person:rami zuraik

Signalé par Rami Zuraik :
►http://www.wikileaks.de/cable/2008/05/08MANAGUA573.html

Ortega’s Faltering Economy
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¶2. (SBU) In 2007, the Ortega Administration coasted on the achievements of the Bolanos government, but that ride is about to end. The government essentially adopted Bolanos’ 2007 and 2008 budgets, and used them as the basis for negotiating a new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Agreement with the IMF. Foreign investment remained stable in 2007 thanks to commitments made during the Bolanos years. Exports are up this year by 21% over 2007 levels. In most other respects, however, the Ortega government is not faring well. Growth expectations have fallen while inflation expectations have risen. In 2007, inflation reached 17% and annualized inflation is running at 22% for 2008, the second highest rate in Latin America. The lack of a strong policy response to rising oil and food prices worries independent economists, some of whom suspect that hidden foreign assistance from Hugo Chavez has created excess liquidity. Minimum wages rose 30% in the last year, but still do not cover the soaring cost of food and transportation. To quell demand and keep prices down, the government removed import tariffs on basic food items through December 2008, made documenting export shipments more difficult, and instructed the state-owned grain storage company to intervene in local markets. So far in 2008, the Agricultural Ministry has failed to deliver needed seeds to farmers in time for planting, although it has become aware of the urgency need to do so. More radical measures related to food supply may be coming, as President Ortega has just concluded a regional “food sovereignty” summit in Managua on May 7.

#Nicaragua #agriculture #sécurité_alimentaire

Signalé par Rami Zuraik :
►http://www.wikileaks.de/cable/2008/09/08ISLAMABAD3010.html

¶17. (SBU) Finance Minister Qamar described increasing agricultural production as low hanging fruit, pledging that agricultural development will be the “main thrust of economic growth in the short term” as the income stays in the rural areas, which serves to alleviate poverty. He advocated strengthening the U.S.-Pakistan agricultural relationship. Qamar reported that water utilization remains a constraint for increased agricultural capacity; 60 percent of Pakistan’s irrigation water never reaches crops due to inadequate irrigation systems and technology. Due to water constraints that prevent more planting, xxxxxxxxxxxx opined that the integration of genetically modified seeds is critical to increasing agricultural productivity. He requested enhanced U.S.-Pakistan collaboration on biotechnology research, cooperative biosecurity training and assistance in improving Pakistan agricultural value chains, particularly the use of cold storage and cool chain techno logies and methods. Finance Secretary Qayyum also discussed more access to U.S. markets, noting their twelve year effort to ship mangoes to the U.S. The Agricultural Counselor replied that once the Cobalt 60 arrives and the irradiation facility is operating, USDA will restart the mango pre-shipment protocol. Also discussed were the ongoing negotiations to resolve differences over wheat import permit conditions so that U.S. commercial and food assistance wheat shipments to Pakistan could resume.

#Pakistan #agriculture #sécurité_alimentaire #cablegate

Signalé par Rami Zuraik sous le titre « Food as a weapon » :
►http://landandpeople.blogspot.com/2010/12/food-as-weapon.html

cet article du New York Times indique que John Bolton suggère de couper l’aide alimentaire à la Chine comme moyen de pression. (Menacer la population de malnutrition pour faire pression sur les autorités politiques, c’est une des définitions du terrorisme.)

Asking China to Act Like the U.S. - NYTimes.com
►http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/weekinreview/28cooper.html

Some conservative critics of the Obama administration say that the United States can manage this new reality only if it is tougher in its demands of Beijing. “I would turn up the pressure on China to reunite the Korean peninsula,” said John Bolton, who was the United States ambassador to the United Nations in the Bush administration. “This division is unnatural, and they need to get on the right side of history. And in the meantime, I would strangle North Korea economically, ramping up the P.S.I. activities,” a reference to military maneuvers in the Yellow Sea.

“I’d cut off all food aid; that’s turning up the pressure,” Mr. Bolton said. “What Obama’s doing right now is just rhetoric.”

#john_bolton #Chine #aide_alimentaire #sécurité_alimentaire