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Kenya: Millennium Goals - Country Praised
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 22 April 2008
Morton Saulo
Nairobi
Kenya, Uganda and Ghana have been singled out as two countries in Sub Saharan Africa that have attained rapid progress in the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Speaking at the 12th UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in Accra, Ghana, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moo said that the success of these countries need to be replicated and expanded across Africa with effective support from the international community.
The Secretary also urged African countries to increase trade and investment particularly in agriculture, adding that this will be crucial if Africa was to achieve the kind of growth needed in meeting its development targets as well as address current global food crisis.
Africa, he said, had yet to fully benefit from globalisation, especially increased trade and investment and noted that the continent's share of global trade and foreign investment languishes at three per cent. "Africa face a development emergency," he said.
"This scaling-up of our development activities requires unprecedented effort, but it is achievable," Ban said.
Kenyan government recently admitted that the country faces a food shortage. To help alleviate the shortage, it released Sh1.5 billion to the National Cereals and Produce Board to buy top dressing fertiliser and sell it to farmers at subsidised rates.
And according to a new world bank report-rising food prices released early this month it states high food prices are threatening recent gains in overcoming poverty.
The report also states that most countries in Africa will not attain the set MDG targets by 2015.
In his address, Mr. Ban also drew attention to the "alarming" rise in global food prices, which he said threatens to undo the gains achieved so far in fighting hunger and malnutrition.
Said he: The situation calls for a substantial increase in investment and expenditure in agriculture, and underscores the importance of pushing for an open trading system in agricultural commodities - which would benefit countries around the world.
He urged donors to support the appeal for $755 million by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to sustain food aid to some of the world's most vulnerable people.
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In addition, he called for a substantial increase in expenditures on agriculture, adding that trade and investment should be used to bring about a 'Green revolution' of improved agricultural productivity across Africa.
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