Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal reports from Ethiopia’s coffee country, where farmers are deciding to plant corn and khat, a leafy drug that is chewed with stimulating effects somewhere between caffeine and cocaine.

For more on Worldfocus’ coverage on Ethiopia, click here. Listen to Worldfocus Radio on Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia. Watch the PBS Wide Angle film “The Market Maker” about one woman who has created a commodities exchange and revolutionized agricultural distribution in the country.

A butcher in Argentina.

Rule of thumb: When a government official has to make a statement to the news media that “there is no crisis,” the translation usually is — there’s a crisis.

That sounds like where we are right now with the Argentine beef industry, where it appears that the proud country of the pampas may eventually have to start importing meat.

La Nacion in Buenos Aires, quoting the Argentine Farm Federation, says that cattle supplies are at their lowest in 45 years. “Argentina is on the verge of importing meat to cover internal demand and would lose as much as $1.5 billion in export income” as a result.

As for the government, the response is: Not true at all.

Agriculture Secretary Carlos Cheppi denied the claims by the Farm Federation and other organizations.”There is no crisis…it is a big lie.”

But it feels like a crisis in the nation that consumes more beef and is probably more proud of its carnivorous pursuits than any country on earth.

Say what you will about meat-eaters — for an Argentine, it’s downright embarrassing. It would be like Britain losing the Colonies, GM going bankrupt, or [the old] AT&T being sold to a French communications company.

It’s tough to swallow for Argentinians, whose 41 million people eat about 143 lbs per capita of beef every year, 50 percent more than the second biggest beef-eaters in the world — that would be people in the United States.

But it’s more than just the numbers. Argentinians are proud of their beef, its quality and its availability across social classes. Until recently at least, it was possible to go into a basic downtown diner in Buenos Aires and have an overstuffed steak sandwich, fries, salad and wine for very few dollars.

Now prices are going up, on beef and across the board, and the blame is falling on the increasingly unpopular president, Cristina Kirchner, and her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner.

“Six economy ministers in six years, what more can we expect,” headlines a story in the newspaper La Nacion, written by Roberto Cachanosky. “The Argentine economy is paralyzed, the fiscal situation is critical, unemployment is growing, poverty is increasing, inflation shot up right after [June parlimentary] elections and the struggle for the distribution of income is on the verge of falling apart.”

Argentinians know no depths of pessimism about their economic woes, and distrust of their leaders. But this seems like a new low, said Cachanosky.

“There are things you don’t have to see to know they exist,” he wrote. “For example, I’ve never seen an atom, but I know the atom exists. In the case of the economy, there are things that you don’t have to see to know how they’re going to turn out.”

- Peter Eisner

For more, watch the Worldfocus signature story “Farmers, drought and taxes cripple Argentina” and listen to our online radio show on Argentina’s farming crisis.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user diametrik under a Creative Commons license.

The debate over agricultural policy in Argentina could pave the way for political transformation.

The country was once the world’s biggest exporter of beef and was known as the “bread basket” of South America. But Argentina may be forced to import beef next year, and many of the country’s farmers blame government restrictions on exports.

In recent months, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has refused to lower hefty export taxes despite continued protests. She and her supporters may struggle to retain power in this month’s Congressional elections, with an approval rating of roughly 30 percent.

Read Worldfocus blogger Peter Eisner’s commentary: Argentina’s president faces uphill battle as economy tightens.

Tensions have been exacerbated by the looming economic crisis and a severe drought, the worst in some 70 years, which has devastated crops.

Watch the Worldfocus signature story “Farmers, drought and taxes cripple Argentina.”

Some farmers are now planning to run for election, hoping to leverage public support and pave the way for a new congressional majority that could lower taxes.

Worldfocus.org’s weekly radio show explored the state of Argentina’s farms and what the future holds for the country’s economy and leadership.

Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosted a panel of guests.

Cristian Harris is an assistant professor at North Georgia College and State University. His research focuses on the impact of international trade on the formation of domestic political divisions, as well as trade policy and development in Argentina and Latin America.

Marcelo Regunaga is a former secretary of agriculture for Argentina and the vice chairman of the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council. Now a professor, Marcelo has consulted for several organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank.

Marie Trigona is a Buenos-Aires based writer, radio producer and filmmaker who reports on labor struggles, social movements and human rights in Latin America. She formerly worked for the Buenos Aires Herald and now contributes to Free Speech Radio News and other independent news sources.

