Think again America...

A doubling of aid to Africa is well intentioned but misguided; it will merely further fatten the slumbers of corrupt and dysfunctional governments, further centralize their power, and further disenfranchise and impoverish the poor. And the news that Laura will arrive in Zambia bearing thousands of mosquito nets, is terrible news for the fish stocks of our countless rivers and, ultimately, for the villagers who are so dependent on them for some protein. Everywhere these nets meant to combat malaria are being sown together and used to remove every living fish, egg and spawn from our waters. We need money to flow directly to the people through local trust structures and associations. In the one million acres of mountain, alluvial plain, rift valleys and rivers of the chiefdoms in which I work, our wildlife is being massacred by ivory poachers and the agents of the bushmeat trade. The killing fields of Africa asserts itself with renewed vigour while the money pours in, propping up governments which are no longer connected with their people. We need funds to go directly to villagers so that they may have an incentive to conserve their resources. Who will be accountable for seeing that this 'doubling' of funds actually produces an improvement in the lot of the poor? Think again America.