Food Crisis in Africa

This article is written by Samir Shrestha, undergraduate student of Montana State University. This is very relevant article and matter of concern as Nepal is also undergoing food crisis particularly in some the region of Nepal.

Food Crisis in Africa

The food crisis in Africa which has been described as a “silent tsunami” by many people is not a natural disaster. It is something that has been created by human beings . The balance between high energy and food crisis is very unlikely to be broken and will be getting worst by the global climate change. The consequences can be clearly seen.Some of them are increasing production and transport costs for agriculture, failing food stocks and land shifted out of food production to produce energy substitutes. It is more famous as “21st century food for oil crisis”. (Robert. B. Zoelick)

The worst hit areas are the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, North-Eastern Kenya and Eithopia. According to the United Nation’s World Food Programme “some eleven million people need food aid in the region after poor rains”. Poor rains have made it worst but the root causes are many and complex.Half of these people are in a state of starvation and need to be helped urgently.The World Food Programme says, further south about 12 million need food aid in countries such as Malawi and Zimbabwe.

The main reason to this crisis is of course poverty. Most Africans live in rural areas and so
highly depend on a good harvest to get enough food to eat. They hardly have any irrigation system and totally depend on the rains.So, if the rain fails people have very few saving to see them through.To add to that increasing food prices, a devalued currency and drought means millions of people are going hungry.And the sad part is its getting worst day by day.United Nation officials, World Bank officials and aid groups fear it marks the onset of the worst food crisis in decades and are calling for $775 million in fresh emergency food assistance from rich countries.But the sad part is aid groups are already lacking behind in their efforts to provide food.This leaves people from even the poorest communities dependent on the market for food.While people were starving in parts of Nigeria last year, shops in the capital were full of food but many could not afford to buy it.
“ This is the new face of hunger “ said Josette Sheeran, WFP executive director.This is a
very strong statement.Africa has became an example of what hunger really is.This in itself gives a clear picture of conditions getting worst in Africa.Poor women and children are most vulnerable regarding food insecurity and climate change.The high rates of HIV/AIDS is also a major factor in the region’s food crisis.Some of those who should be the most productive farmers- young men and women are either sick or have died.So their fields are being left unattended, while their childrens go hungry. People are being forced to sell their livestock, only source of wealth they have as soaring food prices worldwide have hit the poorest nations of Africa.This can be a very good example of how worst the conditions are in Africa.Mauritania is caught in a global food trap, producing only 30 percent of what its people eat and importing most of the rest.(Anthony)
Strong global demand and limited supplies are key factors driving up prices, but just as
important is a massive disruption in the free flow of global trade.In recent months food producing countries from Argentina to Kazakhstan have begun to slam shut their doors to protect domestic access to the food they grow.
One of the most disturbing warning signs that the situation is turning critical here is a
sharp increase in the sale of livestock, specially by poor farmers and shantytown dwellers.The surge in supplies is bringing down the price of livestock, though the meat prices remain high.This clearly shows how worst the conditions are in Africa.
The crisis in Africa is becoming one of those issues which has been talked about a lot in the International community.There are a lot of talks going on to solve this crisis and the sad part is nothing seems to be working at all.For instance the G8 summit has food crisis as one of their biggest
agendas.This shows some hopes of resolving the food crisis in Africa but the problem is simply talking and making promises won’t help.What is been seen right now is the leaders are only discussing things to solve the problem in Africa and doing nothing.Yes they are making efforts to help resolve the crisis but why is nothing happening.The biggest question is why changes are not happening.The big countries are of course contributing in some ways to help resolve the crisis but this is not enough at all.A lot more has to be done if we are to at least make a difference to this crisis that is so big.More funding and more supplies have to be made to countries that are worst hit by the on going food crisis. For instance during the G8 summit in Japan where all the leaders came together for discussing the on going food crisis in Africa they were served with a lavishing banquet.The japanese government flew in 60 of the country’s top chefs to prepare meal for the G8 leaders.The lavish nature of the banquet was a disgrace and it was embarassing that 283 million was being spent on the summit which has placed solving the food crisis at the top of its agenda(macedoniaonline.eu).Dominic Nutt of Save the Children said, “ It is deeply hypocritical there should be lavishing course after course on world leaders when there is a food crisis and millions can’t afford to eat.If the G8 wants to betray the hopes of a generation of children, its going the right way about it”.I totally agree to what Dominic says and why not.He makes a point in his statement by criticising the G8 leaders in doing this. They are clearly setting bad examples.They are the ones who can make a difference in resloving this crisis and this act clearly shows how irresponsible they can be.This in some reflects their ignorance to the on going crisis in Africa. Shadow International Development secretary Andrew Mitchell said “ The G8 have made a bad start to their summit with excessive cost and lavish consumption.All of us are watching, waiting and listening”.
Phil Bloomer, Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy said “ Rich world politicians are
failing to acknowledge the impact of their own unfair policies”.This statement clearly justifies the efforts made by the G8 leaders in resloving the crisis in Africa.The World Bank estimates that the increases in prices of wheat, rice and maize cost developing countries $324 billion last year alone which is equivalent of three years of global spending.This is in no ways helping resolve the crisis in Africa.Instead it is making things more difficult for everyone.
The G8 leaders need to do much more to show they are ready to tackle the food crisis in Africa in the long term.They must reiterate the promises to increase the aid needed now more than ever.They have to seriously start making necessary reforms including increase in investment in agriculture in poor countries.One very good solution to this problem is targeting women and small farmers.” Rich countries” farm subsidies have systematically undermined production in small and poor countries.While prices are high they should take the chance to end unfair subsidies once and for all.Aid should not distract from the urgent need for the fundamental root and branch reform in the Europian Union and United States” said Bloomer.Bloomer clearly points out what the problem is right now and he is totally right and in what he says.The latest proposal falls behind clearly of what is needed in Africa and represents a step backwards in terms of development.(Oxfam International)
So the question is what can be done to make a difference in Africa.I would say a lot can be done to resolve this crisis.It wont happen at once definitely but that doesn’t mean we tie our hands and do nothing.There has to be coordinated steps and it has to be backed by good and reliable resources.
First and most importantly the G8 leaders has to agree to totally fund the World Food Programme’s emergency needs, supports its drive to purchase food aid locally and ensure the unhampered movement of humanitarian assistance.Support for safety nets, such as distributing food in schools or offering food in return of work, to help quickly who are in severe needs.(Robert.B.Zoelick)

