Farming, the Road to Peace

Religious extremists, be they Christian missionaries or Muslim fundamentalists, have known this for centuries and captured the minds and souls of the hungry and homeless children. The Mormons do it in Utah. The Taliban do it in Pakistan. The Muslim madrases funded by Saudi Arabia in Pakistan and the rest of the world provide room, board, education and clothing for thousands of boys who would otherwise be left out on the streets due to the gradual collapse of Pakistan’s secular state education system. In 1978 there were 3,000 madrases in Pakistan. In the first year of the 21st century, when the war on terrorism started, there were 39,000. The boys are taught extreme fundamentalism and many become suicide bombers because they believe they will be assured a place in paradise. Why can’t they be taught how to find paradise here on earth?

The combination of rage and despair, regardless of economic means, creates individuals prepared to die for their cause without any fear or regrets. They can be suicide bombers nurtured in the religious schools in Palestine, Pakistan – or America.

Robert S. McNamara, who presided over the war in Vietnam as secretary of defense, knows first hand the mistakes and horrors of war and how they must be replaced with wars on poverty. “Events since September 11 have driven home more than ever the linkage between issues of poverty and peace. Poverty in itself does not immediately and directly lead to terrorism, but we know that exclusion, hopelessness and lack of opportunity can breed conflict. Today the greatest challenge for the international community in building a better world is that of fighting poverty and promoting inclusion,” the anti-war convert now preaches. Donald Rumsfeld, his 21st century successor, should take serious note.

When the Cold War ended in 1990, we expected an era of peace. What we got instead was a decade of war. A report sponsored by Future Harvest and generated by the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo examines conflicts around the world and finds that most of today’s wars are fueled by poverty, not by ideology or religion. The devastation occurs primarily in countries whose economies depend on agriculture but lack the means to make their farmland productive. These are developing countries, such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Colombia, Liberia, Peru and Sierra Leone – places with poor rural areas where malnutrition and hunger are widespread. The report found that poorly functioning agriculture in these countries heightens poverty, which in turn often sparks conflict and breeds future malcontents.

This suggests an obvious but often overlooked path to peace: Raise the standard of living of the millions of rural people who live in poverty by increasing agricultural productivity. Not only does agriculture put food on the table, but it also provides jobs, both on and off the farm, which raises incomes. Thriving agriculture is the engine that fuels broader economic growth and development, thus paving the way for prosperity and peace. Always has since the beginning of time.