The following
answer applies not necessarily to just Laos but all countries.
Famines are
possible in any country that gets hit hard by some major incident
(war, bad weather, etc.). However because of international trade,
any deficit or need in food just means that the country simply has
to import it.
There are other
reasons that famine can occur, not the least of which are natural
disasters or bad weather - which is often the number one reason
most people think. They include land not being properly used and
cultivated by land owners, for example, land that is siting idle.
Further, there is often hoarding of food supplies and stock by merchants.
Those same merchants also prefer to export food stock for more money
because selling domestically means less profit. Another reason,
there could be not enough irrigation systems in place to compensate
for drought conditions. The truth is Laos has an incredible amount
of cultivable land area, in spite of urbanization and leftover unexploded
ordinance and only a population of a little over five million to
feed.
Generally though,
if land is better used, planned and cultivated and food supplies
better distrubuted domestically, most countries should never see
famine. Moreover, the use of higher yield and tougher varieties of
vegetables and grains and less land and food being used on cattle,
pork and other animals, will mean more food for people.
It is important
to remember not to be overly moved by dramatic wordings and metaphors
that can sometimes lead you away from real understanding. Politicians,
salespeople and others who are good talkers or good liars are examples
of this. On the flip side some of the best writers, speakers and
very intelligent and articulate people can use wonderful wordings
to get you to understand or move you in a positive way.
Always listen
with one ear. In other words do not believe everything you hear
(or read) at 100%. Rather believe it at 50% and reserve the rest
for when you can verify the truth for yourself. It is important
to keep an open mind but be discerning and attentive to truth and
falsities.
At Laoconnection.com
we always try to remain open and offer a balanced view. Sometimes
people do not always agree with what we say in the Advice Column
and sometimes they do. Because we do so much research and almost
always provide examples or sources, we stand by what we state in
our Column. However it is always up to the reader to obtain information
from various sources and not just one. This is a rule we follow
too.
