Statement by the Director-General of FAO at
the FAO Panel on Agriculture and Sustainable Food
Security in Africa
New York, United States of America, 27 April
2001
Meeting Basic Needs
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Why is this Panel focussing on agriculture and food
security in Africa? Why are they important to the
sustainable development of Africa, which is to be
addressed by ECOSOC at its High Level Segment in
July?
The facts speak for themselves: in 1996-98, more than
a quarter of the population of Africa was chronically
undernourished (192 million people). While in North
Africa the prevalence of undernourishment was
considerably lower (4%), the prevalence of
undernourishment in Sub-Saharan Africa has declined only
slightly over the past two decades, from 38% to 34% .
Although FAO estimates that the percentage of
undernourished people in Sub-Saharan Africa will fall to
22% by 2015, the absolute number is expected to increase
from 180 million in 1995/97 to 184 million in 2015.
Agriculture continues to dominate the economies and
societies of most African countries and is an important
vehicle for economic growth. In 1998, for the continent
as a whole, the agricultural sector accounted for nearly
60% of the total labour force, 20% of total merchandise
exports and 17% of GDP. For Sub-Saharan Africa these
figures are even higher, amounting to two thirds of the
labour force, one third of exports, and close to a third
of GDP. Agriculture is the main source of raw material
for industry, and a high proportion of manufacturing
value-added in most African countries is based on
agricultural raw materials. Moreover, rural households
derive almost 40 percent of their income from rural
off-farm employment in activities closely linked to
agricultural production.
Who are the poor in Africa? Who are the hungry and
malnourished? More than three-quarters of the African
poor live in rural areas and many are concentrated in
small-scale farming.
It is well known that poverty is at the root of hunger
and undernourishment. What often escapes our attention,
however, is that hunger and malnutrition are also major
causes of poverty. Hunger compromises productivity and
often the only asset that the extremely poor possess:
their labour. Undernourishment, through productivity
losses and nutrition-related health problems, is an
economic handicap for individuals, but also for
communities, and even for entire nations, when the
prevalence of hunger is widespread. This predominantly
rural character of hunger and poverty in Africa leads me
to a first important conclusion: In Africa, the battle
against poverty and hunger over the next decades, will be
won or lost in rural areas. Therefore, improvement of
rural livelihoods and the development of the agricultural
and rural sectors must be at the centre of national and
international poverty reduction programmes in Africa.
To grasp the magnitude of the scope for promotion of
agricultural growth in the region, we need to consider
that fertiliser use in Africa is some 19 kg per ha per
year, compared to 100 kg/ha in East Asia and 230 kg/ha in
West-Europe. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 2.7 percent
of all harvested area is irrigated, compared to 11.7
percent in Latin America and 42.6 percent in South
Asia.
Success is possible, also in Africa. Work in FAO has
shown that between the early eighties and the
mid-nineties, the thirteen countries which reduced the
proportion of the hungry people by more than one percent
annually, were led by five countries in West Africa:
Ghana, Burkina Faso, the Gambia, Nigeria and Mali. Strong
agricultural growth was a major ingredient for success in
all of these countries. In Ghana and Nigeria, for
instance, comprehensive programmes to promote cassava
production were critical in spurring agricultural growth
and in reducing under-nourishment. It also confirmed the
vital role that investment in applied agricultural
research plays in strengthening agricultural development
and food security.
However, and this is my second main conclusion, the
experience from these countries also very clearly
demonstrates that agricultural growth, although
essential, was not the only factor contributing to
success. The three other factors, which were
simultaneously brought to bear, included political
stability and absence of conflict; high and stable
overall economic growth; and the existence of social
safety nets for the poorest. The FAO World
Food Summit Plan of Action addresses, in the most
comprehensive manner, the general types of actions
required to achieve sustainable food security for
all.
The full implementation of these strategies for Africa
through country-owned and led action now depends upon the
necessary political will and mobilisation of resources,
involving all stakeholders. Let me highlight a few
particular challenges.
Natural and man-made disasters have increasingly
become a serious threat to economic and social progress
in developing countries, especially in Africa. The number
of people facing serious food shortages in sub-Saharan
Africa, as a result of these disasters, is currently
estimated at over 28 million in 21 countries. This leads
to a third key issue which I submit for our
consideration: A principal challenge for African
countries is to improve their preparedness for and
prevention of the frequent disasters and diseases which
are so detrimental to their food security and
agricultural development.
