Most suffer from chronic malnutrition, which means that while they are getting enough calories, the food they eat is severely lacking in vitamins and protein.

As Samuel Loewenberg reports, this poor nutrition affects not only their bodies, but their future.

This production was sponsored by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

For more:

Click here for the full transcript of the video.

Listen to our radio show on “Guatemala: Behind the famine”
View the Pulitzer Center’s Food Insecurity multimedia project.
Read Samuel Loewenberg’s blog from the field: Chronic malnutrition fatigues Guatemala’s children

But as Barbara Serra of Worldfocus partner Al Jazeera English reports, some Londoners are now trying to do something about it.

Michael Novacek, the provost of science at the American Museum of Natural History, joins Martin Savidge to discuss theories about the worrisome decline in the bee population and the consequences of the decline.

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

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Listen to our online radio show on Argentina’s farming crisis.

For a snapshot of how the U.S. economy affects everyone, have a look at the travels and travails of the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

And for a confounding case of a great country where democracy never quite gets its act together, have a look at Argentina as well.

Kirchner is midway through her four-year term of office, but questions are being raised about whether she can make it to the end of 2011. The problem involves both style and substance.

The president faces considerable criticism for the flailing Argentine economy. She’s been criticized for measures that expanded state control and for provoking anger by imposing trade tariffs on farm goods. Her style of governing is often characterized as arrogant — the same charge often faced by her husband, Nestor Kirchner, who preceded her as president.

This week, Kirchner was attending a meeting of the International Labor Organization in Geneva, where she and other leaders railed at international financial organizations that provoked the world credit crunch and recession. The results have been strange, to say the least. She said:

My government has just provided credit to General Motors so it wouldn’t shut down. If someone had told me that as president I was going to give a loan to an American multinational car manufacturer, which had just been nationalized by an African American president of the United States, it would have sounded insane.

Mi gobierno acaba de dar un crédito a General Motors para que no cierre sus puertas. Si alguien me hubiese dicho que como presidenta iba a dar un préstamo a una multinacional automotriz americana, que acababa de ser estatizada por un presidente afroamericano de los Estados Unidos, me hubiera parecido un delirio.

Argentina holds congressional elections on June 28, moved up from later in the year by the president and her party in hopes of shoring up waning support. It may not be enough. Clarin, Argentina’s leading newspaper, raised the possibility that Kirchner might be forced to resign or hold early presidential elections if the congressional losses are great.

Unfortunately, that would not be a shocking precedent. Argentinians are proud of 25 years of democracy after the departure of a cruel, murderous military dictatorship. But few of the country’s presidents in recent years have surrendered the blue and white presidential sash at the constitutional end of their terms. One of the few is Kirchner’s husband, Nestor, who served from 2003 to 2007. He is now blaming the news media — especially the leading daily, Clarin — charging they were stirring up rumors and trouble about his wife’s tenure in office.

Clarin reported on Kirchner’s criticism of its own reporting, saying the ex-president “accused Clarin of ‘inventing, lying, manipulating information and threatening the social peace and institutional stability of the nation.’ ”

- Peter Eisner

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

A woman makes pizza at Minuteman. Photo: Ivette Feliciano

Worldfocus producer Bryan Myers is currently reporting from Bolivia and writes about one memorable dining experience high in the Bolivian Andes.

Self-described “foodies” have been known to travel far and wide for a memorable or offbeat dining experience. For sure, the ability to say one has visited an up-and-coming chef toiling away in some lonely outpost is often worn like a badge of honor.

But perhaps no food pilgrimage requires more stamina than the trek to Minuteman Pizza, located high in the Bolivian Andes in the town of Uyuni. If you haven´t been, there are only two ways for a tourist to get there — an entire day spent bouncing down dirt roads in a four-wheel drive SUV, or an overnight ride on a freezing cold train.

Minuteman Pizza claims to be the “highest” pizzeria in the world — and at an altitude of some 13,000 feet, no one is arguing. Minuteman is run by Chris and Sussy Sarage, thirtysomethings with quick smiles. But their easygoing manner belies the enormous perseverance behind everything they do.

“You have to be creative in Uyuni,” Chris told us. “We make our own tomato sauce from local tomatoes. Our fresh basil is trucked in from La Paz overnight. Tour buses operators bring us olive oil from Peru. And I have my cheese flown in from Argentina.”

That commitment has made Minuteman the second most famous tourist attraction in Uyuni. The town is also home to the famous “Salar de Uyuni,” one of the world’s largest salt flats. The “Salar,” as its known around here, is popular among the adventure set.

Each night, weary backpackers crowd the Minuteman. A cacophony of languages can be overheard in between bites of pizza and quaffs of beer.

Chris and Sussy Sarage run Minuteman Pizza. Photo: Ivette Feliciano

Sussy (pronounced “Suzie”) is a native of Uyuni. Her father was once the town’s mayor. She and Chris met at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in the mid 1990s. Sussy was studying there; Chris had recently graduated and was managing a pizzeria in Amherst. After marrying, they made their way to Bolivia, first opening a pizzeria in the capital of La Paz, and then deciding to give it a go in Sussy’s hometown.

Finding fresh ingredients and getting them shipped to Uyuni isn’t their only challenge. As anyone who’s ever tried it can attest, baking at high altitude is nearly impossible. For the pizzeria, Chris designed his own special pizza ovens, built by a restaurant supply company in La Paz. When we asked him how they work, he responded in time-honored fashion: “That’s a trade secret.”

Training their local staff to prepare an “exotic” dish like pizza also took time. Most Bolivians have never even eaten pizza, let alone made it. But now, the native Bolivian women who work the kitchen at Minuteman can pound the dough and spin the pies with a flair that would make a Brooklynite proud.

“They may not known how to say ‘hello’ in English,” Chris said, “but they know all the names of the pizza ingredients by heart — caramelized onions, roasted peppers and sun dried tomatoes.”

Minuteman offers plenty of combinations that would be familiar to any American, like pepperoni, Hawaiian and the classic Margherita. But it also offers some with a local twist, like the spicy llama pizza.

So how’s the pizza? Pretty good. Our crew agreed that the classic Margherita, wafting of fresh cut basil leaves, was as good as any we’ve had in the States. But the winner by a landslide? The spicy llama. Unfortunately, you won’t be finding it any time soon at your local Dominos. For that, you’ll have to make the trek to Uyuni.

- Bryan Myers

Watch for Worldfocus’ signature series from Bolivia in the coming weeks.

A woman carries food from an aid organization in Liberia.

Though its civil war ended years ago, Liberia remains politically and economically unstable — and more may suffer as food and fuel prices rise around the world.

Glenna Gordon is a freelance writer and photographer currently based in Monrovia, Liberia. She has reported from Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Rwanda and writes at the “Scarlett Lion” blog about encountering a trio of problems in Liberia: food, money and transportation.

Tryin’ Small

Before I came to Liberia, friends and colleagues warned me that it wouldn’t be easy. It isn’t. But in ways that are different than I expected.

FOOD

Thomas is a nice young man who comes to our house about once a week to wash clothes. On Tuesday, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind picking up a few things for us at the vegetable market. I don’t have time to go and haggle over the price of an avocado every week, and it’s a way for him to earn a little extra money.

He brought three moldy heads of cabbage, tiny onions (not the shallot kind, the picked-before-they-were-fully-mature kind), mushy potatoes already gone bad, instead of a pound of fresh tomatoes about a dozen small jars of tomato paste, and four avocados that won’t be ripe for at least a few weeks.

The best part was when I asked Thomas why he didn’t bring fresh tomatoes, he looked confused, and then asked me if I was referring to the “bush fruit.”

Fifteen dollars later, I plan to give all guests who visit my house over the next few weeks a small jar of tomato paste as a parting gift.

MONEY

There are no ATMs or banks linked to the international banking system in Liberia. That means no Visas, Master Card, Barclays, or any other bank card will get you cash if you stick the piece of plastic in a Liberian ATM. It’s all EcoBank, all the time.

I’ve been trying to get my bank at home to wire money to my EcoBank account. This isn’t easy. I have to fax them a form. There aren’t a lot of working fax machines in Liberia. Since that technology is based on land lines (which there aren’t) and became vogue in a tech era of yore (when Liberia was at war), this is difficult. My boyfriend found one, and faxed the form. The bank won’t accept it because it was a scan, and not a fax. I’m not sure how that happened.

