In Western Africa the average wage for a person is a devastating $309.00(The World Bank) per year which is less than one dollar a day. In such rural circumstances families rely on one other to make a days work for survival. While living on the cusp of society these people are susceptible to the ebola virus which is extensively spreading through Western Africa. Food shortages are becoming a extreme problem than it already was before this outbreak. The supply of food is depleting and food being a vital necessity for survival causes the demand and price to skyrocket. “The price of palm oil, an important food item for many poor households in the region that is traded in large quantities, has increased 40 percent in four weeks”(Hussain & Arsenault). A result in a price increase with a limited salary will causes these people to turn to inferior goods and starvation. While starvation is escalating, this wont only cause them to die but their immune system will fail causing them to be more susceptible to the virus. This also raises the question why isn’t the UN and other global organizations shipping mass amount of clean food to redeem this food shortage. If only “10 to 20 large trucks are supplying Diaoube[Africa] now, compared with 100 on an average market day last year”(Hussain & Arsenault), what will it be in a month if the virus continues to spread? This virus has drastically altered the markets and economic standpoints of Western Africa; on Business Morning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75pxsa8-6X0 states that the consequential loss could be as high as five to seven billion dollars. As Africa’s Economy was incredibly weak because of this epidemic it will never return to be the same.
Sources
Arsenault, Misha. “Food crisis looms as Ebola rampages through West Africa.” Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://news.yahoo.com/food-crisis-looms-ebola-rampages-west-africa-150511740.html>.
“Support these four organizations to help fight Ebola.” ONE. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. <http://www.one.org/us/2014/08/18/support-these-four-organizations-to-help-fight-ebola/>.
“The Economic Effects Of Ebola On West Africa; It’s Because Of The Way The Economies Are Structured.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/09/05/the-economic-effects-of-ebola-on-west-africa-its-because-of-the-way-the-economies-are-structured/>.
“West Africa: Facts and Figures.” News & Broadcast –. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Oct. 2014. <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20179737~pagePK:34370~piPK:42768~theSitePK:4607,00.html>.
Hussain, Misha, and Chris Arsenault. “Food crisis looms as Ebola rampages through West Africa.”Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 7 Oct. 2014. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/02/us-foundation-health-ebola-food-idUSKCN0HR1P020141002>.