Maravi

Don't tie future to aid AU urges member states

Don't tie future to aid AU urges member states
By Mutuna Chanda
Sunday April 06, 2008 [04:00]

AFRICAN Union (AU) Commission deputy chairperson Patrick Mazimhaka has said Africa can benefit from international aid but should not tie its future to it. And African finance ministers have resolved to tackle the rising cost of food. And World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Josette Sheeran has challenged African farmers to take advantage of the rising prices of food and embark on the right strategies to break the cycle of hunger and poverty.

Addressing the first joint annual meetings of the AU and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) ministers of economy and finance held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from March 26 to April 2, Mazimhaka noted that little progress was being made despite the hopes raised at various international conferences.

He also noted the macro-economic reforms that were initiated resulting from foreign aid and the "extremely high" social costs that came with it.

He said Africa's performance in recent years indicated that though the continent was on the right track, the challenge was to close the gap between perceived and real growth.
"Growth that does not result in improvement of daily lives and predictable steady improvement in the standards of living of our people will only result in destabilisation of the continent," he said. "Many of our brothers, sisters and children are increasingly reduced to destitution and require foreign assistance in order to survive."

He urged the finance ministers to pay more attention to internal mobilisation of resources through diversifying and intensifying production, strengthening the educational, training and health systems, as well as creating employment to reduce poverty and minimise dependence on foreign aid.

And the finance ministers in a joint statement at the end of the conference noted that though the rising food prices presented an opportunity for increased production in some countries the phenomenon was not sustainable and had to be tackled.
They stated that the increase in international food prices posed significant threats to Africa's growth, peace and security.

"We will explore appropriate policies and measures to mitigate the effects of rising food prices on living standards, especially for vulnerable groups, while harnessing opportunities for increased food production presented by this phenomenon," they stated.

And Sheeran said while the global rise in price of essential foods was worrisome, it "could be an important opportunity for African farmers as we saw with the case of Brazil to use the increased price of commodities to break out of poverty."

She said the use of foods for energy purposes was driving prices up and worsening food situations in Africa.

"For the first time, we are seeing foods being bought by the energy market and food prices at fuel levels," said Sheeran.

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posted by MrK @ 4:56 AM