When famine strikes African countries, images of emaciated people, dying animals and parched landscapes fill the television screens. Governments and private organizations spring into action to provide food and alleviate the suffering.
Crises make headlines.
People are saved. In the short term, problems are solved. One such story has evolved in Zimbabwe, where revolutionary changes in the marketing of maize, a staple crop, have brought new prosperity to the countryside. Studies conducted by the University of Zimbabwe and Michigan State University revealed the inefficiencies of the centralized grain marketing system that fixed prices, restricted the movement of grain within the country and subsidized industrial millers. It assured a consistent flow of maize to urban consumers at low prices.