Davos 2015: Focusing on international food security, nutrition and health

21 January , 2015 in Davos 2015. 

Bridging the gap between rich and poor over food 

With huge discrepancies occurring between rich and poor over what they eat, CNBC Africa's Alec Hogg speaks to Shenggen Fan, director general, International Food Policy Research Institute, about what needs to be done to fix the problem.

 

Increased concentration of wealth
Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International and one of the six co-chairs at this year’s WEF, said the increased concentration of wealth seen since the deep recession of 2008-09 was dangerous and needed to be reversed.

   

Global wealth is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small wealthy elite. These wealthy individuals have generated and sustained their vast riches through their interests and activities in a few important economic sectors, including finance and insurance, and pharmaceuticals and healthcare. Companies from these sectors spend millions of dollars every year on lobbying to create a policy environment that protects and enhances their interests further. The most prolific lobbying activities in the US are on budget and tax issues; public resources that should be directed to benefit the whole population, rather than reflect the interests of powerful lobbyists. 

A briefing (publication date 19 January 2015) explains Oxfam’s methodology and data sources and updates key inequality statistics, such as Oxfam’s frequently cited fact in 2014: ‘85 billionaires have the same wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population’.

Has Africa fallen of the WEF agenda?
CNBC Africa asks Elsie Kanza, senior director, head of Africa, World Economic Forum.

 

Full debate
Reports of Africa’s economic demise have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, small pockets of insecurity exist and raise popular fears in the media, but the continent’s economy has never been more stable, diversified, linked, open, resilient and welcoming than it is now, at regional, national and local levels.