Associated photo courtesy of Flickr user Alicia Nijdam under a Creative Commons license.

Credits:
Host: Martin Savidge
Producers: Lisa Biagiotti, Katie Combs and Ben Piven

Coca leaves have both a practical and spiritual use in Bolivia.

Ivette Feliciano reported on Bolivia’s coca plant cultivation as part of the signature series “On the ground in Bolivia.” The coca plant is still used to make teas, pastas, shampoos and medicines, in the same way that generations of indigenous Bolivians used coca leaves in years past.

For extended multimedia coverage of the issues facing Bolivia today, go to On the Ground in Bolivia.

One day while heading back to Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, our driver Mauro told me about a use for coca that surprised me. Mauro is an indigenous Aymara Indian, and he told me how dried coca leaves are used by indigenous Bolivian fortune tellers, or brujos, to help guide people in communities like his on their life paths.

Mauro is originally from a town a few hours outside of La Paz.  He said that he and members of his family typically go to see a brujos if they are sick, need guidance on a business decision, or are having trouble in their love lives. The last time Mauro had visited a brujo was a few months before, when he and his wife opened a new liquor store. They wanted to make sure that an offering was made to the Pachamama, or mother earth.

Mauro took me to a neighborhood in La Paz high in the hills that seemed isolated from the other bustling La Paz neighborhoods. There were about 40 or 50 small blue shacks, and if you peaked inside one, you might see a fortune teller saying a prayer or breaking down an altar they had prepared for a previous customer.

We walked into two different shacks and had our fortunes read by two brujos.  The first brujo was in his late 70s.  He said he’d been born into the tradition. His grandfather was a brujo, as was his father.  He’d been practicing coca leaf fortune telling for 33 years. He explained that for most people in his profession, you were born into the tradition. But some people received the calling later in life, like a man he knew who’d been struck by lightening and survived — and from then on had the gift of being able to read coca leaves.

He performed a simple reading. There was a crucifix on the table along with dried coca leaves. On the walls were pictures of Catholic saints and indigenous war heroes. He asked what question I’d like to ask, and then proceeded to say a prayer using both Spanish and Aymara words. After a few minutes of prayers, he began tossing the leaves around the crucifix and observed the pattern they formed as they fell, and then answered the question I had asked. His price was a little less than a dollar, and the entire experience lasted about 10 minutes.

The second brujo said he wanted to perform a cleansing ritual on me after reading the coca leaves. He built an altar that included grass, incense, walnuts, confetti and of course coca leaves.  After saying a ten minute prayer, he burned the altar and placed a string bracelet on me.  This was meant to rid me of fear. This ritual cost close to fifty dollars.

On our way back to hotel after going to see these two men, Mauro told me he thought the second brujo was very good. He also expressed how happy he was that I was able to experience the sacred uses of coca.

- Ivette Feliciano

Opium poppies in Afghanistan.

More than 90 percent of the world’s opium comes out of Afghanistan, where poppy crops blanket the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul.

The U.S. and its allies have led efforts to eradicate poppy crops, with hopes that they can cut off drug money going to the Taliban. But some poor Afghan farmers have become dependent on income from narcotics.

Jonathan Power of the World Policy Blog argues that rather than eradicating poppy crops, which runs the risk of driving desperate farmers into the willing arms of the Taliban, the West should buy crops.

Legalizing Poppy Growing in Afghanistan

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine who lived 460-357 B.C., concluded that diseases were naturally caused and were cured by natural remedies. Opium, he wrote, was one of the latter. But he was also of the opinion that it should be used sparingly and under control.

If only our governments today could take such a sanguine and informed view of the use of opiates in medicine today.

No one needs a more enlightened attitude than the Western forces now operating in Afghanistan where they are committed to destroying the peasants’ main source of income.

The tough, no-nonsense eradication program has done as much as Western military action to push country people into the Taliban camp. The West has long been shooting itself in the foot.

Both the former president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf and the wise senior statesman and former finance minister Sartaj Aziz, who probably knows more about the economics of agriculture in Pakistan than anyone else, have told me that it would be more sensible for Western governments to help buy the poppy crop. This would solve two problems in one blow. First, it would help deal with the world-wide shortage of medical opiates which, according to the World Health Organization, are causing a “global pain crisis.” In Africa hundreds of thousands of people are dying in agony for lack of pain relief. Second, it would prevent the opium farmers of Afghanistan being driven into the arms of the Taliban.