FAO's
Global Information and Early Warning System
continuously monitors the food situation in all African
countries and issues Special Alerts to the international
community, warning of impending food shortages, so that
timely interventions can be effected to minimize human
suffering and save lives. Since 1994, I have approved,
jointly with the WFP Executive Director, Emergency
Operations worth about US$3 billion for Sub-saharan
Africa to assist families whose livelihoods have been
destroyed by these disasters.
In this context, let me also mention the Horn
of Africa Initiative, an Inter-Agency Task Force for
a long term response which the Secretary-General had
established and asked me to chair, has adopted with
concerned countries and regional organisations a strategy
to deal with a nexus of persistent problems. The resource
mobilization process, involving the UN system and
including the Bretton Woods Institutions and the
bilateral and multilateral donors, has been initiated
under the leadership of the World Bank to ensure
effective concrete follow-up action. The next
consultation on implementation and funding will be held
in June.
FAO has also redoubled its efforts to monitor and
assist in the control of transboundary plant pests and
animal diseases which are major development obstacles for
many African countries. In this context, it established
the Emergency
Prevention System (EMPRES) with its fundamental tools
of early warning and early reaction. EMPRES continues its
efforts to roll back epidemic livestock diseases in
Africa, including for example, African Swine Fever or
Rinderpest. The latter has been reduced from 19 countries
infected in the 1980's to two small endemic foci at
present. Another example of a major livestock disease is
trypanosomosis in African livestock transmitted by tsetse
flies. The Heads of African States and Governments at
their 36th Summit Meeting in Lomé, Togo, in July
2000, adopted a historic Decision to eradicate Tsetse
Flies on the African Continent. FAO stands ready to
support this initiative.
As far as plant pests are concerned, the desert locust
remains a threat to agricultural production. In a
relatively short time, the pest can build up to plague
dimensions with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Many African countries spend substantial resources on
prevention and control of the desert locust. The
international community and FAO support these efforts
through the EMPRES programme.
A major lesson which we can draw from these
initiatives and actions is that in order to cope
successfully with disasters a close cooperation between
governments and all competent organizations is absolutely
essential.
Many of the health problems that afflict people in
Africa stem from, and are exacerbated by hunger and
malnutrition. Poor health, in turn, impairs productivity
and constrains social and economic development. The
importance of breaking this downward spiral in Africa
cannot be overemphasised.
The estimated annual number of new HIV infections in
Sub-Saharan Africa has been rising rapidly and by 1999
reached 4 million persons, with enormous human, social
and economic consequences for the region. The most
affected countries rely heavily on agriculture, and it is
expected that the HIV/AIDS epidemic will cause heavy
losses to the labour force ranging from 13 to 26 percent
in the nine most affected countries, with severe
consequences on food security. It is essential that
greater attention be given in all rural development and
agricultural programmes to the impact of HIV/AIDS and
that the needs of the rural populations, which do not
benefit equitably from information, education and health
services, be addressed. The convening of an African
Summit on Aids which is taking place today in Abuja,
Nigeria is indeed a timely intiative which will draw
attention to these issues. (More
about agriculture and HIV infections in Sub-Saharan
Africa)
Although globalization offers opportunities for growth
and development in all parts of the world, the hopes and
promises attached to rapid liberalisation of trade and
finance have not so far been fulfilled in many African
countries. This is another area which I recommend for
special attention by African leaders. Many factors
inhibit African countries from benefiting more fully from
trade. Among them, supply-side constraints in the
countries themselves, and the persistent and high levels
of support and protection provided to agriculture by many
of the richer countries in the world, are of particular
importance. African countries urgently need more
equitable market access for their agricultural products,
particularly for higher-value processed products, and
substantial infusions of technical and financial
assistance in overcoming domestic supply constraints.
Important moves are being made towards regional
integration: At the 36th Organization of African Unity
Summit in July 2000, African Heads of State and
Government reaffirmed their intention to form an African
political and economic union, including the creation of a
common market for agricultural products. In our view,
this is a very important development. I am strongly
convinced that greater openness and integration of
agricultural markets within Africa could alleviate many
of the problems that hinder development of the sector and
thus help ensure rapid, sustainable economic growth.
