Famine in the Horn of Africa

As a story I was reading this morning says, that we have been warned of the upcoming famine situation for months. Heck, considering how much food first world nations have, there's never an excuse for people in any part of the world to die from starvation.

It's always bugged me when governments encourage farmers to destroy a crop that could feed thousands because there is too much of that crop this particular year and it would cause the price of item x to plummet because of the surplus.  I always figure if the government is going to pay the farmer to destroy his crop, why not pay him for the crop and use it to help out others in places where food crops were not so abundant.

The earth doesn't always bring the same disasters to the same areas year after year.  We should take advantage of exceptional crops to help feed our poor neighbours.

You know it's always bugged me that when we were little, and I didn't have much appetite, I'd always be told, that I had plenty to eat and those poor starving children in Africa would love my lima beans. Well if we know there are starving children in Africa why are we doing nothing about it. Just because it's not our children, does it make it any less of a tragedy if they die of starvation?