Panama Investor Blog

$40 Million for Vegetable Gardens Program in Panama

I think this is a great idea and I only hope it is implemented properly. Teaching people how to grow there own food and supplying them with the means will insure they don't grow hungry in lean times.

Source: elsiglo.com
Monday, August 10, 2009

In its first year, 25.000 people will receive free supplies and farming practice assistance, both in rural and urban areas.

The "Urban and Rural Vegetable Gardens" project aims to make food cheaper for consumers. Every year it will add 20.000 beneficiaries, for a total 5 years.

It will be executed in two phases. "The first phase is intended for urban plantations with planted surfaces between 500 and 2.000 square meters", reported newspaper Elsiglo.com. "The second phase will include people living in the capital city, who normally reside in reduced spaces. In this case, growing will be done on prefabricated pots, and will enjoy the same benefits as the first phase".

Drought Kills Off Cattle by Thousands

Thank goodness this is not a headline for Panama. It is from Argentina and it means real problems for that country and possibly the world. Argentina is world renowned for their beef and agricultural exports, but things have really taken a turn for the worse with a drought that just won't let up. I monitor the goings on in Argentina after buying an apartment there back in 1998. As I posted earlier, drought is striking countries all around the world and it is hitting Argentina especially hard. On top of their ongoing economic and political problems, there food production capabilities are being destroyed. This  article is from The Washington Post.

Excerpts: Argentina is suffering its worst drought in decades and the cattle are dying by the barnload. Since October, the drought has taken down 1.5 million of the animals, according to an estimate by the Argentine Rural Society, in a country that last year sent 13.5 million to slaughter. The cattle for the most part are dying of hunger, as the dry skies have shriveled up their pastures, along with huge swaths of Argentina's important soy, corn and wheat fields.

Read the whole story here

Is another dust bowl in the making?

What is it about economic depressions and droughts?  The 1930s saw a depression and a world wide drought that brought starvation and disease to millions. Now here we are in 2009 and it looks like a replay of the same situation. But this time we have a world population more than 3 times that of the 1930's. Even with our improved ability to produce more food on less land, lack of water makes this advancement of little value. Thanks to Tomas fro sending me this interesting data. The first chart is for 2007 and the next is for 2008/9. Go to this link for more information.