We need seeds and fertilizers being distributed for the planting season.This is one of those very good methods to help make a difference in the food crisis in Africa.Distributing food and making funds are temporary ways to resolve the crisis but distributing seeds and fertilizers are a long term solution to this problem.It really helps and motivates small farmers to grow food in their own lands and this will help increase the production.On the other hand lands won’t be left unattended and will be used for a good purpose as well.
Zoelick in his article says “The key is not just financing but fast delivery systems as well”.He makes a strong point by his statement. Because that is what has been happening for a long time. For this reason there has to be a good coordination between the donors and the civil society groups. There has to be an increase in investment in agricultural research and development. Producers in developing countries have to be helped in meeting food standards.This can be possible by connecting retailers with farmers.And if this is accomplished this will surely make a big difference to the on goin crisis in Africa because this has been seen as a big problem for decades now.And the sad part again is changes are not happening.
There has to be actions taken in the United States and Europe to ease subsidies mandates and tariffs on biofuels that are derived from corn and oilseeds.High energy production should not be competing with food production which will expand opportunities for poorer countries and most of all Africa.This is one thing that has to be strongly thought about.I personally think it is the most important reasons for food crisis everywhere.Production of high energy is surely coming in the way of agricultural production and this is making things worse everyday. Leaders from big countries are acting selfish by keeping energy production as their first priority and not food production when there is food crisis everywhere.This again clearly shows their ignorance to crisis in Africa.

There needs to be more investment in agribusiness so that we can tap the private sector’s ability to work across the value chain, developing sustainable lands and water,supply chains,cutting wastage, infrastructure and logistics.We need to develop innovative instruments for risk management and crop insurance for small farmers.This will definitely encourage farmers to work in the fields and increase production of food.This will surely make some difference on the crisis that has been taking so many lives in Africa.
The needs for rules that has been agreed multilaterally has never been stronger when the crisis is at its worst right now.Most of the people have called the situation right now as the worst it could ever be.So there has to be greater collective action to counter global risks that is threatening the lives of so many people all over the world, especially in Africa.

The problem that we can see right now is the G8 summit is only having food crisis on the top of their agenda but doing nothing to make it happen. Whenever there is a G8 summit coming up people always have high hopes that something good is going to come out of the summit but its always the same. The same old promises every year. The leaders always promise these funds but all of us can clearly see what they have delivered so far. Yes they make promises but on the other hand they provide subsidies to the various industries in their countries. So they have to stop providing subsidies to their different industries so that the third world countries can compete with their industries. If this happens we will definitely see changes happening in the years to come. But this seems to be impossible when you see the ignorance of the leaders of G8 and other big economic powers. They are just acting too selfish at the moment and this attitude has to be changed if this crisis is to be resolved. There should be more campaigns to persuade the G8 leaders to start thinking about this issue. Something has to be done very quick or everyone knows whats going to happen in the years to come.

One other thing that I would like the G8 leaders is to release the third world countries from all the loans they owe to them. Releasing them from these loans will also help them revive their economies and invest that money on infrastructure and other necessary facets of development. If this could happen it would be a big booster for them in terms of everything. This would come as a big leap for the on going crisis in Africa.
A substantial portion of green house gases are emitted by the big powerful countries but the ones who suffer the most lie in the equatorial belt and most of these are countries from Africa. So the G8 should emphasize on some sort of carbon compensation schemes so that these worst effected countries get some financial rewards in return for all the sufferings they have to face. The danger is now clear to everyone. Most of all the leaders from G8 need to know it and they do as well. The G8 meetings need to come up with more clear plans. But only making plans won’t help at all. That is what has been seen and done for decades and the results are right in front of us. Promises have to be kept and every plans they come out with have to be made possible. There has to be more coordination between the G8 leaders and the governments of poor countries. One thing that’s coming in the way of development in these countries is their governments itself as well. There has to be proper governance and the funds that are coming has to be used in a right way. The government has also been accused of only delivering food aids to its own supporters and punishing areas which vote for the opposition. This is one thing the G8 leaders need to keep an eye on as well. They have to keep monitoring where their funds are going. Is it being used at the right place? This will help the funds to be used at the right place and help initialize an effective system which would help focusing on the core issues that been bothering these countries for a while now.