TIIURSOAY. NO\'E)IRER I. 201:1
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Productive land favours Africa in fight against hunger -Report
OTW'ITHS'TANDING the fcars about po..o;sihle shOr1a~e both
N food localh' and internationally. a report hy
the British 8roodcusting Corpt'lration News Africa has said Africa is making headwln- in its dcs-it!' to t<lck1e hunger. TIle report. described as "ide-ranging. adds 11181 the world as 8 whole is runnin~ OUI ofpruduclive land. It notes that Africa has had more Sllcces.~ than South A.'iia in tackling Ihl' problem of hunger over the past decade.
According to theGloballlungerlndex focu,.]ng on world food production, food
shortages and malnutrition ha~-e been reduced in many parts of Africa. Il states, "Out it remains -extremely alarming~ in countries such as Eritrea and Buntndi." The report further s,.')'S Indio. which has <;hoWTJ <;tmng economic growth. has
a disaPIKJinting record on tackling thc problem. 11 notcs that the world as a whole is running out of producth'c land as population increases. It anal}':';CS the issue under IWO main categories: undemourisht.'<.I and conservc resources. In the fonner produced by the International Food Policy Research Inslilllle, Wclthungerhilrc. and Conccrn Worldwide. Ihc report state'i that a paper idenlifie!l 20 countries which have ~alanning- or "cxtremely alafllling-lcvels of hunger. The report explains that it awards countries a scorc based on the proportion of pt'{Iple who are undernourished, tIIf' proportion of undcr fj\'cs \\ho are underweight, and the mortality rate of undcrfi~.
It says, "Countnc<; in $f)uth A-;ia and Sub-Sahamn Africa are the worst affectcd. In the GHI. Burundi, Eritrea, Haili on' listt"<l as ·Extrcmcl} alanning. while taggingos'Alanning' countrie<such
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A new report suggests that Afi"ica is pl"ogressing in combat against hunger, thanks to availability ofproductive land, writes GBENGA ADENIJI
as Ethiopia, Chad, East Timor, Central African Republic. Comoros, Siema Leone, Yemcn, Angola. nrlllgladcsh, 7.•ambia. M07Jl111hique. India, Madagascar, Niger Djibouli, Sudan, Nepal." 8f'sidcs, Eritrea and DUflindi, which both lic in Suh-Salmom Afriea arf' included, whilc thc Caribbean island of lIaiti is categorised as -t'.\"tremel) alar111ing-. with more tlll11150 pcrcent of the population undernourished According 10 tht' report, eH'n though Ilaiti had neen <;howillg o;ome improvcment. the aftermath or the immense earth'luakc or 2010 pushffi It back inlo the -extremely alanmngcategory. II is howe"I'er interesting to note that on the whole, Afriell'.. moderately good performnnce ill t'()mhnting hunF,er over the past decade is said to be Ih,rtially due to fewer wars, and the fact that governmenu have he-come better al concentr.tI'ing on Impro\1ng the health of young children. The report further note<; that in South A..ia, India is singlro Ollt for whal it described a... il'; lack of impru\'cment, despite what it says is impressh'e et:onomic growth and successful hi-tech industries In the 'Con~r'\'e Rc!'ourres' calegory, the repurt di~loscs Ihat the paper identifies paltT) salaT)' and low women status as h"ving impact nn the
nourishment of most families . The report says, "In aualvc;mg Consel'\e rcs<Jurces, the pal)er Q)'!' income inequality and the low <;la1115 of women havt' had a negati\'e effect on the ll11lrilion of millions of poor famili{'<;," In theo\'eml1 report, thcorga111<;alion." behind It arc (".tiling for go\'ernml'lIts 10 do more to <;.,feguard naluml re"'Ol1rce!i ilnd addreo;s I he problems as."uciatcd with dcmographic change TIle)' are of the opmion lhat dUnale change i." cau"lI1g O()()(lin/lt, drouF,ht and cnvironmental degmdation, which all threaten <lgricuiturnl practices The rel)Ort also advocate" that farmer:, such as the Mala'\1 tob..,cco han..est~~, n~ more protection. addin~ that ri!'iing global encfJ~Y prices are also contributing to the pmhlem a~ farmen; stfllgr.Je with heightened C'O!lt~ as,o;veiated wilh importing a~riculturnl goods II notes," The organis.1tiom; wanl to Sel" more efficient farming mt'lhoos, and for the land righL'i of poor fanner<; to be strcngthencd.The~ also sa~ w\! are consuming resources, inc1udinft, fertile land and water, far too quickly" Chief Execllti\'~ Officer, Conct"m Worldwide. Tom Arnold, says there is II need for an increase in a~ricl1ltural production to meet tht' nf!ei.i!' of Ihe growing world populatIOn ,,~ 'itates, .. Agricuituml production must IIIcrease subs!anllalh' 10 mt'C1 the
demands of a growing anti increa"mgh wealthy populal1on_\'CI 10 amid mort' "itrt>'t~ on 11Ind. walet and rnel"R' resources. anti to en'>ure thai all han' aC'C'e!<.'i 10 atit'tluale fcw.u, production must 1'It' <;1.1<;lainahle antlmu_~t priorilise the po()r_~ Earlier. Ihe Rumpf'an Rank for Recon .... mctiol1 and Ilt"H·lopment and the llnited Nation<; FOOfI and AgnC'l11tuTe Org1lIli ...,lion han' s.1id at a ronfere11('f" on lio\\ 10 impron' food ~t'Ctnity hI in\'esting in aRricultuTf' from ('('nlral Asia to North Africa that the fift,lu a~am~t hunger can onl)' be won in pllrtl1l'rship betv.'e'C11 governments, ci\'jJ ~lel~ gruups. fnmlt't o~ni.o;atiuns and the pri\'ate o;cctor 'nil" confen'llce held In I"tanhu!. Tmk(>\' cenlre(1 on ho\\" In promot{' l)ri\1\t(' agrifultural investment and Ir'lld(' from the Black Sea to Ihl' 101t'<literranean. h,l\111Jt a huge potential for infrl'a".etl food production The twn orjtnnisations IIf're ""id tn ha\'e callNl on jtOl.'f'mmenlo; 10 crcate an enahling 1)Olic) cnvironllll'nt that f()<;ler;. prh'3te-<;tttor tn\'(!~tment FA()'<; Direclnr-Genernl.Josr(;ral"1IInn <In Silva wa" qllOltd to IHlvc "<1itl at the conferenre, .. Thcre C<1n he 110 ffff'dmn from hunger - theft' can be lUI ffKKi <;('('urily - withllllllhe acli\ I' part1l'ipalion or all <;('('t01""; Ilf '>Or'iely, inrl\Ld111~ Ih(' pri\'3te <;('('lor ~