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Africa: Food Crisis Double Standard
AFRICA ACTION
Africa Policy E-Journal
April 9, 2003 (030409)
Africa: Food Crisis Double Standard
(Reposted from sources cited below)
This posting contains excerpts from a statement to the UN Security
Council on April 8 by the executive director of the World Food
Program, James Morris. Mr. Morris noted that as many as 40 million
Africans were in danger of starvation, while the program's appeal
for donor support was $1 billion short of the request. "As much as
I don't like it," he said, "I cannot escape the thought that we
have a double standard. How is it we routinely accept a level of
suffering and hopelessness in Africa we would never accept in any
other part of the world? We simply cannot let this stand."
The full statement by Mr. Morris is available at:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200304080608.html
More details are available on the web site of the World Food
Program's Africa Hunger Alert at:
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=3
+++++++++++++++++end summary/introduction+++++++++++++++++++++++
Africa's Food Crisis As A Threat To Peace and Security
World Food Programme (Rome)
April 8, 2003, New York
Statement to the United Nations Security Council by James T.
Morris, Executive Director, World Food Programme
Mr. President, distinguished members of the Security Council:
We are all seized with the war in Iraq. On the humanitarian side,
the World Food Programme has launched what may become the largest
single humanitarian operation in history -- a massive intervention
covering logistics, food and communications totaling $1.3 billion
over six months. Reports vary on how much food Iraq's 27 million
people now have. Earlier, the Iraqi Government announced that
several months worth of food had been distributed, while our own
national staff that has monitored the Oil for Food Program for the
last decade put the figure at about a month's supply for the
average family. We are all deeply concerned.
But as we meet today, there are nearly 40 million Africans in
greater peril. They are struggling against starvation -- and, I can
assure you, these 40 million Africans, most of them women and
children, would find it an immeasurable blessing to have a month's
worth of food. As much as I don't like it, I cannot escape the
thought that we have a double standard. How is it we routinely
accept a level of suffering and hopelessness in Africa we would
never accept in any other part of the world? We simply cannot let
this stand. ...
The causes of Africa's food crises remain as I described them in
December - a lethal combination of recurring droughts, failed
economic policies, civil war, and the widening impact of AIDS,
which has damaged the food sector and the capacity of governments
to respond to need. The scale of the suffering is unprecedented.
The World Food Programme must somehow find $1.8 billion this year
just to meet emergency food needs in Africa. That is equal to all
the resources we were able to gather last year for our projects
worldwide and more than the biennial budget of the UN Secretariat
here in New York. Thus far, we remain nearly $1 billion short.
Continuing funding shortfalls for food emergencies in the DPRK and
Afghanistan and future demands in Iraq further darken the outlook
for Africa. Last year, global food aid continued to plummet,
dipping below 10 million metric tons -- down from 15 million in
1999. My colleagues at FAO have found that chronic hunger is
actually rising in the developing world outside China and the World
Health Organization announced that hunger remains the world's
number one threat to health.
Until recently it seemed that our appeals for help were just not
getting through. But I have some encouraging news. First, the
Secretary General has made the issue of African hunger --
especially as it relates to AIDS -- very much his own and that has
energized and encouraged all of us. Second, France and the United
States are working together to put African food crises on the
agenda of the upcoming G8 meeting to be hosted by President Chirac
in Evian in June. President Bush has announced the creation of a
new $200 million fund to prevent famine and we hope that will be a
down payment on a broader political commitment by the G8 and others
to address food emergencies in Africa. ...
The largest single threat to Africa's food security remains drought
in a continent where irrigation is rare, but AIDS, failed economic
policies and political violence also have major roles in different
regions.
Southern Africa
In southern Africa, and to a lesser degree in the Horn of Africa,
the impact of AIDS on the political and economic structure grows
daily. ... Out in rural villages, lands lie fallow because there is
no one to farm them and more than 7 million African farmers have
lost their lives to AIDS.
It is not hard to imagine where all of this is heading. The peak
impact of the AIDS pandemic has not yet arrived in southern Africa
and is not expected until 2005-2007. ...
Even if governments succeed in maintaining a fair degree of central
control and political cohesion, basic services and their economies
are bound to suffer. How do you turn around food production in a
country that no longer has a viable agricultural extension service?
How do rural children learn to farm when their parents are too sick
to teach them? How do you maintain a basic educational system for
children when their teachers are dying faster than new ones can be
trained? President Mwanawasa of Zambia told me that they were
losing 2000 teachers a year to AIDS and were able to train only
1000 a year to replace them.
Yet there are some encouraging developments as well. The latest
nutritional survey by our colleagues at UNICEF show that we have
been able to block a rise in malnutrition among children under
five. Thus far, more than 620,000 tons of emergency food has been
distributed to more than 10 million people in the region. Donors
have been very generous, especially the United States, European
Union, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
The GM food issue has faded and is no longer delaying and
disrupting deliveries. Five of the six countries needing aid in
southern Africa are accepting processed and milled GM foods. We
simply could not have reached the level of food deliveries we have
now attained without the constructive problem solving undertaken.
But it would be foolish to say this crisis is over. Crop prospects
are better, but more droughts are forecast and we are confronted
with the real possibility of a permanent, low-grade food crisis
created by AIDS. Women and girls are especially hard-hit by the
disease, accounting for 60 percent of the cases and in Africa eight
out of ten farmers are women. The impact is obvious. ...
WFP remains especially concerned about Zimbabwe where there have
been numerous media reports that food assistance is being
politicized. We are confident that this is not the case for our
food and in the few instances where we have received credible
reports of abuse we suspended those operations, ...
Our goal is not to politicize, but to depoliticize food aid in
Zimbabwe. Food should be available to all based on humanitarian
principles with any other consideration being inappropriate. That
is the case everywhere we work. Hungry people cannot afford to be
caught in political crossfire. There are those who would have us
pull out in crisis situations to punish governments and take a
stand on political or human rights issues. But WFP believes that
emergency aid simply cannot be politicized -- for good or ill. When
people in power, be they government or rebels, deny food aid to
certain vulnerable groups of the population, we will speak out. ...
Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Sahel
The food emergency in Ethiopia has far fewer political overtones.
Ethiopia has made substantial economic gains over the past several
years. It cannot afford for the current crisis to produce serious
economic setback. The situation in Ethiopia is a classic example of
a country that receives a high per capita emergency assistance and
a very small per capita development assistance. Over 11 million
Ethiopians require food and other relief assistance, with another
3 million on the edge. Fortunately, the funding outlook for
Ethiopia is good and we already have pledges totaling about 70
percent of needs
In Eritrea, on the other hand, the last war with Ethiopia has left
a legacy, adding 900,000 displaced and economically vulnerable
people to a caseload of 1.4 million who are drought-affected. While
absolute numbers are far lower than in Ethiopia, two out of three
Eritreans are short of food. The funding situation is grim. We must
quickly find and move an additional 200,000 metric tons into
Eritrea to continue and expand our programme to avoid widespread
malnutrition and deaths.
In both countries, drought is the major culprit. The regional needs
are really massive, far exceeding the most recent drought in 2000.
The drought could lead to internal migration and a marked rise in
poverty levels, but we do not see it as directly causing major
political destabilization in either country.
Food security has also deteriorated in the Western Sahel --
Mauritania, Cape Verde, Gambia, Senegal and Mali -- and emergency
feeding operations are desperately short of cash, at only 40
percent of requirements. While internal migration, especially
rural-to-urban, is likely, immediate impacts on security and
political structures do not appear likely. ...
Angola
The nexus between political violence and food shortages is still
most easily illustrated in Angola where the humanitarian situation
remains serious. Our job is to help with the economic recovery of
the poorest and the maintenance of the peace. After the peace
agreement was signed a year ago, WFP's caseload rose sharply from
1 to 1.8 million people. Large numbers of displaced or isolated
people can now be reached, but the fact that much of the country is
littered with land mines still makes access difficult and undercuts
food production as vast stretches of land are not yet safe for
cultivation. More of the millions of refugees and IDPs are
returning home at a rate higher than aid agencies anticipated,
further straining the systems we have in place. Angola is no doubt
a wealthy country with great potential and now capable of doing far
more for its citizens, but food and other aid remain crucial for
the near future.
Africa's Refugees and IDPs.
Destroying food supplies and driving people from their lands have
long been techniques in war. We have seen them used in recent years
in Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan, and in Cote d'Ivoire, where more
than 1 million people have been displaced. Despite some progress in
the last few years, large pockets of refugees and IDPs remain a
continuing source of political friction, violence and insecurity in
Africa. Large concentrations of refugees and IDPs often degrade the
environment, further aggravating relations with indigenous groups.
All told, WFP is feeding 1.8 million refugees and 5.7 million IDPs
and returnees in Africa operations totaling $166 million. But
donors have not stepped in forcefully enough. In West Africa, for
example, emergency operations to feed IDPs and refugees in Guinea,
Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire are facing a shortfall of
40 percent.
The political and security situation in West Africa has been in
deep crisis for years. Liberia is once again at the epicenter of a
conflict that could continue to spread. With no sustainable
political solution in sight in Liberia, the humanitarian situation
there is expected to remain critical through 2003 and will impact
on neighbouring Guinea and Sierra Leone. Moreover with violence and
conflict escalating in western Cote d'Ivoire, the already
precarious humanitarian situation risks to deteriorate even further
and reach regional dimensions. ...
UNHCR and WFP have warned that the fate of more than 1.2 million
refugees in Africa is uncertain due to a lack of funding for
much-needed food aid. We urgently need more funds in the next
several months to avert severe hunger among refugees. (The midFebruary
shortfall was $84 million.) Some refugees are already
receiving only half of their normal monthly food rations.
Meanwhile, stocks of several food commodities are running out.
Major interruptions in the food pipeline are feared in Tanzania,
Uganda, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Sudan, Africa's
main refugee-hosting nations. ...
Steps We Can Take Now
We had a very fruitful preparatory meeting for the G8 here in New
York last month that is helping us shape some ideas for future
action. Preventing and responding to food crises in Africa requires
commitment by a range of actors, especially Africans themselves.
For instance, domestic economic policies that work against the
African farmer and create disincentives for agricultural production
will need to be reversed. Global trade policies of the rich
industrial nations that have a direct negative impact on
agricultural production of developing countries should likewise be
reversed.
Director General Diouf of FAO, President Bage of IFAD and I offered
our shared view that a two-track approach must be taken in Africa
We must consider simultaneously the needs of the 40 million
Africans living with threat of starvation and the nearly 200
million Africans who suffer quietly from chronic hunger far from
the attention of the media.
We can make significant progress with modest investments. While our
proposals are not yet finalized, for its part, WFP plans to call on
the G8 and its members states for:
- A far stronger donor commitment to emergency food aid based on
better targeting and more sophisticated early warning systems;
- A substantial increase in support for investment in basic
agricultural infrastructure, both micro and macro, especially
irrigation infrastructure, but also roads and markets, and the need
to make agricultural work easier for women. After all, they do 80
percent of the work. We also need to focus on more energy efficient
devices and need to make timely investments in implements, seeds
and fertilizer. Crucial is a long-term drive to deal with Africa's
water issues, introduce improved technologies, promote policy
reforms, invest in micro-enterprises, and strengthen nutrition
through school feeding and other projects to reach the vulnerable.
...
- A firm commitment by donors to full funding of all African
emergency food aid operations based on joint FAO/WFP needs
assessments. We are looking a famine risk insurance schemes and
other mechanisms to move us in that direction more quickly. To
maximize effectiveness, the longer-term development programmes of
WFP and other UN agencies in water, sanitation, health, agriculture
and education programmes will need far stronger support;
- Funding of a $300 million African Food Emergency Fund that would
be an immediate response account that can be used at the very
outset of a food crisis. Fast access to cash to buy food
locally/regionally, hire transport, set up communications, and to
fill breaks in food aid pipelines would vastly strengthen the speed
with which WFP can respond. We will encourage other UN agencies to
seek similar immediate response accounts. We have repeatedly seen,
most recently in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa, that
donations to meet nonfood needs -- clean water, medicines, seeds --
materialize at an even slower rate than those for food. The
non-food items are every bit as important as food and deserve the
thoughtful consideration of the donor community. We need to move
faster on all fronts.
- Create a facility to encourage donations from nontraditional
donors, especially developing countries. India, for example, has
more than 60 million metric tons in cereals surpluses. We have been
offered 1 million tons -- but we need to find partners to provide
cash for transport and management. Cash contributions made in this
way can leverage considerably more food aid for hungry people. For
example, a cash contribution of $20 million could leverage a
donation of 100,000 metric tons from South Africa for drought
victims in Zambia. This transaction would otherwise cost around $40
million. New donors, both traditional and non-traditional,
substantial participation of the private sector and innovative
concepts such as "twinning" are critical.
- Provide modest funds to work with Africa Governments and other
partners improve vulnerability mapping, early warning and
preparedness measures. Help us and our African partners sharpen
capacities in needs assessments and nutrition surveillance, and
move aggressively into food fortification and other nutritional
activities, especially ones designed to address the nutritional
impact of AIDS.
- Finally, we will call on the donor community for a major
investment in Africa's children. The long-term future of Africa
will depend greatly on a well-nourished, educated and skilled
workforce. WFP would like to work in partnership with NEPAD to get
all primary school-aged African children to attend school through
support for school feeding activities. An initial annual investment
of $300 million in school feeding, to be gradually increased to $2
billion a year by 2015, would permit WFP to support the Education
for All initiative and reach most of the 40-50 million out-of
school children. We are especially grateful for recent commitments
from Switzerland and Canada for school feeding in Africa. In fact,
Canada has committed 75 million Canadian dollars over three years
in support of school feeding in five African countries. As much as
we can, WFP procures commodities locally and/or regionally to
stimulate local production, adhere to local food habits and ensure
long-term sustainability. School feeding also allows to support
policies introducing the supplementation of iodine, vitamin A and
iron in the diet of children. For pennies, a child's life can be
substantially improved. The impact in terms of nutrition, health,
and education - especially for girls - are tremendous: enrollment
rates, performance scores and access to secondary schooling soar
while girl-child marriages and early pregnancies decrease. For me,
the concept of empowerment of women could not be more tangible.
School feeding is the single best vehicle to address the Millennium
Development Goal to cut poverty and hunger by half. ...
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Date distributed (ymd): 030409
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+
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