During the 1980-81 famine in East Africa, I flew relief supplies into many different feeding centers in Kenya & Uganda. These were in very remote, dry regions that experience rain & crop failure once every 5 to 10 years.
Three times I was told a similar story by the expat staff of the centers. The staff members had overheard tribal people eating in the center say, "If we get a good harvest next year, let's don't save any. Let's make it all into beer!. If we run out of food, these folks (missionaries, relief workers) will come back and feed us again!"
In 1979, Kenya had a bumper maize (corn) crop, but nowhere to store the surplus. They sold it overseas to earn foreign exchange (real money). These sales continued even after Kenya finally admitted that there was famine. The surplus was sold, as was the 2 million bag (90 kg) "strategic reserve".
Plenty of blame to pass around.
Every African missionary I've talked to in the last fifteen years is somewhat discouraged. They don't discuss it much, but going there reveals the problem.
It is a cultural plague. Here in the West, we have age-old ideas about what it means to be a real man - provider, protector, etc.
In parts of Africa, a "real" man has five wives, countless children, and NO job or responsibility.