Finally, through only slightly duplicitous means, we got money into our EcoBank account here. I went to the bank yesterday to withdraw. The bank’s computer system was down.

TRANSPORTATION

There isn’t really public transportation in Liberia in any sort of organized way. You can flag down a yellow taxi (literally a falling apart four door small vehicle), squeeze in the back where four people always sit, or in the front, where two people sit next to the driver, and pay about 5 LD for a ride (that’s Liberian Dollars equivalent to about eight American pennies). But, there aren’t enough taxis in town and you might wait up to an hour to catch a ride which may or may not take you where you need to go, since there are also no set taxi routes.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Peter Casierunder a Creative Commons license.

Tajik people have weathered harsh winters and shortages in electricity.

The International Crisis Group recently stated that Tajikistan, a small country bordering Afghanistan, is “on the road to failure.”

For the second winter in a row, the country is facing energy infrastructure problems. Hundreds of Tajiks died in the cold or went hungry last winter, due to electricity shortages and crop devastation. This year, the U.S. has pledged $5 million in emergency aid to help needy Tajiks.

Ilan Greenberg of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting ventures to the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, and writes in the “Untold Stories” blog about the country’s crippling problems.

Dushanbe

On the Turkish Airlines flight into Dushanbe, the young American woman sitting next to me was enthusiastic about her next three days of personal freedom in Tajikistan. She is a political officer at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan. “I’m looking forward to being able to walk around on streets,” she told me in a slight southern twang. “It will feel good to be in a normal city.”

Dushanbe comes off well when compared to, say, Kabul. But the Tajik capital fares less well in comparison to most other places. Running water and electricity are pretty constant in the tree-lined city center. But basic, working infrastructure degrades the farther it is from government ministries and the presidential residence dominating Dushanbe’s low rise urban nucleus. Drive just a few minutes and street lights stop working, apartment block windows flicker by minuscule candle light, and only the piercing of flashlights break the blackness in alleyways and courtyards.

The situation is even more dire outside Dushanbe’s city limits. Tajikistan’s borders are heavily patrolled by soldiers and guards (with significant assistance from American drug enforcement officials) trying to interdict the huge poppy smuggling coming out of neighboring Afghanistan in the south (or profit from it, in which case presumably without assistance from American drug enforcement officials) and with the smuggling of about everything else from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to the north and east.

The countryside is wracked by devastating problems – from catastrophic water and energy shortages to rampant child labor practices in the cotton fields to jobless villages where Tajik men returning from Russia face unending unemployment. Last winter was catastrophic for farmers – a devastating cold front moved into the country and stayed for months, knocking out the winter crop. People froze and went hungry. This winter was warmer, but farmers continue to buckle under the hardships of lack of accessible water, lack of electricity, and the widespread and enforced requirement to grow unprofitable and unsustainable cotton.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Brian Harrington Spier under a Creative Commons license.

A Nigerian woman prepares food.

The global food crisis has hit hard in Nigeria, where many remain impoverished despite the country’s oil wealth. Nigeria is the the world’s eighth-largest exporter, generating about 2 million barrels of oil per day.

David Hecht has reported from Africa for more than 20 years and is currently working with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting on a project exploring food security in Nigeria. He writes in the “Untold Stories” blog about visiting one Nigerian farm near Tiga.

Paralyzed

I first came to the dry, remote north of Nigeria 25 years ago on a rather strange holiday to visit a Dutchman I knew who had the job of managing a commercial farm there. The farm owner was Usman Dantata, a member of one of Nigeria’s wealthiest families. Besides 2,000 hectares of land for cereals, cotton and rows and rows of industrial chicken coops, Dantata’s property had a private airstrip, three mansions for each of his three wives, plus two teams of polo horses, some of which I got to ride.

Finding the farm again was pretty easy. From Kano, the regional capital in the north, I hired a driver to take me south to Tiga Dam, which I knew to be the source of water used for the farm’s irrigation system. From there we soon came across Anadariya Farms as the property was called, but already from the roadside I could see it had long ago been abandoned. I recognised the skeletons of the chicken coops, fuelling station and staff housing were I had stayed. Tractors, combine harvesters and silos were rusting away.

