As US Congress debates a revised farm bill, poor, hungry farmers in Africa who were promised food for work on an irrigation project are awaiting payment that may never come. The New York Times reports that the Bush administration is advocating allowing purchase of food in foreign countries, to deliver aid quickly and give a boost to local economies. But opposition from agricultural states is firm to the current policy of only shipping US food, which benefits American farmers and shipping interests. The impasse leaves hundreds of thousands hungry and dying.

THE PRICE OF AID goes in depth to the bureaucratic process of US food aid policy.

Labels: Africa, food aid, Kenya, politics

According to BBC News, Venice Biennale's prestigious Golden Lion lifetime achievement award has been presented to a photographer for the first time, Malick Sidibé from Mali. "Organisers of the Biennale said Sidibe was 'the signal portraitist of his city and nation and the intimate observer of the Malian musical scene.'" For more on Sidibé, check out Susan Vogel's MALICK SIDIBÉ.

Labels: Africa, awards, Mali, photography

Ben Harper of the AP reports on Israel's recent struggle with Sudanese refugees escaping the genocide in Darfur and trekking through Egypt and the Sinai desert to enter Israel, a country without mechanisms for harboring the refugees. WAITING by Marie-Claude Harvey chronicles the situation in Sudan in the early days which has gotten worse, with now nearly 2.5 million who have fled the violence in Sudan.

This news follows on the heels of World Refugee Day on June 20th when the United Nations refugee agency reported there are nearly 10 million refugees world-wide.

Labels: Africa, articles, Darfur, Israel, refugees, Sudan

As reported in a recent NY Times article, Even as Africa Hungers, Policy Slows Delivery of U.S. Food Aid by Celia W. Dugger, the delivery of food to starving people can take 4 to 6 weeks because government policy requires that all donated food be grown in the U.S. and shipped to where it is needed. This stimulates American agribusiness and shipping, but there are no provisions for emergencies like the current situation in Zambia where the UN's World Food Program that delivers the food to the needy is dangerously low in supplies. Those who are starving may die before the aid reaches them.

THE PRICE OF AID explores the relationships and policies that make up current United States food aid program. With interviews from Zambian officials, nonprofit aid workers and U.S. government officials, the film is an in-depth exploration of this continuing problem.

Labels: Africa, articles, food aid, politics, Zambia