Opinions
The servitude of immigrant guestworkers
THE words “guest workers” and “strike” are not often seen together. Yet twice this summer, members of a group of more than 150 Jamaican guest workers who clean luxury Florida hotels and condos walked off the job....
Let’s drop “feed the world”—a plea to move beyond an unhelpful phrase
After years of participation in public discussions about agriculture, I’ve developed something of an allergy to the catchphrase “feed the world.”...
Golden rice: Lifesaver?
ONE bright morning this month, 400 protesters smashed down the high fences surrounding a field in the Bicol region of the Philippines and uprooted the genetically modified rice plants growing inside....
A huge cheap-food scheme to influence voters will not end malnutrition in India
“HISTORIC” and “unparalleled” were the words Sonia Gandhi, boss of the ruling Congress party, used to describe India’s new food law at a launch in Delhi on August 20th. She promised an end to hunger for the poor....
The government as a low-wage employer
In 1965, in a nation torn by racial strife, President Johnson signed an executive order mandating nondiscrimination in employment by government contractors. Now, as President Obama has observed, the nation is divided by a different threat: widening income inequality....
Bangladesh takes aim at Grameen Bank
The government of Bangladesh is considering nationalizing and breaking up the widely admired Grameen Bank, which pioneered the business of lending small amounts of money to poor women who want to start and grow businesses....
India: A nation shaped by its poorest citizens
NEW DELHI — They squat like giant frogs to mop the floors. They carry large lanterns on their heads at wedding processions. With grave faces, they iron underwear that is not theirs, and serve their masters in many other ways. ...
Kenyans mobilise against taxing the poor
On a side street in Nairobi’s bustling neighbourhood of Shauri Moyo, Faisal Ngila shouts to street vendors, motorbike taxi drivers and pedestrians....
US double-talking human rights in Ethiopia, again!
As my readers know, I enjoy watchin’ American diplomats chillin’ out and kickin’ it with African dictators. I like watchin’ ‘em kumbaya-ing, back-pattin’ and fist bumpin’. I have trained myself to decipher their cryptic diplomatese spoken with forked tongue....
Governance in Africa: Challeges for the next 50 years
Chinua Achebe and Abdul Raheem Tajudeen stand out as two Nigerians who will be remembered for long for their outstanding contribution to understanding African politics, political developments in Africa since independence and the major contradictions and changes that have faced African communities in...
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