Josette Sheeran
5 April 2008
opinion
Only five months ago, I visited the West African countries of Mali and Senegal. At the time, the local newspapers were interested in only one story - the price of a loaf of bread.
In Senegal, the sharply rising cost of the urban staple had led to violent protests, while in Mali, the government was fighting a desperate battle to maintain subsidies at an economically viable level.
Since the visit, world food prices have continued to rise. While this can bring benefits to many farmers, Mali and Senegal were experiencing how such prices can drive like a sharpened stick through the livelihoods of the world's poor.
Since mid-last year, commodity prices have risen by at least 40 per cent. Global food reserves are at their lowest in 30 years and commodity markets extremely volatile, subject to sudden spikes and speculation.
At the end of February, the World Food Programme estimated that it would need an additional $500 million (Sh35 billion) to meet the requirements of approved projects in 2008. Since then, the cost of grains, pulses and oil have risen by a further 20 per cent.
These price rises have prompted a "new face of hunger" - people who suddenly can no longer afford the food they see on the shelves of their stores because prices have soared beyond their reach.
Senegal has not been alone in experiencing social unrest as a result of the price rises. Since the start of the year, food riots have been reported also in Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Morocco.
In Kenya, the cost of food rose by 25 per cent between February 2007 and the same month this year. Experts predict that such high prices - driven by increased demand for food for consumption and as biofuel - are with us for a number of years.
THE LAST THING WE AT THE W.F.P. want is to be unable to meet the urgent call of hunger, by reducing the number of people we feed or the amount of food we give them.
But we are facing a serious challenge. The cost to WFP of feeding a child in school in Kenya has almost doubled recently from nine US cents a day to 16 cents. Our refugee operation in northern Kenya has had to increase its budget by 33 per cent.
And we are doing everything we can to make the world aware of our predicament . We can only hope the world will listen, understand and dig into their pockets to meet this extraordinary appeal.
It is always striking how little can make a huge difference. On a visit to Mali last year, I met a remarkable, energetic woman called Maiga Zeinabu Cissé just outside Timbuktu. She was president of the Kabara Women's Cooperative, which for several years has been a beneficiary of WFP food-for-work projects aimed at guaranteeing the food security of the members in a harsh environment where the desert encroaches every day.
Ms Cissé's words of success are far more telling than my own. "We have seen a great change," she told me. "We have money to send our children to school, well dressed and with the books and pens they need to study. They are much better fed now, too. Our whole family's life has changed for the better."
It is projects like these that protect the poor from the vagaries of the world markets. They are undervalued and underappreciated for the positive impact they have on people they benefit. There are many such projects in Kenya, and they are needed now more than ever.
This is why we are sounding an alert now, rather than wait until this new face of hunger overwhelms our ability to respond.
Ms Sheeran is the WFP executive director
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