Mugabe criticized for attending food summit

LL says hunger and poverty in Zimbabwe is largely a result of the land distribution policies Mugabe launched eight years ago: he tried to give land back to the blacks and away from white farmers, but he did it in a way that cronies of his benefited so much. And now their rich land is lying fallow. So he’s connected to the fact that the World Food Program has to distribute food aid in that country, which would’ve been unthinkable in the past. (It’s not surprising that there are some members who will not meet him. What is he doing there?) Mugabe in the past has come to summits like these and has derided his critics. For him this is a chance to take to the world stage when he knows he won’t have to face questions. No one knows for certain what he’ll say though. (One topic of this conference is what people can do to sustain themselves. How is that going to be reflected?) That’ll be a big topic at the conference and there are many advocates who will point to the fact there has been a huge drop in supporting agricultural aid in Africa in the last 30 years and they need to start investing in that again to make these countries sustainable.