Darwin's Nightmare

I saw a documentary a couple weeks ago, called "Darwin's Nightmare", that made me aware of some of the problems that have occurred and are occurring in Africa, namely Tanzania. The documentary looks at the poverty, health issues, crime, and the import of weapons to fuel the war in southern Africa (Congo, Rwanda, etc).

The main source of income for the people of Tanzania is now commercial fishing. The introduction of the Nile Perch into Lake Victoria has disrupted the socioeconomic local system, and has forced the country into the world trade system. To exacerbate the situation further, the planes from Europe which were exporting the Nile Perch had also been importing weapons to fuel the war being fought in southern countries of Africa.

I found this film to be a very effective way to open the eyes of the public to these problems occurring in Tanzania. The documentary, although it pointed out problems with poverty and the exploitation of the resources extracted from this area, also brings up health issues that are causing problems. The largest of these health problems is the spread of AIDS. A priest who was interviewed in the film said that the use of condoms was a sin, therefore he is not allowed to recommend that people practice safe sex. So it seems that this issue, though it is able to be prevented, is more related to cultural and religious beliefs. Methods of preventing AIDS are available to the people but are not commonly practiced.

I would recommend seeing this documentary if you have not seen it already. I think this is a great film that relates to globalization. It definitely shows how a country with very few resources has come to be a part of the world system by shipping out several tons of processed meat from the Nile Perch in order to supply many countries in Europe with a food in fairly high demand.