Here’s a little chart I put together to highlight the connection between corruption and hunger in Africa. While the FAO and World Food Program end up asking for tens of millions of dollars in Western aid to feed Africa every year, estimates of money lost to corruption in Africa every year are in excess of US $100 billion.
|
Country
|
Corruption
|
Food Insecurity Problems
|
| Angola | US $1 billion in 2001 oil revenues “missing”(FAO appeals for $5.2 million aid) |
1.4 million people need “urgent assistance” (FAO) |
| Malawi | Corrupt government officials sold 160,000 tons of grain last Fall; $8 million in European Union aid diverted — EU demanded return of the money in July 2002 (FAO appeals for $1.6 million aid) |
168,000 families at risk (FAO) |
| Swaziland | $2 million aid diverted for down payment on $55 million presidential jet (FAO appeals for $1.4 million aid) |
21,000 families at risk (FAO) |
| Zambia | Ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International; hundreds of millions stolen in the 1990s (FAO appeals for $2.6 million aid) |
62,000 families at risk (FAO) |
| Zimbabwe | President orders seizure of white-owned farms, causing food crisis; millions $ US aid money missing (FAO appeals for $16 million aid) |
600,000 families at risk (FAO) |