Good for Malawi

I am not one who heaps a lot of angry rhetoric on organizations like the World Bank and World Trade Organization. But they do certainly have their faults. For one, they seem to rely more on economic development than on alleviating immediate hardship. (By the way, can anyone explain me me how free market principles are taken for granted when we give advice to developing countries, when that remains to this day a major source of debate in the US?)

And here is seemingly one example of this. The World Bank, the US and Britain have been telling Malawi that they shouldn't provide fertilizer subsidies. The Malawian government has finally decided to ignore that advice, and the result is significant increases in agriculture production. Granted, the country has also seen good rainfall the last two years, but that analysis points to the fertilizer making a significant impact on increases in food production.

What really makes me angry though is that the US is telling these countries not to have agriculture subsidies, while we continue to boost agribusiness in our country. I don't understand how we can be so hypocritical in in such a way that allows people to starve. Maybe more developing countries will start to ignore the US and World Bank in situations like this.