The World Bank Blames African Famine on Bad Policy

Drought isn't something Africa hasn't seen before

Drought has led to food shortages in Africa, definitely contributing to the famine ravaging Somalia, but sadly, the current disaster is a result of bad policy, explains World Bank economist Kenya Wolfgang Fengler, according to Reuters. "The famine in the Horn of Africa is manmade -- the result of artificially high prices for food and civil conflict." While climate change may have made this season's summer particularly harsh, it's nothing Africa hasn't seen continues Fengler: "droughts have occurred over and again, but you need bad policymaking for that to lead to a famine." A small number of farmers controlling corn prices keep them artificially high; now they're 60 to 70 percent higher than the world market average.