Debunking Myths Food Production and History Ian Austin

Debunking Myths: Food Production and History Ian Austin

Myth: African food production is unsustainable • Sustainability is the ability for development to meet present and future needs. • Large population size is one of the main inspirations for this myth (1. 1 billion people). • Evidence suggests that this myth is accurate.

Available Land • The primary fiction of the food production myth is that Africa does not have enough land. • Oluwatayo and Ojo write, “[Africa has] land covering 29. 7 million square kilometers with about half yet uncultivated. ” • There is plenty of room for future development, but there are problems with food production.

Environmental challenges • The first problem with sustainable food production in Africa is climate change and desertification. • Abayomi Oyekale describes the effects of climate change in Africa as “persistent droughts, flooding, rising mean temperature and reduction in growing season. ” • Bounia Mohamed writes that lake Chad “has lost 40% of its surface water in less than 40 years and environmental scientists believe that it will have vanished completely by the end of this century. ”

Overpopulation • Climate change and desertification are worsening an already strained food supply. • “ 223 million malnourished people, ” as Oluwatayo and Ojo say. Current needs are not being met by food production. • Robert Engelman reports that the African “population is rising nearly three times faster than in the rest of civilization. ” • At this rate, future needs will not be met by food production.

History of Africa • The myth that Africa has no history is based on the ethnocentric colonial period. • European colonizers ignored evidence of Africa’s history to favor their own cultures. • Fossil evidence and ancient civilizations prove this myth false.

Evidence of African History • Evolutionary theory suggests that the human race began in Africa. • Fossil evidence, going as far as 3. 5 million years ago, shows how the first homo-sapiens evolved in Africa. • The oldest Egyptian kingdom lasted from 3100 to 2180 B. C. E.