Long Term Solutions Needed in Africa

NAIROBI - Jul 25/06 - IRIN -- Emergency food aid in response to recurring crises in Africa should not be used as a substitute for long-term programs and structural reforms to address the root cause of shortages, Oxfam said in a report.

"The cycle of disaster and food insecurity in parts of Africa can be broken only if the world addresses the causes of these crises. Though spending on humanitarian aid is rising, donors and governments are not fully supporting the long-term strategies necessary to genuinely help Africa's poor," said Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam's International Executive Director, in a report released by the agency on Monday.

In the report, "Causing Hunger: An overview of the food crisis in Africa", Oxfam cited the major cause of food crisis in Africa as rising poverty, agricultural mismanagement and neglect, unfair international trade rules, conflict, the unprecedented threat posed by HIV/AIDS and climate change.

Oxfam notes that although in many cases the timely arrival of emergency aid can save lives, assistance often arrives too late and in inadequate quantities.

"Due to public generosity and the commitment of some donor governments, humanitarian assistance to Africa has grown from US $946 million in 1997 to just over $3 billion in 2003," according to Oxfam. "But the lack of a reliable system to address impending food crises condemns many to unnecessary suffering and death." It gave the example of the Niger food crises in 2005, where the earliest warnings came in late 2004, but it was only when pictures of suffering children were shown on television in June 2005 that the international community was galvanized into action.

Most United Nations emergency appeals received only 30 percent of the requested funds in their first month, Oxfam noted. It gave the example of Kenya: by April this year, donors had only pledged or committed $79 million to the UN's Kenyan appeal to help drought-affected people. The appeal, launched in February 2006, had asked for $225 million.

Food aid distribution was also often determined more by the media or the political profile of the crisis than by need, Oxfam said.

"The disproportionate emphasis on in-kind food-aid donations is partly due to vested interests. For some donor countries it has been a useful way of offloading their own agricultural surpluses and providing commercial benefits to their own agricultural and shipping companies," stated the report.

Oxfam's recommendations for mitigating and preventing food crises in Africa include improved early-warning systems and quicker donor responses. Governments should also put in place personnel and structures to enable them to respond effectively to food crises and to integrate disaster prevention, preparedness, and mitigation into poverty reduction strategies.

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006

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Copyright (c) 2006 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs