Interactive Dialogue of the Executive Secretaries with ECOSOC Food Security, Sustainable Development and the MDGs in Africa New York, 7 July 2008 Abdoulie Janneh Under-Secretary-General, and Executive Secretary Economic Commission for Africa

 Presentation is organized as follows:  Introduction - The state of agriculture in Africa  Current State of food insecurity in Africa  Factors driving the food insecurity problem  Policy options for remedial action  Food security as a regional public good - Regional integration as an essential tool for addressing the food insecurity problem and promoting sustainable development  The role of ECA in advancing the food security and sustainable development agenda in Africa Structure of Presentation

State of Agriculture in Africa 70  Agriculture remains the backbone of practically all the economies of Africa; how it is managed is critical for food security and sustainable development in the region;  Here are some facts:  about 60% of Africa’s poor live in rural areas;  Livelihoods of 90% of rural populations depend on food production;  60% of total labour force are employed in agriculture;  Urban poor spend about 60% of household budget on food (against 25-30% in developed countries);  But, agriculture’s contribution to Africa’s GDP has remained at 25-30% as investments and research have dropped.

 Currently, undernourishment affects about a third of the continent’s population;  But there are sub-regional variations - North Africa has very low proportion of the population suffering chronic hunger; situation is very serious in varying degrees in the other four regions of the continent – West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa;  Africa receives about $20 billion in food aid annually. There are14 WFP Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRRO) in West Africa; 13 in eastern Africa and 12 in southern Africa;  Continent spends about $25 billion annually on food imports;  Food insecurity is now exacerbated by global food price inflation, climate change, growing urbanization, and conflict;  Implication – continent may not reach MDG1 on nutrition by the target date. Current state of food security in Africa

 Under capitalization of agriculture  Only 6% of land is under irrigation against 40% in Asia  Low use of fertilizer. For example, 8kg/hectare of fertilizer use in SSA, representing only 9% of world average;  500 million hectares are moderately or severely degrade  40% of Africans live on fragile land  Low agricultural productivity and poor performance  Land productivity is half that of Asia and Latin America  Labour productivity is 60% that of Asia and Latin America  Cereal yields are 40% of world averages Factors driving food insecurity I

Factors driving food insecurity II  Urbanization and population growth  Still high rate of population growth – region’s population has doubled from 335 to 751 million between 1975 and 2005  Urban population growing at an annual rate of 5% fuelled by poverty-induced rural-urban migration;  Changing consumer preferences particularly in urban areas putting additional pressure on food supply system.  Climate change  African agriculture critically dependent on rain.  But climate change is resulting in falling precipitation and increased climate variability;  Climate change gives rise to vector and water-borne diseases exacerbating health status  Increased rate of desertification;  Result? Increasing land stress and unsustainable development.

Factors driving food insecurity III – global food price rise  Global food prices rise caused by:  Reduction of production and stocks from major exporting countries due to bad weather;  Rapid increase in oil prices and inputs into agriculture;  Increased demand for biofuels;  Increased demand by strong growth in China and India, and indeed Africa;  Export prohibitions in traditional food exporting countries.

Policy option I - Sustainable agriculture  Pursue an integrated approach to sustainable agriculture based on the nexus between environment, economic and institutions;  Vigorously implement the NEPAD Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) with focus on technology, infrastructure, institutions and policy (TIIP);  Implement the Outcome of the Abuja Fertilizer Summit and increase agricultural productivity through application of knowledge and technology;  Institutional reforms particularly security of tenure of land to empower the rural poor;  Integrate climate change concerns in agricultural production and investment policies.

Policy option II Energy and Infrastructure  Design and implement priority energy access scale- up mechanisms;  Modernize and increase overall national energy capacity to provide affordable energy;  Integrate energy in poverty reduction strategies and programmes linking energy, agriculture and food security;  Invest in rural feeder roads to enhance markets formation;  Upgrade infrastructure that permits access to ports, logistical hubs that increase competitiveness;  Develop sustainable uses of water and scale up integrated water resources management.

Policy option III - Development Cooperation  World Bank should intensify its efforts to expand its portfolio of lending to agriculture which had decreased from 39% in the 1970s to below 10% in 2000;  ODA flows to agriculture need to be scaled-up with accent on the whole food supply chain;  ODA from non-traditional sources (India, China, etc) should give priority to food security;  EU and USA should deal expeditiously with the agricultural subsidies problem in their region;  Major food exporters with food export restrictions should lift them;  Development cooperation should support R&D in African agriculture;  DOHA round of trade negotiations should be given new life.

Policy Option IV - Regional Integration and South-south cooperation  African agricultural system extremely fragmented but reducing food insecurity and promoting sustainable development is a regional public good. Hence regional action is required.  The NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) provides a good framework for regional action;  South-south cooperation promoting knowledge sharing and peer-learning on food security and sustainable development – an important under-utilized resource

The Role of ECA I  Creation of the Food Security and Sustainable Development Division to assist African countries address the structural challenges to food security and sustainable development  Support to the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Union Commission and its NEPAD/CAADP in articulating investments around the systematic development of value chains of selected strategic food commodities within regional integration-nine such commodities were adopted at the Abuja AU/NEPAD Food Security Summit, 2006;  Collaboration with FAO and UNIDO to assist African countries and RECs to implement through public-private partnerships technology, infrastructure, institution and policy (TIIP) requirements of selected strategic commodities

The Role of ECA II  Close collaboration with the African Union and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the development of a land policy framework to strengthen land rights, enhance productivity, and promote natural resources management;  Setting up of the African Climate Policy Centre in collaboration with TERI, India to assist African countries mainstream climate change concerns in their development policies and frameworks  Collaboration with other partners to advance the food security and sustainable development agenda in Africa in order to achieve the Mugs in the region.

Conclusion  Urgent efforts are required to overcome food insecurity in Africa;  The efforts must be consistent with the objectives and goals of sustainable development for long-term solution to the problem;  Development cooperation is important for success;  African leadership and ownership of the efforts is essential and critical for success.

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