by Virginia Muwanigwa
The resolution to cut world starvation in half within 20 years is one of the outcomes of the recently ended World Food Summit held in Rome, Italy.
The resolution follows statements that enough food is produced in the world to feed everyone adequately but needs to be equitably distributed amid growing poverty levels.
The summit, held in November and organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) sought to secure improvements in the efficiency of the production of all food and agricultural products. It also highlighted the need to improve the conditions of rural populations and among other vulnerable groups.
World leaders were expected to commit themselves to a plan of action to achieve universal food security at international and national levels including guidelines for responsibility among governments, international institutions and other stakeholders.
At the opening session of the food summit, Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku said global food security requires long-term planning and commitment by the global community.
“It requires that we globally address the demographic and environmental factors which impinge on its realisation. Above all, it requires acceptance that our common humanity obliges all our nations to be truly concerned for the world’s 800 million malnourished men, women and children,” he stressed.
Victoria Sekitoleko, sub-regional representative of FAO for Eastern and Southern Africa, said the summit provided a platform for leaders to examine their role and commitment in ensuring food security through access at all times for all the world’s people.
“The summit is not a pledging conference …The aim is to achieve international and national commitment and not to create costly new institutions and bureaucracies,” stated Sekitoleko, ahead of the summit.
Against this background, the population is growing while the amount of arable land is shrinking, as is availability of water. The summit was thus expected to create awareness, solidarity and consensus to eradicate hunger.
Of the 52 countries in Africa, 42 are considered as low income food deficit countries (LIFDC) and the FAO has established two special programmes to counter the effects.
One is a programme designed to ensure security through increased food production. The second is the Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animal and Plant Diseases (EMPRES) to control the spread of serious animal and plant diseases and pests likely to hinder satisfactory agricultural produce.
Economies of southern African countries are agriculture-based, employing about 56 percent of the labour force in the region. Southern Africa this year recorded a bumper harvest after four consecutive droughts, reducing dependence on food aid.
Most SADC countries received good rains during the 1995/96 and a SADC food security report showed the total maize harvest of 20.4 million tonnes, a surplus of 1.87 million tonnes. Some countries, however were not so lucky. The Namibia, has had acute rainfall shortages for the last four years, devastating both communal and farming areas. On 3 June this year, President Sam Nujoma declared Namibia drought-stricken and launched a drought relief programme.
The Namibian government realises the need for a long-term approach to build capacity to reduce the impact of future droughts. As such, focus will be put on large water development schemes.
Regionally, the challenge is to maintain sound regional food security and to increase agricultural outputs by focusing production patterns toward products in which they are comparative advantages. Surplus produce could then be traded amongst southern African member states. .-
Regional cooperation in pest and disease control also needs to be strengthened to prevent importation of serious pests and diseases. Recently, Botswana led the way by slaughtering 200 000 cattle in its North-west district in an effort to curb the spread of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, a livestock disease.
However, SADC countries need to develop a regional capacity to effectively control the spread of animal and plant diseases to ensure maximum food production and economic development.
This requires cooperation from member states in disease-control programmes, sharing information on the spread of animal and plant diseases towards borders and launching joint cross-border controls.
The Botswana-based SADC Livestock Sector says this is a priority for the region where agriculture, especially livestock contributes to the well-being of the people and food security. The sector is now working on a strategy that will control the spread of animal and plant diseases in the region.
To guarantee food security, Mozambique needs to increase agricultural production by four to five percent a year, said President Joaquim Chissano at the World Food Summit.
This would require substantial investment in irrigation, marketing mechanisms, food processing technology, and agricultural research.
Mozambique’s current food deficit is estimated at about 230,000 tonnes of grain a year, although this year the country saw a bumper harvest estimated at 1.37 million tonnes of grain.
“In Mozambique we are making efforts to eliminate hunger. Cur strategy regards the fight against hunger as a multidisciplinary task” said Chissano, who, however, warned that until the food deficit could be overcome, the country will continue to need food aid.
He stressed that around half the population, particularly the most vulnerable, such as women and children, still lack a diet that meets their basic nutritional needs.
Chissano also noted that to guarantee food security, it is not enough simply to raise food production but this should be accompanied with agricultural marketing, food preservation and processing, and increasing the purchasing power of citizens for them to buy food.
“We believe that FAD, together with other UN agencies, can coordinate our ideas and draw up programmes to be implemented on countries that face the same conditions as Mozambique, so as to overcome food deficits and achieve self-sufficiency.
“We are sure that FAD, and all of us, are now more prepared to create a sustainable food security system, capable of saving our children, building a better future, and reaching the 21st century with optimism,” said Chissano.
The policies needed will be those that make it possible for people to grow or buy the food they need without destroying the natural resources they depend on.
This year’s theme for the World Food Day, 16 October was “Fighting hunger and malnutrition” through the reduction of poverty. The World Bank, accused by some of being impervious to poverty through its structural adjustment programmes, says poverty reduction, achieving food security and environment protection cannot be met without focusing on rural populations.
Most of the world’s poor and hungry live in rural areas. In southern Africa more than half the populations are rural-based, making it necessary for rural development to be priority. The Bank also says rural poverty and food security are tied to environmental management and addressing such issues as soil degradation, resource depletion and pollution is crucial.
Empowering women has also come out as one way of ensuring global food security as they account for more than half the labour force producing food, hence the need to provide them with skills and expertise to adequately provide for themselves and their families.
In sub-Saharan Africa, women produce 70 to 80 percent of food grown and eaten at home and perform 90 percent of the work of processing food crops. Despite this, women rarely own the land they work on and laws do not adequately enable them to acquire land without male consent.
In southern Africa, women are mainly responsible for food production but its marketing and proceeds are usually decided by their male relatives.
“Women are over-represented among the poor and malnourished, even in those countries where they Play a central role in the food cycle.
“In many such countries, although women dominate the production, harvesting, storage, marketing, processing and preparation of food, they usually have little control over related financial and other resources,” said Anyaoku.
Among some of the solutions suggested to ensure women benefit are: increased rural financing; access to training and extension; access to genetic resources; and provision of education and health services.
The President of the UN General Assembly, Razali Ismail of Malaysia warns against falling victim to slogans, questioning why malnutrition, starvation, agricultural decline and famine still prevail despite several decades of intensive agricultural development programmes in developing countries through the “green revolution”.
Ismail’s question is answered by Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO when he says: “Past and future scientific advances, the transfer of technology to farmers, and the introduction of environmentally sound farming practices will not be enough by themselves to achieve the production objectives.”
Diouf instead advocates for investment in agriculture. For instance, in Africa, food security can be assured by investing in low-cost irrigation or water management schemes that can be built and run by the farmers themselves.
Road links, storage facilities and other essential infrastructures for production, market supply and subsistence are other options.
Highlights of the summit discussions included: investment in agriculture and water management; the socio-economic and political environment; food security assessment; food production, population growth and impact on the environment; food and international trade and agricultural research.
Ways of ensuring food security necessitate: political, macroeconomic and trade conditions conducive to food security; linking emergency food needs to development; ensuring equitable involvement of all stakeholders in food security matters; and investment in research and extension services to ensure sustainable agriculture.
Echoing sentiments of preceding meetings, Anyaoku stated at the summit: “Food for All is achievable; let this great gathering provide the vision and the political will to make it a reality.” (SARDC)