There are many practical problems with the idea of buying up the crop. If the price were set too high, it might encourage even more farmers to grow opium poppies. If it were not high enough, they would go on selling at least some on the black market. Nevertheless, they would probably rather sell their crop legally than to the mafia.

How would the Muslim world react to buying up the crop? Before the U.S. invasion the Taliban with their rigorous, fundamentalist, view point were against the growing of poppies and that effectively ended poppy growing. But after the invasion they turned 180 degrees and encouraged it, mainly for the purpose of providing revenue to buy military equipment.

To read more, see the original post.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user ChuckHolton under a Creative Commons license.

It’s a proposal that has left many landowners unhappy. Worldfocus’ Ivette Feliciano, Bryan Myers and Ara Ayer report from Santa Cruz, where many of Bolivia’s largest landholders — ranchers, cattlemen and industrial farmers — live. 

Worldfocus special correspondent Peter Eisner and producer Ara Ayer venture to Cuba and report that from agriculture to medicine to oil, the island is a sea of lost opportunity for American businesses.

Also, listen to our radio show exploring the roots of U.S.-Cuban relations and potential changes under President Barack Obama.

The two men are supposed to share power in a new unity government that is facing the world’s highest inflation rate, hunger and a cholera epidemic that has killed 3,400 people.

Briggs Bomba grew up in Zimbabwe and is now with Africa Action, an organization that focuses on shaping U.S. political and economic policies that affect African nations. He joins Martin Savidge to discuss the likelihood that Mugabe will actually share power, possible solutions to the cholera epidemic and the role of other African countries in improving conditions in Zimbabwe.

PBS Wide Angle interviews Mahmood Mamdani, a Ugandan-born professor of government at Columbia University and an expert on African Studies. Mamdani explains why he believes that the new power-sharing agreement is the best way forward. He also reflects on Mugabe’s three-decade rule, failed land reforms and the subsequent collapse of Zimbabwe’s agricultural system.

Germans have been asked to eat less meat for the sake of the environment.

The German government has recommended that citizens eat less meat in order to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming and production.

Germans are among the highest consumers of meat in Europe. Meat consumption is expected to double globally between 2000 and 2050, and yet agricultural emissions are just beginning to come under scrutiny.

A blogger at “Transatlantic Politics” worries about state-planned eating schemes and rationing that could infringe on personal freedoms.

Elsewhere in the world, other governments and scientists have taken steps to lessen the environmental impact of methane emissions from livestock and energy-intensive production.

Australian researchers suggested going on a kangaroo diet, as the creatures emit less methane as a part of their digestive processes than do cows or sheep.

British researchers recommended rationing meat, restricting citizens to four portions a week.

A British blogger at “Eco Curious” describes her decision to eat less meat, but also provides advice on where to find the most environmentally-friendly meat in the United Kingdom.

The “Inhabitat” blog writes about a Dutch power plant that converts poultry waste into reusable energy, which prevents the manure from seeping into the ground and releasing emissions.

The “Ethical Eating” blog urges people to become vegans, as meat production in Brazil is contributing to Amazon deforestation.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user dmscvan under a Creative Commons license.

AUDIO: Edward Wong of The New York Times reports from Beijing about the impact of land reform on China.

Land in the city of Changshu in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province.

On Sunday, the Communist Party of China passed laws allowing peasants to trade and rent land, though they remain unable to buy or sell it.

Leaders were expected to pass a program that would enable peasants to purchase and sell land, but the issues of purchase and sale have disappeared from public discourse despite earlier coverage. Rumors of disagreement within the Communist Party are circulating.

Some communists argue that “privatization” reforms undercut the party and ultimately strengthen Western capitalism in a country already straddling communist and capitalist systems.

Advocates suggest that the reforms would improve food security and relieve rural poverty.

The “Poligazette” blog writes that new freedoms for China’s villagers are a step in the right direction for the oppressive country.

The “Sinomania” blog writes that reforms are monumental and will “open the door to finally giving rural Chinese what they’ve long[ed] for for centuries — their own piece of China.”

The “China Aid” blog writes about the decision of Hu Jintao — Communist Party general secretary and president of the People’s Republic of China — to support the land reforms despite enormous risk, and argues that the Communist Party is digging its own grave.

China Economic Review’s “Editor’s Journal” writes about the promise of the reforms and their potential effects on the agriculture industry.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user iansand under a Creative Commons license.