 2023, the Times of Eswatini released shocking statistics on alcohol consumption in the country. Tiny as it were, geographically or otherwise, Eswatini was ranked third in the world in alcohol consumption. What is this? As early as 6am, some of our fellow emaSwati are already drunk. Statistics issued by Wise Voter showed that emaSwati, who took alcoholic beverages, were over indulging. According to the Times of Eswatini, the survey was based on individual consumption, not a percentage of the entire population. The survey statistics defined alcoholic beverages as those which went through the process of fermentation and have been a staple of human society as far back as records go.

Examples of alcoholic beverages include beer, wine and hard liquor (such as whiskey, tequila and vodka). In 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated that Eswatini was among countries identified to have high per capita consumption of alcohol globally, estimated to be at 9.9 litres per capita compared to a global average of 6.4 litres per capita. Other countries that followed Eswatini were Maldives with a consumption of 33.7 litres of alcohol consumption.

It was said that the kingdom has a prevalence alcohol dependence of 0.9 per cent. South Africa was placed in seventh position, with consumption of 29.9 litres per capita. The neighbouring country, according to the report, has a prevalence alcohol dependence of 2.4 per cent, which is a point below Eswatini. The statistics used data from 180 countries in the world. The country with the least alcohol consumption, according to Wise Voter, was Kuwait with one litre per capita. I want to remind emaSwati that heavy consumption of alcohol can be dangerous and lead to alcoholism. Serious side effects include decreased motor skills function, liver failure, cancer and death.

Impact

Our sister newspaper referred to a study that was conducted by Oxford Economics when assessing the economic impact of the Eswatini’s beer industry in 2019, with a focus on its contribution to GDP, jobs and taxes. That study was presented by Minister of Commerce Industry and Trade, Manqoba Khumalo. It was mentioned that the beer sector contributed around 1.2 per cent to Eswatini’s national gross domestic product (GDP).Khumalo said one in every 91 jobs in Eswatini was linked to the economic activity of beer, which amounted to more than 3 200 jobs and over 25 000 livelihoods. Furthermore, two per cent of national tax revenue collected comes from economic activity linked to beer. Indeed, we are a drinking nation. How are we going to improve our livelihoods when we are so thirsty like this?

At a meeting of the Committee on Agriculture on May 23-24, 2024, WTO members reviewed the progress of various issues under the committee’s work mandate, as well as high-interest topics such as food security, technology transfer and transparency. Members also continued the regular peer review of each other’s farm policies to ensure compliance with WTO disciplines. A counter-notification regarding one member’s domestic support was also discussed. One can then see how serious WTO has taken the issue. Members heard updates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Bank, the World Food Programme and the International Grains Council (IGC) regarding recent market developments and food insecurity.

International organisations were invited to the committee to share experiences in a follow-up to the MC12 declaration on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the MC12 declaration on food insecurity. The FAO highlighted persistent severe food insecurity, particularly exacerbated by the conflict in the Gaza region. In 2023, 9.2 per cent of the world population, totalling 281.6 million people in 59 countries, suffered from chronic hunger, an increase of 24 million since 2022. According to the WTO, FAO introduced its activities on different fronts to alleviate the situation.

WTO made me understand that the World Bank briefed on its new Global Challenges Programme on Food and Nutrition Security, with one of its main objectives being to deliver a greater impact in addressing food insecurity through a focus on prevention and preparedness and changing the way food is produced. To achieve that goal, it will not only mobilise a dedicated fund but also encourage governments to repurpose the annual spending of E10.8 trillion (USD 600 billion) on farm support to better respond to food insecurity. I hope our Ministry of Agriculture is on board.

Highlighted

The IGC highlighted changes in agricultural commodity markets, noting price declines in main crops such as soybeans, maize and wheat, while rice prices remain high. It also noted the resilience and agility of the global logistics sector, which ensured the supply of crops despite disruptions in the Suez and Panama Canals. The Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has many times addressed the issue of hunger and food insecurity around the world. FAO’s imperative is to make sure no one suffers from hunger. Yet, while many people may not be ‘hungry’ in the sense that they are suffering physical discomfort caused by a severe lack of dietary energy, they may still be food insecure. It is said they might have access to food to meet their energy requirements, yet are uncertain that it will last or they may be forced to reduce the quality and/or quantity of the food they eat in order to get by.

Much has changed since 1974, when FAO first began reporting on the extent of hunger in the world. The world population is growing steadily and is increasingly urbanised. FAO advises that technology is evolving incessantly and the economy is more and more globalised. According to FAO, the way food is produced, distributed and consumed worldwide has also changed dramatically. The organisation says this vastly different world calls for new ways of thinking about hunger and food insecurity. As part of its mandate, it must be said that FAO strives to eradicate hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition. Supporting the livelihoods of small-scale food producers, improving the resilience of food production systems and encouraging the sustainable use of natural resources are all key to fulfilling this mandate and achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2), a world without hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

What is hunger?

FAO defines hunger as an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy. It becomes chronic when the person does not consume a sufficient amount of calories (dietary energy) on a regular basis to lead a normal, active and healthy life. For decades, FAO has used the Prevalence of Undernourishment indicator to estimate the extent of hunger in the world, thus ‘hunger’ may also be referred to as undernourishment.

What is food insecurity?

A person is food insecure when they lack regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development and an active and healthy life. This may be due to unavailability of food and/or lack of resources to obtain food. Food insecurity can be experienced at different levels of severity. FAO measures food insecurity using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) shown below:

How are hunger and food insecurity related?
FAO educates us that when people are severely food insecure, they have run out of food and gone a day or more without eating. In other words, they have most likely experienced hunger.
insecurity. Severe food insecurity is one extreme of the scale, but even moderate food insecurity is worrisome in Eswatini as well as rightly pointed to the fact by those who are analysing the situation. For those who are moderately food insecure, access to food is uncertain. They might have to sacrifice other basic needs, just to be able to eat. When they do eat, it might be whatever is most readily available or cheapest, which might not be the most nutritious food. The rise in obesity and other forms of malnutrition is partly a result of this phenomenon.
Highly processed foods that are energy-dense, high in saturated fats, sugars and salt are often cheaper and easier to come by than fresh fruits and vegetables.

Eating those foods may mean your daily requirement of calories is met, but you are missing essential nutrients to keep your body healthy and functioning well. In addition, the stress of living with uncertain access to food and going periods without food can lead to physiological changes that can contribute to overweight and obesity. Children facing hunger, food insecurity and undernutrition today may have a higher risk of overweight, obesity and chronic diseases like diabetes later in life. In many countries, undernutrition and obesity coexist and both can be consequences of food insecurity.