Experiences with regional economic integration in
Africa and elsewhere provide encouraging examples of
success as well as cautionary lessons. The recent
progress of several regional economic groups in Africa --
including, among others, UEMOA, ECOWAS and COMESA -- in
the areas of tariff reduction and monetary harmonisation
are important steps toward continent-wide integration,
however difficult and complex this process may be. Just a
week ago, I met with OAU Ministers of Agriculture in Togo
to discuss a paper recently prepared by FAO in
cooperation with OAU- on a Common Agricultural Market for
Africa in the context of African Economic Integration.
The paper was warmly received and thoroughly discussed by
the 32 Ministers and experts attending this OAU meeting.
The Ministers felt that increased market integration for
food security was a high priority for Africa and decided
to adopt the resulting document for submission to the
37th Summit of Heads of State to be held in Lusaka this
coming July.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The last decade of the 20th century has been marked by
a renewed attention to the plight of the poor. The
development focus has shifted to give more emphasis to
the social aspects of economic growth and social impacts
of economic policy. The world community has committed
itself through summit declarations, conferences and
initiatives, such as debt reduction, to make a serious
effort to reduce extreme poverty, a serious stain on
society's conscience.
In 1996, Heads of State and Government from all over
the world gathered in Rome to pledge their political will
and their common and national commitment to achieving
food security for all. They also pledged to eradicate
world hunger, with an immediate view to reducing the
number of undernourished people to half its present level
by 2015. It is unthinkable that any discourse, commitment
or action regarding alleviation of hunger and poverty can
be carried out without special targeting of Africa and
the full involvement of its leaders and people.
Unless the leadership in Africa assume ownership of
the processes seeking solution to these problems, there
can be no sustainable progress on these critical issues.
In this connection, I am pleased to note the movement in
this direction by the recently-announced Millennium
African Renaissance Plan. This African-led plan to
encourage investment was developed by Africans, and has
the advantage of local ownership and indigenous
ideas.
Ladies and gentlemen, the encouraging present progress
towards achieving the WFS target is far from sufficient.
For the world as a whole, the current annual reduction in
the number of undernourished of 8 million is far below
the 20 million required in order for the target to be
achieved. For Africa the trends point to the exact
opposite direction, namely to an increase in the number
of hungry people in the continent by 2015.
Political will to fight hunger on a sustainable basis
and a firm commitment to invest in agriculture and rural
development are critical elements of any effort aspiring
to achieve sustainable alleviation of hunger and poverty
in Africa. And here we cannot but signal another alarming
sign and cause for concern. FAO has calculated that in
terms of gross investment in primary agriculture alone,
the shortfall between a "business as usual " investment
scenario and one in which the WFS target could be
achieved, was on the average 12 percent for all
developing regions. For Sub-Saharan Africa, the shortfall
in annual gross investment is 38 percent.
FAO's calculations show too low a share of public
investment going to the agricultural sector in countries
where it is most needed, while the share of official
development assistance and lending by International and
Regional Financing Institutions going to the sector is
also declining. In 1990, Africa received 30% of Official
Development Assistance going to agriculture, whereas its
share declined to 21% in 1998. It is imperative that
resource mobilisation for agriculture and rural
development reflect their paramount role in building
sustaina ble livelihoods of some of the world's poorest
populations.
Investment in rural areas is necessary not only for
alleviation of poverty and hunger, but also to slow the
migration from rural to urban areas. In fact, the
legitimate concern about rapid urbanization and the costs
this imposes on entire societies may have even worsened
the rural handicap by diverting investments from rural to
urban areas. When investment in agriculture and rural
development is neglected, the rural-urban income gap will
further widen and the resulting increase in rural to
urban migration becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The tasks ahead are enormous, but so too are the
numbers of hungry and malnourished people who are waiting
for our action. Agricultural and rural development alone
will not eliminate the shamefully large incidence of
poverty and hunger, which stain humanity's record at the
beginning of the 21st century. They must, however,
constitute essential and priority components of more
comprehensive and integrated strategies for this purpose,
particularly in Africa.
