The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has announced that severe drought and brutal civil wars in east Africa have left more than 20 million people in desperate need of emergency food assistance. In its announcement, the FAO was quite blunt in assessing what is happening in the region: "The situation is very worrying due to expected crop and pasture failures from poor rains in several areas, the increase in conflicts, trade disruptions and continuing high food prices." The truth is that most people in the western world have no concept...