Why Poverty? Since the beginning of November, TVO has been hosting a groundbreaking series titled, "Why Poverty?" This is a cross-media event reaching more than 500 million people around the world via television, radio, internet and live events. Its purpose is to engage people in conversations about poverty in the 21st century.
Documentaries and educational material The series brings together eight feature-length documentaries on global poverty, 10 specially-commissioned short documentaries about poverty in Ontario, short films on global poverty as well as a broad selection of educational and interactive resources to support Ontarians to better understand the roots of poverty and ways they can be engaged in ending it in Ontario and Canada.
Land Rush Among these thought-provoking videos is an engaging 50 min documentary titled Land Rush. Filmed in Mali, it illustrates some of the most critical issues faced by many African nations as well as other countries around the world, when land is being developed by outsiders. 75% of the population in Mali are farmers, but rich land-hungry nations like China and Saudi Arabia are leasing Mali land in order to turn large areas into agribusiness farms. Many Malian peasants do not welcome these efforts, seeing them as yet another manifestation of imperialism. As Mali experiences a military coup, the developers are scared off but can Mali’s farmers combat food shortages and escape poverty on their own terms?
