Acceleration of Agriculture is a must for survival of humanity.FAO & African countries,in particular,must focus on "Integrated Development"of regions with varying climate by all possible means viz.;historical local ancient method of agriculture practice,wells & tubewells and other groundwater using solar,wind,diesel,Hydro-power ,nuclear ,thermal energy; canal & drainage systems.For this purpose,Planning of regions must incorporate experiences of different countries &include regional research stations for suitable Hybrid seeds &fertilizers. Planning for simultaneous accelerated supply of assured electricity is a prerequisite for success by all modes .Awareness,Education in Science & Technology must go hand in hand for making all regions self sufficient to eradicate hunger & poverty of its peoples.No time need be lost and words must be transformed into "Action" for concrete and positive results.Let God be "The Guide" to lead us.

Africa is a lost case. Year after year it is exactly the same thing - hunger, political problems, drought, the Mugabes, more Mugabes and you name it.

Apparently the west does not get it either. The west is always donating food and money for causes that do not seem to have an end.

Take the case of the crtitical situation in Mugabes country- we had a country that was self sufficient and was exporting food to neigboring country. Today inflation in the '000s - all man made - by the policies of a ruthless man. Does the west care? If the west cares about this situation, why not punish the selfish leaders like Mugabe- by not allowing him and his cohotes or coyotes from travelling to the west? The other day he was in Rome - a western territory. We westerners seem to onl care about thhose countries of strategic importance to us. I do not blame us. But we also should choose our policies well. Why waste our money/funds every year in sending so called food help to such countries when we know the cycle will repeat tomorrow?

Westerners still do not seem to get it. Take the case of Kenya. They just installed one of the largest parliaments in Africa, if not in the world. SOme 42 ministries - and 50 plus assistant ministries. Can they afford these expenses? Of course not. Not when an average full minister earns around $19,000 a month. Yes, that is right - dollars a month. For a country that produces near to nothing and depends mainly on tourism - it is such a shame.

Then of course there is the west - giving aid in forms of loans and grants most of which never make it to the intended users.

My suggestion would be for the west to pick a country and a project and carry it forward with its own conditions - thus showing the poor Africans how it is done and hope that they can learn from that eaxample. Say if the west want to give money for the infrustructure - then let the west take it own contractors ecen from the west, supervise and run such projects till completion.

If a country tries to dictate the conditions the west should simply tell them go to hell and screw themselves and leave then to themselves.

The crisis in Myanmar is one of true selfishness - imagine a country refuses to allow aid to their dying for fear of being overthrown or spied on! Yet all the west can do is just sit on the fence and look in. We have the power to bomb those stupid and ignorant militants out of this civilized world. We need to restore civility in that country.

I can go on, but I urge the west to change their policies and do a better humanitarian job.,

This a load of politically correct old cobblers ... nothing less. How long is it going to take before the West realises that it's been suckered into supporting FAO resolution after resolution begging for yet more aid for Africa ... a continent that still insists that everything wrong with it is the fault of Europe/ US/ colonialists more than fifty years after independence for most of them?

Remember that it was the FAO that invited that monster and international war criminal, Robert Mugabe to address them so recently. What the hell is wrong, or even right with the FAO?

I can see gaping holes in their credibility lasting for a long long time to come, which effectively beggars any honest attempt to genuinely assist Africans to achieve food independence and self-respect, neither of which they possess right now.

Thanks to chander for a view of the complexity of the problem-- and the level of complexity that will be required in any viable solution. There are flaws in western policies, for certain. The US and the EU have essentially perpetrated a long-term genocide on developing country smallholders with their trade-distorting subsidies and unsustainable "food aid". In addition, the US government has poisoned its own citizens with subsidized corn products (corn-fed beef, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated soybean oils) that have driven the obesity epidemic there. For the current crisis to abate, we will require a multi-faceted solution that includes African governments' leadership as well as western governments' reform. India and China have greatly benefited from their own successful campaigns to bring agricultural goods and protein to the starving masses (in India, the green revolution and the white revolution-- Operation Flood, c. 1970). These required national government leadership; similar efforts in Africa will require leadership at the national and regional levels, which makes the project more complex. In addition, climate change and the biofuels fad are making a green revolution more challenging in Africa. But with both African and foreign leadership, it can happen. I suspect that the FAO and other multi-laterals (including the AU and the international financial institutions) will be needed to coordinate policy reform at this scale. We've already seen too many failed bilateral attempts. I hope that humanity will be able to organize itself to meet this challenge.

To blame the US and EU is wrong. The governments of africa are almost all corrupt. We give aid and they squander it. Short of the west invading and imposing order africa will not change without outside force. Colonization was wrong, but africa has been free for fifty years and has very little to show for it.