I was not really surprised. Countless mechanized farms in northern Nigeria are now abandoned. I visited another 2,000-hectare farm near Tiga that the Dantata family had sold to the late military dictator Sunny Abacha. It too was no longer functioning. Nor is a 5,000-hectare property in Katsina State, Sambo Farms, which had at one time been managed by Nigeria’s current president Umaru Yar’Adua.

Using Nigeria’s vast oil wealth, successive governments had built a score of giant dams in the north to facilitate large-scale irrigation enterprises yet none of the dams were being utilized and the experts I talked to could not point to a single industrial farm functioning effectively. My mission here was to try to understand why all these massive investments had failed.

Usman Dantata, I discovered, was a quadriplegic. He had been shot in an assassination attempt and spent years in hospitals in the West. Now he was back living inside his derelict farm, though I was told few people ever got to see him. He refused to see even his own wives, locals said. Yet when we drove up to the main gate I was lucky. One of Dantata’s son showed me in. Dantata was sprawled on a bizarre-looking bed-O-matic contraption in the living room with electrical wires running from it to a series of car batteries. His fingers were spread out in front of him perfectly still and for the hour or so I was with him the only part of his body motion I saw move was his month. His voice was breathy and high pitched. He talked in riddles about what had happened to him and his farm.

I asked him about theories I had heard that wealthy Nigerians created big farms as status symbols. “What kind of status symbol is a failed farm?” he responded. I asked if they created the farms as a way to launder money, mentioning stories I had hear of some who claimed to be turning a profit even after their farms had been abandoned. He said he could think of far cheaper ways to launder money and that for a few years his farm turn huge profits.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user World Bank Photo Collection under a Creative Commons license.

A Japanese sign details parts of the whale.

On Thursday, Australia refused a Japanese request to prevent anti-whaling activists from docking on its shores and refuelling.

The activists aboard the “Steve Irwin,” part of a conservation group called the Sea Shepherd Society, were accused of interfering with a Japanese whaling ship’s efforts to locate a crewmember lost at sea. They had chased the Japanese fleet for 2,000 miles.

Japan carries out a five-month research hunt in Antarctica each year, often drawing protest from environmental groups. The country plans to harvest as many as 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales in the coming year.

Commercial whaling was banned in 1986, but Japan may legally kill whales as part of research missions — though critics say that research is a “front” and the meat is sold commercially, since whale meat is a traditional food in Japan. 

Greenpeace officer “Dave” blogged from a ship off the Japanese coast about efforts to spare humpback whales in the region last year. 

Blogger “Lolas” writes from Tokyo that the results of the whaling “research” are for sale in the local supermarket, while blogger “Luke” posts images of whale meat for sale and writes about Japanese complacency regarding the whaling issue. 

The “Consumist” blog writes that Japanese public opinion is turning against whaling, but that environmental organizations like Greenpeace are completely ineffective. 

Blogger “Jennifer” writes about eating whale while visiting Tokyo, arguing that Japanese whaling is carried out ethically. 

David Fogarty of Reuters blogs about the centuries-old whaling culture in Japan, writing that the Japanese are annoyed by Western coverage of whaling. 

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

This development takes place as Delhi prepares for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, which is likely to bring more visitors to the already bustling Indian capital.

Mark Scheffler, a Delhi correspondent for GlobalPost, speaks with Martin Savidge about this issue.

Chinese wine brands are relatively unknown outside of China.

Though the Chinese milk scandal has dominated headlines in the past few weeks, another beverage gets relatively less attention — wine. The Chinese wine industry has expanded greatly in the past decade, even luring foreign winemakers to China’s fertile land. It has even inspired its own blog: the “Grape Wall of China.”

Cam MacMurchy hosts “BizTraveler” on Tianjin Television and launched the PR and media company Performance Internationalis. He writes at “Zhongnanhai Blog” about the expansion of the Chinese wine industry and its future prospects.

Wineries grow, but is anybody going?

CHANGLI, HEBEI - The thunder is crackling outside my window as I write this, from a beautiful hotel suite at the Chateau Bodega Langes in Hebei Province. For some reason (perhaps the story meetings were canceled this month) this is the second wine-based episode we’ve shot in the last four weeks. The first was at a beautiful winery called Chateau Junding near Yantai in Shandong Province; many months ago, we did two other wine episodes: one as part of a Valentine’s Day show, while the other was a tour of the Dynasty Winery in Tianjin.

