The steady growth of the worlds population has clearly created a food
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Updated on: 06 Mar 2024, 04:53
Passage Analysis -
P1 -
S1. The steady growth of the world’s population has clearly created a food production and distribution crisis.
What - Population growth has caused the food production and distribution crisis
Who - Author
Why - Opinion
S2 - The time has arrived when government development agencies, agronomists, and even bankers must borrow the environmentalists’ slogan, “Small is beautiful.”
What - recommendation.
Who - Author
Why - The author urges "government development agencies, agronomists, and even bankers" for a paradigm shift because of a crisis.
S3 - They need to scale back grandiose development projects—vast irrigation systems, power dams, new industrial establishments, and huge loans for “economic growth” and for food imports to the poorest nations and turn toward simpler, but politically less popular, approaches to world hunger that help promote self-sufficiency.
What - explained the "small is beautiful." "turn towards" is a critical contrast/comparison phrase which talks about author's intent of suggesting the that the current practices need to be changed. What practices? The author will talk in the following few lines.
Who - Author
Why - To explain S2 and expand on what he meant by his recommendation. Primarily - less popular approaches to world hunger, approaches that promote self-sufficiency.
Summary - The author shares a concern and then shares his recommendation/changes.
P2 -
S4 - It remains to be seen whether donor countries will willingly discontinue massive gifts bestowed ostensibly upon the poor.
What - The author shares his skepticism about the donor countries.
Who - Author
Why - May be author will talk next why he feels so.
S5 - To curtail subsidized exports of surplus foodstuffs, except in response to natural disasters or famine, would be politically inexpedient since such exports are extremely popular among powerful agribusiness interests.
What - The author explains the possible issue with one aspect the donor countries engage. It seems that giving these subsidized exports is in these donor countries' agribusiness interests. So it remains to be seen how they discontinue such an incentivised export model.
Who - author
Why - To explain the possible issue.
S6 - Persuading financial institutions to restrain their eagerness to extend credit to poor nations, many already in debt, may prove equally difficult.
S7 - A considerable percentage of these loan dollars ultimately purchase industrial world products for middle- or upper-income customers abroad, doing little to assuage hunger.
What - Likewise, the author explains the possible issue with financial institutions and their self-serving credits. These loans ultimately help middle- and upper-income customers in poor countries buy industrial products from developed countries. So ultimately, these dollars credited to poor countries increase the business activity in the developed countries.
Who - Author
Why - Author shares another delimma but this time amongst the financial institutions as to how will they give up the gifts approach when its ultimately for their benefit?
S8 - Similarly, Third World facilities of multinational corporations, which lure the poor from the land and into city slums in search of bare subsistence wages or even nonexistent jobs, produce products primarily for affluent consumers.
What - The author also touches on the issues with the MNCs in the 3rd world countries.
Who - Author
Why - Highlight that the actions of these MNCs, instead of solving the problem, further exacerbate the issue, moving people to cities to live in slums in search of bare subsistence wages or even nonexistent jobs.
S9 - Exporting simple agricultural technology by way of services as well as implements would be far more helpful.
What - Author's recommendation. Exporting simple agricultural technology will be more helpful.
Who - Author
Why - Attempt to solve the food production and distribution crisis.
P3 -
S 10 - Also needed are reforms on the part of the underdeveloped societies themselves: more equitable distribution of land and access to water, effective control of corrupt marketing practices, and an end to the exploitation of labor.
What - Author is also talking about the reforms required in the underdeveloped societies.
Who - Author
Why - Author is expanding the preview of responsibility which is not only with the donor countries but also with the receiving side as well. It has to be a mutual effort.
S11 - Ultimately, however, means must be found to make it contrary to anyone’s interest to keep others poor.
What - The author is saying contrary to the interest of the donor countries and maybe the benefactors in the poor countries, who both want people to remain poor as it benefits the donor countries and maybe the benefactors in the poor countries, so the author is making a solid recommendation or obligation that we must find these means.
Who - Author
Why - Because this is counterintuitive for both donors and receivers as both benefit from it (and the author is highlighting the issues in both sides giving up this model anytime soon, a model which leads people to remain poor while donors or benefactors reap the spoils), but considering the crisis, these means must be found. The author is pressing on the need for a systematic change.
S12 - Movement in this direction may occur only as the earth’s resources become more scarce, population pressures increase, and the starving become more desperate and articulate.
What - The author also acknowledges that as this is counterintuitive to the "haves," the mimum condition for this to occur is "the earth’s resources become more scarce, population pressures increase, and the starving become more desperate and articulate."
Who - Author
Why - The author acknowledges the obstacles to his recommendation and highlights the minimum conditions when this change may occur. The author is pessimistic, suggesting that the required change may occur only under dire circumstances.
Overall - The author's tone is argumentative. He highlights an issue, shares a recommendation/changes required, and also makes us aware of the challenges.
Originally posted by
Raman109 on 05 Mar 2024, 05:47.
Last edited by
Raman109 on 06 Mar 2024, 04:53, edited 1 time in total.