I was thinking about farming in Africa this morning after reading a Slashdot blurb, "How to Feed the World". The problem with most farms in Africa is that they do not use modern farming techniques, which are much more efficient. I think if I had a million dollars to invest, using it to create highly productive corporate farms in Africa would be a reasonable idea. They have cheap labor, which would elliminate some of the need for expensive machinery, oil, and high salaries present in the US. Other beneficial factors include cheap land, plenty of sunshine, and lots of hungry people. I suspect charities that presently ship food over to Africa to feed the poor and hungry would be happy to instead buy it from such an African corporate farm for less money, since they wouldn't pay for shipping costs and would employ the natives to grow their own food. Putting more money into their communities would likely help pull them out of poverty and encourage further economic growth.
In the last few years, Zimbabwe's white farm owners have had their land seized by the government and given to blacks to avenge past racial injustices. Unfortunately the blacks generally don't know how to run the farms, leading to severe, widespread food shortages. The whole problem of white ownership in a predominately black country might be mitigated by the corporate farm being owned by anyone willing to buy shares in it. Also, much of the management and workforce would be black, and they may be partly paid in shares.
Posted by seander at March 30, 2004 07:50 AM