I’m not complaining: getting tours of wineries, staying in beautiful chateaus, eating from lavish buffets and drinking free wine is far better than a regular nine-to-fiver.

There’s no doubt that the wine industry (like basically all industries) is growing exponentially in China. Chateau Junding offers a compete wine tour, wine tasting lounge, and a wine museum.  It is set in Penglai, which is about an hour’s drive from Yantai International Airport (and yes, Yantai receives international flights). The decks offer stunning vistas of the nearby lake and vineyards, and the service was top-notch.

While people are very friendly here at Bodega Langes, I’ve found it to be a far cry from the lavish setting in Yantai (perhaps, no matter what Bodega Langes does, the dusty mountains of Hebei can’t compete with a seaside scenery in Shandong). I spoke to the head sommelier here earlier today and asked if they were targeting foreign visitors. “Yes,” he said.  “But you have no English signs?  And no western food?” I retorted.  Perhaps I wouldn’t have been normally so blunt in my assessment, but I remain slightly jet-lagged from a recent trip overseas and the day was dragging. Still, my point stands.

Perhaps, though, I was a little off base: It’s not that there are no foreign visitors here, it’s just that there aren’t any visitors here.  Nor were there very many in Yantai. Nor did I find any at the Dynasty Winery. So what’s happening?

To read more, visit the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

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

High prices have created a public outcry — from tortilla riots in Mexico to protests over grain prices in parts of Africa.

Last year, more than 25,000 Indian farmers committed suicide.

In Iran, food prices climbed 50 percent in September alone.

Pakistan is stockpiling wheat and its military guards the flour mills.

And, Malaysia forbids people from taking sugar, flour or cooking oil out of the country.

Worldfocus producers traveled to Argentina, India, Kenya and Ukraine and reported on the causes and effects of rising food prices.

A fruit seller in Kenya. Source: IRIN

As officials from 53 countries meet to discuss the world’s food and fuel crises, African nations continue to be some of the hardest-hit by rising prices. Kenya’s food insecurity has impacted approximately 4 million people.

Blogger “linlilinnptoe” outlines staples of the Kenyan diet that are now threatened.

“Bunge la Mwananchi,” a Kenyan grassroots organization, writes on their Web site about the connection between government corruption and high food prices, demanding that the government ensure sufficient food for all Kenyans.

Responding to an article in The Standard, the “Africa Expat Wives Club” blog claims that the cycle of poverty in Kenya is due to a culture of handouts.

The World Bank’s “Africa Can…” blog details the effect of the recent financial downturn on the African economy and predicts continuing struggles.

Finally, a blogger at “Novakeo” discusses the origins of the food crisis and argues that world leaders should rethink the current mechanism for world development.

But the Czech people aren’t the only mushroom enthusiasts — Italians also forage for fungi. At the “Italian Blog,” Serena describes the Italian version of the tradition and suggests recipes.

At the blog “Micah Moves,” an American living in Russia joins a local family for a mushroom outing.

The “Stone Spoon Blog” describes a hunt in the Canadian woods where the author chronicles the different types of mushrooms that he encounters.

Flickr user AnjaLouise dedicates a photo set to different types of wild mushrooms.

The Cornell University Mushroom Blog provides all the scientific information necessary to grow, care for and study mushrooms.

A cheeseburger.

The Mediterranean diet is disappearing as the American fast food culture spreads throughout Greece. The “Live Fit Blog” provides an overview of the Mediterranean diet, which has been linked to longevity and low disease rates in Greece and other Mediterranean countries.

Grecian “Daily Frappe” notes that “Greeks are getting fatter and fatter” as the tenets of the diet wane in popularity.

Pixelle of “A Simple Mind, Simply Amused” writes about the effects of commercial food culture: the extinction of some produce varieties and children who are unable to identify common vegetables.

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food movement in Italy, shares Pixelle’s sentiments in this video at FORA.tv, where he explains his anti-fast food attitude as a politics beyond personal diet.

Blogger Chiki Seijo shows a manga warning against the dangers of fast food in the nation of natto, tofu and longevity.

Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom of “Health Journal” reminds readers that “It’s not where you eat, but what you eat,” demonstrating a decrease of local relevance in an increasingly global food market and food culture.

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