Nigeria: Coalitions Emerging to Tackle Food Crisis

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An alarm was sounded at the Pan African Parliament (PAP) over the global food crisis last week when a member asked the regional assembly to find lasting solutions to the challenge of food poverty in the continent.

Hon. Athumani Janguo, while making a presentation at PAP, which is holding its Ninth Ordinary Session May 5-16 at Midrand, South Africa said that the Parliament should persuade Heads of State, governments, regional economic communities, non-governmental organisations and the international community to get to the root causes of the problem and address them.

The acting chairperson of PAP's Permanent Committee on Agriculture, Rural Economy, Natural Resources and Environment, said Africa was most at risk in the worsening global food situation. The crisis is likely to worsen malnutrition and HIV/AIDS as well as increase crime and violence in Africa, he noted.

Rioting over rising food prices have already been reported in a number of countries in the region. And last week, troops fired at similarly protesting crowds in the capital, Mogadishu, killing two, according to agency reports. World Food Programme executive director, Josette Sheeran, has called the worsening food situation a 'silent tsunami'.

The famine has been on in the continent for five years, Janguo added. Around 30 million citizens, most of them women and children have suffered hunger, starvation, and even death. The Horn of Africa and some Southern African countries, including Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, are the hardest hit.

Former UN scribe, Mr. Koffi Annan used the platform of the three-day conference to call for 'bold pro-poor policies' to address the global food crisis and a uniquely African Green Revolution for the continent.

"To address poverty at its core, particularly in light of the growing threat of climate change, we need a uniquely African green revolution," Annan said. "Our farmers need better seeds, soils, and prices for what they sell. They need access to water, markets and credit. They need policies that accelerate rural economic growth, investment and job creation".

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which the former UN Secretary General chairs was established last year by Rockefeller and Gates Foundations.

The African Union seeks to achieve a 6 per cent annual growth in food production by 2015. This will however only be possible if African countries place agriculture at the centre of their development agenda. The World Development Report 2008, published by the World Bank, says Sub-Saharan Africa relies heavily on agriculture for overall growth.