Business Daily (Nairobi)
Kariuki Waihenya
29 May 2008
African farmers should be helped to raise productivity in their farms in order to reap the benefits of high food prices in the global market, a top World Bank official said.
World Bank president Robert Zoellick, said that while development partners had pledged additional financial assistance, Africa must focus on agricultural research and infrastructure development to shield recent economic gains from being eroded by high food and energy prices.
"This crisis provides the opportunity for Africa to build a coalition of responses across the continent, offering a vehicle for an agricultural renaissance that raises small scale farmers' income, enhances livelihoods, nutrition and ultimately food security for Africa," Mr Zoellick said.
He said that although African governments had increased investment in agriculture, few had met the 2003 commitment to spend at least 10 per cent of their annual budgets on the sector.
The World Bank president was addressing a joint press conference with Food and Agriculture Organisation representative for Africa, Mr Modibo Traore, International Fund for Agricultural Development president, Mr Lennart Bage, and the World Food Programme executive director, Ms Josette Sheeran.
The four agencies asked the international community to complement increased aid with real breakthroughs in trade negotiations so that Africa's producers could gain access to lucrative markets.
They asked developed nations, international organisations and the private sector to join hands under the leadership of African governments, regional organisations, the AU and the New Partnership for African Development to support immediate and long-term goals for growth in the continent's agriculture.
Mr Traore asked governments to ease the buying of food meant for humanitarian assistance by removing export controls and taxes.
Untapped potential
"Africa's very impressive economic progress over the last eight years must not be derailed by high food prices. Efforts to meet the hunger Millennium Development Goal can succeed if we seize the opportunity of high food prices in a continent with vast untapped agricultural potential," said Mr Bage.
The agencies said high food prices had contributed to macro-economic problems in many countries.
The total cost of food imports for Low-Income Countries was 24 per cent higher in 2007 compared to 2006, rising to $107 billion.
The crisis had contributed to fiscal imbalances as governments increased expenditures on safety measures and reduced tariffs and taxes on food.
Ms Sheeran said the high prices had been caused by increasing incomes in emerging markets and oil exporting countries that had contributed to high global demand for food and animal feed.
The situation had been worsened by increasing demand for food used in the development of biofuels, creating a link between the food and energy markets.
She asked Governments to enforce actions that would mitigate the effects, such as reduced taxes on food and distribution of supplies. She also called for restrictions on food exports to avoid derailment of the progress achieved under past reforms.
"We appeal to affected countries to manage the short term needs in ways that do not compromise longer term growth or impose burdens on their neighbours," she said.
The FAO has organised a conference on world food security, the challenges of climate change and bio-energy. It will take place next week in Rome.
Task force
Meanwhile, the UN has established a task force on the food crisis bringing together heads of specialized agencies, funds, the World Bank and the IMF.
Its objective is to promote a unified response to the crisis in support of governments and the affected people.
The Japanese Government promised to rally its G8 partners due to meet in July to honour their pledges to Africa and play a pro-active role in speeding up development.
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