100m 'pushed into poverty'

from News 24

Johannesburg - The Africa Progress Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan, on Monday demanded international action to deal with the urgent threat of world food prices, while also calling for G8 leaders to take immediate steps to get their commitments to Africa back on target.

The Africa Progress Panel's report states that the world food crisis "threatens to destroy years, if not decades, of economic progress" as "100 million people are being pushed back into absolute poverty".

"Unless some way can be found to halt and reverse the current trend in food prices there will be a significant increase in hunger, malnutrition, and in infant and child mortality".

The Africa Progress Panel's report also warns that, despite progress on debt relief and significant increases in assistance by individual countries, "the G8's commitment to double assistance to Africa by 2010 is not likely to be fulfilled".

The report identifies a shortfall of $40bn in aid that needs to be filled if the G8 is to meet the targets set at Gleneagles.

A key recommendation of the Commission for Africa Report, the eleven-member Africa Progress Panel was launched in 2007 as a unique and independent authority on Africa to focus world leaders' attention on delivering their commitments to the continent.

In the report, which assesses the state of the continent in 2008, the Panel members highlight six policy areas requiring immediate attention at the forthcoming G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan:

* The food crisis - a range of measures must be undertaken to increase the quantity of food on international markets and to provide greater financial assistance to international agencies such as the World Food Programme and to the governments of affected countries.

* Aid levels and aid quality - G8 countries must urgently fund shortfalls against their targets to double assistance to Africa by 2010; these increases must be accompanied by clear timetables and increased transparency in order to improve the quality of aid.

* Trade - countries must immediately review arrangements for stockpiling food, while a comprehensive rethinking of trade policy is needed to boost agricultural production around the world.

* Climate change - the G8 must increase funding for renewable energy and invest in adaptation and the prevention of deforestation.

* Infrastructure - cited by the private sector as its most serious constraint, strategies to connect farmers to markets must be developed in conjunction with efforts to increase access to water and improve sanitation.

* Good governance - while there has been significant success in improving governance, the resolution of current crises requires greater and more consistent efforts by the AU, individual African governments and the international community as a whole.