<<Print>>

Former United Nations Secretary-General and Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Kofi Annan, today outlined strategies to ensure food security in the world�s poorest countries. In a speech delivered on Mr. Annan�s behalf by the Special Adviser to the Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Dr. Tesfai Tecle, at Caritas International�s annual conference in Vienna, Mr. Annan called for improved coordination of food and nutrition programmes to strengthen the world�s food and nutrition security. Mr. Annan warned that after decades of reduction in food prices and decrease in the number of hungry people the world over, the trend is now reversing .�Food prices are increasing and millions of people are being pushed into abject poverty.� He cited the improvement in global governance and overhauling of unfair trade rules to deliver a more powerful voice for developing countries in global decision-making bodies; significantly increasing agricultural investment including research in developing countries, encouraging greater private sector engagement and ensuring continued support from richer countries; and Increasing investment in small-holder farmers, in particular women farmers, through providing access to credit, markets and the latest knowledge in farming practices, as the three-thronged approach to fight global hunger. �Though I am pleased that African leaders were invited to last month�s G8 at Camp David to talk about food security, developing countries need a permanent seat at the table. Trade restrictions which distort the markets and put the poorest at a disadvantage must be swept away. I believe a financial transactions tax could be used to help curb excessive speculation while raising money for development and climate change finance,� he said. �We need as well to increase research into new crops and techniques which focus on the challenges of farmers and farming in the developing world. This must include how we can use new crop varieties and managing water so harvests can be increased and land helped to stay productive despite climate change. Too often the interests of the developing world are overshadowed by the needs of large farming enterprises in the developed world. �We need to give them access to the latest knowledge, increased support and credit to create fair markets so they can sell their surpluses at a fair price. This must also include women farmers who make up the majority but face the greatest barriers and disadvantage. Food production simply can�t be increased at the speed and scale needed in a sustainable way without mobilising this army of smallholders. If we do, not only will they transform food production, but their efforts will provide a springboard for wider economic development.