Determining who is to blame for Africa's poverty

Last week, Kofi Annan made headlines by calling out political leaders in Africa, saying that they lack the political will to improve development in their states. The critique was within a new report from the Africa Progress Council, of which Annan is leader.

In the APC's new African Progress Report 2010, they first say that economic growth has been great within the continent, but they point out that growth has been uneven. The economic growth has benefited some states more than others, and so far has helped a few people rather than most. The uneven growth will prevent Africa from meeting some of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

From the Guardian, writer Eliza Anyangwe has this analysis of the report. In her piece, she shows how the report tries to answer just who is to blame for Africa's poverty.

"Why does progress on achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) remain so low, so uneven? Why do the absolute and relative numbers of people living in poverty remain so high? Why do so many people face food and nutrition, joblessness and minimal access to basic services such as energy, clean water, healthcare and education? Why are so many women marginalised and disenfranchised? And why is inequality increasing?" Annan asked in the forward to the report.

He concluded that the root causes of Africa's problems were a lack of political will and the inability of the continent's leaders to use revenues to benefit the people.

"Responsibility for driving equitable growth and for investing in achievement of the MDG targets rests firmly with Africa's political leaders," Annan added.

It's not the first time this sentiment has been expressed, but will Annan's words and the central message of this report have more impact because of who they are being directly aimed at? This report is written with African leaders - in government, business and civil society – very much in mind.

Support for development and Africa's economic success have both been hit by the economic crisis. The crisis, says the report, "highlighted a number of worrisome trends... such as growing inequality, setbacks in achieving MDGs, vulnerability... concerns that economic contraction squeezes out commitment to human development". In the downturn, the need for good governance to mitigate the damage becomes essential and Africa leaders have been shown to be wanting.

G8 result bare minimum for Africa - Annan

from Reuters Alert Net

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON - Leaders of the Group of Eight rich nations who met in Japan this week did the bare minimum for Africa and must not be allowed to backslide from even that, as they have in the past, former UN head Kofi Annan said.

On climate change, aid, food prices and trade the G8 had warm words but made scant real progress, reaffirming a 2005 pledge to give the continent $50 billion by 2010 -- of which only $10 billion has so far been given -- and calling for completion of the long-stalled Doha world trade negotiations.

"We are ... putting pressure on them to honour what they have committed to including coming out with a timetable that would indicate how they are going to implement what they have promised," Annan told Reuters by telephone.

"What is the point of a huge jump in promises when they haven't delivered what they promised in 2005," he said from Sweden where he is taking his first holiday since mediating the Kenyan political crisis earlier this year.

Annan was speaking for the Africa Progress Panel, a lobby group including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, musician Bob Geldof, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and former International Monetary Fund head Michel Camdessus.

"It is not a huge amount of progress. But if we can push them to deliver the $40 billion promised between now and 2010 I think we would have achieved something," he said.

He welcomed the positive G8 comments on the urgent need to complete the Doha round of trade talks aimed at easing global commerce, but said he wasn't holding his breath.

"A fair trading system with a level playing field that removes all the restrictions and the impediments to free trade ... will help African countries a lot," Annan said.

"Africa is going to be the next frontier and enlightened businessmen and leaders have seen that. They would much rather trade themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts."

Annan called on African leaders and the international community to come up with a solution to the political crisis in Zimbabwe which he said was destabilising southern Africa.

The G8 summit condemned the re-election of President Robert Mugabe last month amid widespread violence and intimidation and agreed to impose more sanctions against his government.

"Some of the leaders of Zimbabwe tend to look at it as an internal problem. It is much bigger than that. It is a regional problem. It has thrown up several million refugees and this tends to destabilise your neighbours," Annan said.

"It is important that it be resolved."

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[comment] Africa at the crossroads as food crisis threatens hard-won gains

from the Daily Dispatch

Graça Machel

THE factors behind the global food crisis may be complex, but its effect is simple in its brutality. The worst-affected countries are those that need to import agricultural produce, and the hardest-hit people are those who spend the largest proportion of their incomes on food. It is therefore the poorest people in the poorest countries who are feeling the brunt of this catastrophe.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation notes that 21 of the 37 countries worst-affected by high food prices are in Africa.

This week, the Africa Progress Panel produced its inaugural report on the state of Africa, assessing the state of the continent’s development and identifying the challenges that threaten progress.

Chaired by Kofi Annan and including leaders, development experts and high- profile campaigners, the panel was established to focus world leaders on their commitments to Africa.

The report calls for immediate steps to tackle the food crisis. The food supply must be increased by increasing financial assistance to the governments of affected countries and aid agencies. All countries must make every effort to increase the quantity of food on international markets so that the World Food Programme, relief organisations and individual governments are able to buy food.

If the scale of the emergency is not acknowledged, or the response is delayed, we will see an increase in hunger and malnutrition. The cost of food will not only be gauged in the wheat or rice price, but also in the rising number of infant and child deaths across Africa.

What gives this call to action added resonance is the fact that Africa has in the past few years been making real, tangible progress. Gross domestic product per capita across Africa has risen steadily since 1994. On the most recent International Monetary Fund estimates, the rate of growth reached 6.6percent last year, exceeding the Middle East and Latin America. The number of people living in poverty has levelled off in the past few years, and Africa’s poverty rate has declined almost six percentage points since 2000. There have also been significant improvements in health and education, with infant and child mortality declining in many parts of Africa.

These hard-fought gains are now at risk. The panel’s report shows the food crisis threatens to destroy years, if not decades, of economic progress in Africa, as 100million people could be pushed back into absolute poverty. For me, this is where the real tragedy lies. The very people who have fought against the odds, harnessed their talents to better their lives, and dared hope their children would continue the journey could see their efforts reduced to nothing.

The panel is thus calling for more than immediate outside aid to alleviate problems of high food prices. As Africans, we must take responsibility for the fundamental, structural problems with agricultural productivity on our continent. With the lowest use of fertilisers in the world, the average grain yield in Africa is less than one ton a hectare, equivalent to just 25percent of the global average. Our population has increased, yet African agricultural yields have stagnated since the early 1960s.

We must therefore raise agricultural productivity and increase food output. This includes reforming outdated policies and investing in key inputs such as fertiliser, improved seeds, effective management of water and new crop varieties, and linking farmers to markets via investments in basic infrastructure. In short, Africa needs a green revolution.

If the challenge seems daunting, there is some comfort in knowing the expertise and the experience exist. With appropriate technology and support, for example, Malawi has gone from experiencing serious food shortages to becoming both self-reliant and a net exporter of food. The key is to build on this success and replicate it.

It is no coincidence the Africa Progress Panel has published its report just ahead of the European Council summit in Brussels and a few weeks ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Hokkaido, Japan. Our report shows G8 commitments to double assistance to Africa by 2010 – agreed at Gleneagles in 2005 – are badly off track. With a shortfall of R320billion in aid, G8 states must urgently address the deficits against their targets, set clear delivery timetables and increase transparency to improve aid quality. The crisis has put a clear premium on the G8 delivering its original pledges.

Graça Machel is a member of the Africa Progress Panel. The panel’s full report can be read on www.africaprogresspanel.org. This article first appeared in Business Day

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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.