Overshadowed by global financial turmoil, food security remains a concern on continent; prices still high, and funds lacking for agricultural progress
Geneva, 29 June 2009 - The food crisis that preceded the global financial downturn has not disappeared from Africa, and must not be ignored as governments focus on world economic difficulties, the annual executive session of UNCTAD´s Trade and Development Board will hear from a series of experts on 30 June.
The afternoon session of UNCTAD´s governing board, known as the TDB, will be devoted to a discussion of "Food security in Africa: lessons from the recent global crisis." UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi will offer opening remarks.
The meeting will include a keynote address by Akinwumi Adesina, Vice-President for Policy and Partnerships of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa; and a panel discussion featuring Marcel Mazoyer, Emeritus Professor of Comparative Agriculture and Agricultural Development of the French National Agricultural Institute; Jean Feyder, Ambassador of Luxembourg to the United Nations Office at Geneva; and David Nabarro, Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator for the Global Food Security Crisis and Avian and Pandemic Influenza (UNSIC).
Background material developed by UNCTAD economists for the meeting reports that more than 300 million Africans are chronically hungry -- about a third of the continent´s population. Food prices, while they have fallen from the levels reached during the commodities boom that peaked in the spring and summer of 2008, are still higher in the midst of the current global financial crisis than they were before the food crisis struck. Decades-long national and international neglect of the African agricultural sector has transformed many countries from net food exporters to net food importers, leaving them vulnerable to price swings and variations in global crop yields. African countries currently import about 25% of their food.
Currently, UNCTAD says, Africa´s already lagging agricultural productivity is being outstripped by population growth, urbanization, and changes in dietary patterns. The funding necessary to carry out vital agricultural reforms is hard to find when governments are strapped for cash during the financial crisis. And job losses and declining incomes because of the crisis are making it harder for African families to afford food even at the current, somewhat-lower prices. The vulnerability of the continent to serious food shortages and hunger remains, since the root causes have not been resolved, and a repeat of the 2008 food crisis can recur if prices for such staples as rice, wheat, corn, and cooking oil climb again on world markets.
The morning portion of the annual one-day TDB executive session will include a review of UNCTAD activities to aid development and trade in Africa.
The TDB governs UNCTAD´s operations year to year in the intervals between UNCTAD quadrennial conferences, at which the organization´s main work programme is set.