from the horizon

Last week I received an email from someone I work with, which was forwarded from the Commonwealth Human Rights Network, which made me slightly embarrassed to be a New Zealander.

The basic story is that a business woman who owns a company which produces dog food, was offering food aid to Kenya which is currently in the grip of a famine. Check out the BBC’s Story.
Although the food which is being offered has been modified to be fit for human consumption, and is claimed not to be dog food, the whole situation does lead to some debate.

On the practical side I can see that her heart is in the right place. The food which she is offering will provide much needed nutrition in Kenya. She claims to have eaten the food mix herself. In fact if someone offered me some of it, I’d probably eat it, although I’m not exactly renown for being a fussy eater.

However I think there are bigger issues here. If you eat “dog food” to survive, where does that leave you? I think it is important to consider people’s own resilience and coping mechanisms. What happens to your sense of self worth after eating dog food?

Also it’s kinda patronising and arrogant to be giving “dog food” to people in need. Is that the best we can give Kenya while we munch on steaks and hamburgers? But considering the logistics of moving food, maybe this freeze dried mix is the best we can do.
Maybe the whole debate is just a PR slip up. If she hadn’t let people know of the connection to the dog food manufacturing, the food aid may have been gladly appreciated.

I think this story quite nicely shows how the issues in the development/aid world are never clear.