STATEMENT BY THE HON. DR GERTRUDE MONGELLA (MP),

THE PRESIDENT OF THE PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT

ON THE FOOD CRISES IN AFRICA

 

 

The news that the United Nations has now decided to debate the food crisis in Africa is welcomed.  This week the Pan African Parliament, at its Ninth Ordinary Session held in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, devoted considerable time to this subject in a lengthy debate.

 

The PAP considers the matter so serious that it requested Dr Jacques Diouf, Director-General, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, to report to the Parliament on information at his disposal.

 

It is clear that the situation is dire and Members of the Pan African Parliament called, as I do, for a range of interventions to be implemented by  Governments throughout the Continent as well as internationally.

 

It is not acceptable that millions of Africans (as well as the poor in other parts of the world are affected by soaring food prices) continue to go hungry every day with the prospect of increasing famine looming.

 

On behalf of this Parliament I am now urging that the world’s emergency response systems require to be examined so as to ensure that prompt and effective assistance is planned now.

 

It is acknowledged that the genesis of the food crisis in Africa is complex:  poverty, agricultural mismanagement, unfair trade rules and climate change have contributed, in part, to the situation.

 

MPs highlighted the integral role of political leaderships, past and present, as a factor in the plight in which we now find ourselves.

 

Significantly, MPs recognized that enabling women in the agricultural sector was crucial (and now urgent) in positively addressing the crisis.  In many countries women were, in fact, the backbone of food production.

 

We need to go beyond words at this time.  Deeds are now required.  The issue of food insecurity has been on the international agenda for decades.      This crisis is not only an African crisis, it is a world crisis.

 

A coordinated and integrated approach is required to look at immediate, medium and long-term solutions that address the root causes of the crisis in Africa and elsewhere around the world.

 

PAP MPs made it clear in the debate that the African Union, the United Nations and other relevant world bodies must prioritize the issues of agricultural development.

 

In the context of the African Continent, there was consensus that African Governments must be held accountable to their own commitments such as the AU’s Maputo decision in 2003 to ensure that not less than 10 percent of national budgets must be allocated towards the agricultural sector.

 

MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA

MAY 16, 2008