AU Summit must take urgent action to combat growing food crises
This week's African Union Summit must produce urgent and radical steps to reform agricultural policy on the continent, with food crises and hunger in Africa set to increase in the face of the global economic and climate change crises, international agency Oxfam said at the launch of a new report today. More and wiser investment in small-scale agriculture is needed, the agency said.
Released on the eve of the Summit, "Investing in Poor Farmers Pays: Rethinking How to Invest in Agriculture" warns that under-investment and bad agricultural policies by African governments and international donors have exacerbated chronic poverty and hunger for tens of millions of Africans. 60% of all Africans live in rural agricultural areas, while the urban poor are also increasingly facing food crises and malnutrition.
Oxfam welcomed the AU's decision to make agriculture this Summit's theme. It said that local communities must have a greater say in shaping the policies that affect their lives if real change was to occur.
Lamine Ndiaye, head of Oxfam's Pan Africa programme for Economic Justice, said:
"One in three Africans is now affected by food crises. Investing in agriculture is part of the long-term solution to the food, financial and climate crises. The economic collapse is changing the way that people suffer from hunger - food is available but it simply costs too much for millions of people to afford. AU leaders must commit to more investment in small-scale African agriculture to break the current dependency on the global market."
Oxfam urged African governments to meet the commitments they made at the 2003 AU Summit in Maputo to allocate a minimum of 10% of national budgets for agriculture, and more for rural development. Only seven countries have since reached this modest target. Most African governments are averaging only about 4.5%. Yet investing in agriculture pays for itself by reducing poverty, reducing dependency and stimulating local markets, Oxfam's report finds.
International donors have also failed to live up to their commitments to poor African farmers. Just over $1 billion of the $12 billion that donors committed last year to help poor countries cope with the global food crisis has so far reached the ground. Bad donor policies, such as forced liberalisation of local markets and support for large-scale agricultural projects instead of small-scale community farmers, have also undermined African agriculture. While spending on agriculture in poor countries has decreased over the past twenty years, the US spent $41 billion and the EU $130 billion on its domestic agricultural markets in 2007.
Lamine Ndiaye said: "This Summit must mark a new era for African farmers. Small-scale agriculture is the backbone of most African economies, the largest contributor to many countries' GDP, and is absolutely integral to African development. Yet for decades, our own governments and the international community have repeatedly neglected and under-invested in agriculture and rural development. Many farmers work in harsh, remote environments with inadequate access to markets and basic services such as water, land, healthcare and education."
Oxfam's report argues that additional investment must also be spent more wisely. Climate change is one of the biggest long-term challenges facing Africa, with desertification and drought devastating many rural areas. Community farmers manage some of the most degraded and fragile lands, and effective investment must aim to promote environmental sustainability. Marginalised and impoverished areas also need particular support.
"Investing in agriculture goes hand in hand with addressing the marginalisation of entire sectors of African society. Rural development is badly needed in areas without schools and healthcare, and among pastoralist communities. Women play a vital role in the agricultural economy yet are hampered from reaching full potential by low rates of literacy, nutrition and civil rights, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Securing land rights for women and empowering women farmers would mark a major step forward," said Lamine Ndiaye.
Notes to editors:
Oxfam spokespeople are available for interviews in French and English, and at the AU Summit in Sirte, Libya. Contact Alun McDonald on +254 73 666 6663
Urban food crises are a growing concern in many African nations. A recent study by Oxfam and other NGOs on rising malnutrition and food insecurity in urban Kenya is available - contact amcdonald@oxfam.org.uk
The seven African countries which are currently meeting the 'Maputo target' of 10% of national budgets invested in agriculture, are: Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Zimbabwe. However, quantity of investment is not always matched by quality of agricultural policies or participation of farmers and marginalised groups.
Public investments in agriculture decreased by 75% during the late 1980s and 1990s, and have since remained low, at an average of four billion dollars per year. In comparison, domestic spending on agriculture in the EU and the US stood at $130 billion and $41 billion respectively in 2007.
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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
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