* US aims for sustainable solutions to Africa's food security * Says developing countries need to open their markets (Adds details of G8 pledge, background) By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - The United States wants to cut Africa's dependence on food handouts and adopt a sustainable approach to tackling the continent's chronic food shortages, its agriculture secretary said on Tuesday. Leaders of the G8 countries pledged $20 billion in farm aid in July to help poor countries feed themselves, with the U.S. expected to contribute $3.5 billion to the 3-year programme. "The United States understands that it has to be more than providing periodic emergency food aid. It has to focus on sustainable solutions to hunger, food security and poverty," said Tom Vilsack, U.S. agriculture secretary, ahead of a two-day Afro-U.S. trade meeting which opens in Nairobi on Wednesday. The first phase of the new approach would be to listen to farmers and researchers to determine what needs to be done, while Washington would also support existing country development plans, he said. "This is not something where we come in and say this is the way you need to do it, it is where we come in and say how are you doing it and how can we help you do it better," he said, on his way to a small farm outside of the Kenyan capital. Millions of people constantly face hunger in the world's poorest continent and many governments spend precious foreign exchange earnings on food imports whenever rains fail. The United Nations estimates the number of malnourished people has risen in the past two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing decades of declines. The global recession is expected to see 103 million more go hungry. SHARED EXPERTISE Offering affordable credit to farmers, support to women farmers and providing new technology to encourage irrigation where appropriate, were some of the areas to be considered, said Vilsack, a former two-term Iowa state governor. His department was willing to share experiences and knowledge with its African counterparts, while the ultimate goal was to help countries grow economically through sale of farm produce, locally and regionally, he said. "We need to be supportive of good governance, transparency, of regulations that are science-based, of political and economic reforms," he said. However, developing countries would have to open their markets in return for cuts in agricultural subsidies to U.S. farmers, said Vilsack, who added the United States was committed to pursuing the Doha round of trade talks. Developing nations complain the subsidies extended to farmers in the United States and elsewhere make their products uncompetitive. U.S. President Barack Obama said in Ghana last month Western aid must be matched by good governance, and stressed Africans must take a leading role in sort out many of their problems. (Editing by David Clarke and Sophie Hares)
A protester carries a placard after South Africa's President Jacob Zuma met with Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to discuss Zimbabwe's unity government at the Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters, in ...
