William Easterly, professor of Economics at the New York university, recently posted a piece entitled “Famine Cover-Ups vs. Fake Famines”. The Famine Scam that took place in Niger in 2005 is one of the two examples mentioned in this piece. Although the tone is politically correct, it raises a few questions on the controversial subject [...]

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Copyright Eden Foundation (2009) While heading up to the field station recently, the Eden research team drove past a number of people working by the roadside. Copyright Eden Foundation (2009) They were digging away sand that had accumulated by the roadside; a job that is normally carried out by bulldozers. Copyright Eden Foundation (2009) The [...]

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“That is not the reality that I have seen,” Esther Garvi (The Famine Scam) The Norwegian documentary The Famine Scam recently received the top Norwegian journalism award for its “extensive research” and “critique of power”. Here is a translation of the article entitled “Critique of Power”, published by Journalisten on May 6th 2009. Award for [...]

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If you happened to miss the Niger famine drama that took place in 2004-05 on International Television, you can now watch the documentary about it, entitled The Famine Scam, on YouTube. The Famine Scam (2008) The main protagonists in this story involve 1 – The Media (in particular, the BBC) who claimed that one third [...]

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The Famine Scam (2008) – as the outside world remembers Niger in 2005 A documentary broadcast on Swedish public television on Tuesday called into question the reputation of Britain’s public broadcaster, the BBC, for filing misleading and inaccurate reports about the severity of a food shortage in Niger in 2005. The SVT report showcased efforts [...]

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I recently stumbled upon a chronicle entitled Let My People Go, AIDS Profiteers, written by Sam L. Ruteikara, co-chair of Uganda’s National AIDS-Prevention Committee. It’s an interesting read because it is one of those times when “Africa answers back”, but at the same time, it is a heartbreaking read, because it is yet another example [...]

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The first news agency to write about the Niger Famine Scam (in December 2005) was Der Spiegel. Their article was recently published on the Internet, and what follows is a rough translation. Should you prefer to read the original German version, just click on the image below: The Desert Garden of Eden Global Village: In [...]

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During the heat of the crisis, the local Swedish newspaper Hallands Nyheter interviewed me about The Famine Scam and wrote an article about it, which was recently added to the web. Published on March 5th, the article is entitled Falkenbergare kritiska till bilden av svält i Niger. For all those who do not understand Swedish, [...]

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As most of you already know by now, Mirriah is one of my favourite places in Niger. It is an old village with an ancient heritage, rich in century old Baobab trees and known for its vegetable gardens. Situated 20km from Zinder, it is a place I love to go to for a Sunday excursion, [...]

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I just read a BBC article where a large aid organization (in this case, Care International) still refers to the Niger Famine Scam as valid information. In my heart, I will never be able to understand the aid industry, but if I follow its logic, here are some lessons to be learned: Assume that all [...]

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As many of you know by now, Niger is in the middle of its yearly three month long rainy season. According to the unofficial aid calender, this time of the year (up until the millet harvest in October) is considered the true “hunger season”, and yet Niger’s nature’s pantry is (as always) in full bloom. [...]

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I recently learned that on September 11th 2008, Jan Egeland will interestingly enough be holding a speech in Norway relating to the ‘strengths and weaknesses’ of journalism: Role of the press; war/conflict/emerging nations Jan Egeland, (Norway), former chief of United Nations Humanitarian Division has been followed by journalists for years. He will do a speech [...]

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For all those into the Famine Scam debate, here’s an article by the Guardian, published on July 1st, entitled: BBC in dispute with Norway’s TV2 The controversy surrounds BBC refusing Swedish TV4 the rights to show their footage earlier this year. A few reactions to the Guardian article are: The battle between public broadcasters – [...]

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The following chronical was originally published in Bergens Tidende on april 28th. Entitled “Apologize, Egeland”, it was my response to Jan Egeland’s dead silence concerning his dealings with the Niger 2005 famine scam, a “famine” he was so involved with that he credited himself for having solved the entire issue. With Egeland having recently visited [...]

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Yesterday’s post about the Niger 2004-05 Famine Scam debate going in Norway has been updated with the following link: Norwegian People’s Aid goes self-critical, published in Bergens Tidende on May 3rd, 2008 It is an interview with Petter Eide, the secretary general of the Norwegian People’s Aid whom after the Tabloid debate that followed the [...]

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