1. Posted on Friday 4 April 2008 - 09:18

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   Evans Wafula

   

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   Even as leaders and experts gathered in Brussels early this week to discuss the implications of global developement, Africa continues to be faced with new development challenges. This failed to take a centre stage during the talks that have just ended in Brussels between Belgian officials and the President of IFAD, Lennart Bage.
   
   In every way, Africa is projected to fare worst, with at least 75 million people in Africa facing increasing water shortages and lack of good quality water, according Bage.
   
   Bage was in Belgian to make a case before Government officials and to convience them on how they can consider innovative ways to tackle hunger and poverty in a rapidly changing world.
   
   The head of the IFAD was also delivering a speech at the European Parliament lobbying for the IFAD and make a case for future ties with the European Union.
   
   Ofcourse, Bage understands that Africa bears the greatest brunt whenever you talk of pverty and hunger.
   
   And when you think of tackling this issues, you must also discuss how to combat urgent new development challenges that include rising food prices, climate change and the expansion of biofuels in the global scene and how this affects the future of Africa.
   
   Climate change is among the new challenges that are pausing difficult challenges for the world’s poorest people to escape from poverty and hunger.
   
   Africa is witness to the high price of development where the cost of development simply just went up and there is no additional money to assist the poor nations especially in Africa to deal with the challenges caused by climate change.
   
   Nearly one billion people live in extreme poverty and hunger. Most live in rural areas of Africa countries and depend on agriculture to survive. Hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers and other poor rural groups live in marginal areas, which are at risk from degradation and desertification as a result of climate change.
   
   Ofcourse in his presentation, Bage argued that- future climate change will put almost 50 million extra people at risk of hunger by 2020.
   
   The increased demand for biofuels has sparked concerns that poor rural people living in marginal areas may lose their lands, as larger more influential interests seek additional land for fuel production. Many of the world’s poorest people are already feeling the pinch from soaring food prices, which have sparked riots in numerous countries, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Mozambique.
   
   Africa is being faced with a nother unfamiliar problem of “Human Security.´´
   
   For a years, Belgium and IFAD have proved to be at the core of development in Africa. Since 1984, they have co-managed the Belgian Survival Fund (BSF), a partnership to combat hunger and malnutrition in Africa, with a focus on the most vulnerable countries. To date, the BSF has issued 58 grants financing 42 programmes and projects to: boost household food and nutrition; improve health and sanitation; increase access to rural finance; mitigate the effects of crisis; and empower communities. Belgium has contributed US$180 million to IFAD-supported programmes and projects, including those that fall under the Belgian Survival Fund. It also provided more than US$47 million to IFAD’s Special Programme for sub-Saharan Africa.
   
   Nearly 50 per cent of IFAD funding goes to Africa, placing IFAD among the top three multilateral institutions there. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) provide a framework for all IFAD’s efforts on the continent.
   
   IFAD is deepening its long-standing partnership with the African Development Bank and has partnered with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, chaired by the former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to ensure that Africa can achieve its own Green Revolution.
   
   IFAD has also supported agricultural research into specific crops of importance to poor rural farmers, often through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Agricultural research, which so successfully drove the first Green Revolution in Asia, has been shown to deliver rates of return in excess of 40 per cent.
   
   After decades of falling prices, the recent rises in food prices could bring significant benefits to smallholder farmers, making smallholder agriculture more economically viable. Biofuels, especially second-generation biofuels that can be grown on marginal land, could offer smallholder farmers significant new income sources. “These two trends are making the ‘rural space’ more attractive for investments in Africa.
   
   But what is needed at leaset for now is for African leaders to come up with inovative ways that can assist their people to take advantage of efforts that have been presented by IFAD and start to offer affordable pricing especially to famers.
   
   Africa should learn from the past and avoid repeated mistakes of depending on others for self sustainiability. IFAD has set the ball rolling and what remains is for our leaders to remove the red tape that has been blamed for slow developement and corruption that has prevented developement in Africa.

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Reactions

1. Posted on Monday 07 April 2008 10:53

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   Portus

   

   Portus Chege
   1 berichten
   Lid sinds April 2008
   Nairobi

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   Evans Keep up the spirit for sure the item reflect all that Africa goes through...Thank Evans.
   PORTUS CHEGE
   In UK

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