National Geographic: Haiti Soil
By Joel K. Bourne, Jr., National Geographic, September 2008 But there is more at stake than simply the ability of Haitian soil to feed a starving nation. Food-importing nations around the world also are suffering as the prices of staples skyrocket, raising critical questions about the goals of agricultural-assistance programs that over the past few decades have focused more on reducing tariffs and growing crops for export than on helping poor nations feed themselves. That's as it should be, officials say. "Food self-sufficiency is not necessarily the goal," says ...