Global Policy Forum

By Thalif Deen

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the developing world where the shortage of food has "substantially worsened" over the last three decades, a new study warns. As a result, says the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Africa will fail to meet the much-trumpeted U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which project the "eradication of extreme poverty and hunger" by 2015. "To hear that the developing nations, especially in Africa, are not on track to meet these goals will surprise no one," says the 60-page report released Thursday.

Although the proportion of malnourished individuals in sub-Saharan Africa has remained in the range of 33-35 percent since around 1970, the absolute number has increased substantially with population growth: from around 88 million in 1970 to an estimate of over 200 million in 1999-2001. "This record is in stark contrast to that of other developing regions such as South and East Asia, which have made significant strides in combating malnutrition over the same time frame," adds the report, titled "Looking Ahead: Long-Term Prospects for Africa's Agricultural Development and Food Security." Many of the challenges facing Africa's agricultural sector stem from a few root causes, including poor political and economic governance, inadequate funding for agriculture, poor water resources management, and neglect of research and development. Other challenges that Africa faces in building food security include: climate, geography, and poor resource endowments; socio-economic factors such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, gender inequality and lack of empowerment of women; and low water availability.

At a U.N. press conference last month, the president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, pointed out that rising debt problems were increasingly hampering the fight against poverty and hunger in Africa. He said he believed the total African debt was more than one trillion dollars, with some 40 billion dollars being cancelled as a result of a recent decision by Western donors. Akram said that would relieve the debt servicing of 18 heavily-indebted countries, amounting to about 1.5 billion dollars per year. "For the countries concerned, that was a substantial improvement," he said, adding that "some 30 other countries were still under stress from heavy debt burdens." Asked about the impact of rising debts on Africa, Mark W. Rosegrant, lead author of the IFPRI study, admitted that "the debt burden can limit the amount of funds for productive investment in development in Africa." "The 40 billion dollars in relief is a welcome source of funds which could provide a significant boost to agriculture and food security -- if invested well," Rosegrant told IPS. "Key priorities identified in our study include agricultural research, rural roads, irrigation, education, clean water and health," he added. Asked what additional action-oriented steps world leaders should take (at the upcoming U.N. summit meeting in September) to resolve the problem of food security in Africa, Rosegrant said: "The September meeting should seek to solidify the commitment both outside and within Africa to commit the level of investment funds needed to seriously address the Millennium Development Goals." He said that prioritisation of funding to high impact investments such as those identified in the IFPRI study, together with implementation of hard targets for disbursement of funds, would be a big step forward. "Commitment to trade liberalisation, which we show to generate in excess of 5 billion dollars annually in benefits to Africa, should be made and carried forward in World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations" leading to quota-free and duty-free access to third world exports in industrial nations, said Rosegrant, IFPRI's division director for environment and production technology.

In the study, IFPRI poses the question: is it actually possible for Africa to reach the MDGs targets for cutting hunger and poverty in half; and if so, what would it take? The priorities listed in the study include: - First, agricultural policies, trade and tariffs should be reformed. Africa's high export prices limit farmers' access to international markets. In addition, domestic subsidies, protective tariffs, and other trade barriers imposed by wealthy nations harm farmers in Africa and other poor developing nations; - Second, investments are needed in rural infrastructure, education and social capital. Significant increases in investment in rural infrastructure would help increase food production and consumption, decrease malnutrition, and increase food security; - Third, management of crops, land, water, and inputs must be improved. Sustainable productivity growth is one of the keys to food security improvements. Thus, agricultural input and crop technologies should focus on land and natural resources conservation, while at the same time increasing agricultural productivity; - Fourth, dramatic increases in investment in agricultural research and extension are needed if any plan for food and nutrition security in Africa is to be successful; - And finally, greater investment in women. Improvement in the status of women can influence food security and nutrition because women provide 70 to 80 percent of household food production in sub-Saharan Africa. And while farm plots run by women have been found to have 20-40 percent lower yields than those run by men, it has been shown that when women receive the same levels of education, experience and farm inputs as men, they can increase yields of some crops by 22 percent. The study says that the upcoming U.N. General Assembly summit provides an opportunity to make good on the promises made five years ago when the MDGS were launched. "The new research provides a reality check that 'business as usual' simply will not work, and offers policy makers option for reach these important (Millennium Development) goals," the study concludes.

The MDGs include a 50 percent reduction in poverty and hunger; universal primary education; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in maternal mortality by three-quarters; the promotion of gender equality; the reversal of the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; sustainable development; and a North-South global partnership for development, all by 2015. A summit meeting of 189 world leaders in September 2000 pledged to meet all of these goals by the year 2015. But their implementation has depended primarily on increased development aid by Western donors.A second summit meeting, scheduled to take place in New York Sep. 14-16, will review the progress made so far and set the world's development agenda for the next decade.

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