Farm, rural aid can cut child hunger: report

WASHINGTON – If Africa spent an extra US$4,7 billion a year on farm and rural development, it could make a big dent in child hunger, the International Food Policy Research Institute said on Thursday.

“We really need to reverse the downward trend in public investment in agriculture,” said Mark Rosegrant, lead researcher. One-third of Africans are malnourished, including nearly 39 million children.That could drop to 9,4 million children if African nations spent an extra US$4,7 billion a year on crop research, rural roads, education, clean water and sanitation.Currently, Africa spends about US$6 billion annually on such items.Rural prosperity on the continent also could be boosted by scaling down food trade barriers everywhere and farm subsidies in developed nations, the report said.”This is not another ‘doom and gloom’ report on hunger in Africa,” said Rajul Pandya-Larch of the institute.Reducing child hunger “is not an automatic thing that would happen” without a change in course, Pandya-Larch said.If African nations maintain current policies, the hunger tally would rise to 41,9 million children in 2025, the institute estimated.But it could soar to 63 million if investment falls, farm output falters and HIV-AIDS continues to affect a large proportion of the population.Free trade in agriculture would bring an additional US$5,4 billion to Africa in 2025, according to the institute.About 60 per cent of that would arise from removing trade barriers and and increasing trade within Africa.The rest would stem from lower farm subsidies in industrialised nations, blamed for reducing worldwide crop prices.”They (subsidies) really make it much more difficult for African farmers to compete with European and American farmers,” said Rosegrant.Trade reform would mean higher grain, meat and milk prices, he said, and governments might have to help citizens buy food if there were sharp increases.- Nampa-ReutersOne-third of Africans are malnourished, including nearly 39 million children.That could drop to 9,4 million children if African nations spent an extra US$4,7 billion a year on crop research, rural roads, education, clean water and sanitation.Currently, Africa spends about US$6 billion annually on such items.Rural prosperity on the continent also could be boosted by scaling down food trade barriers everywhere and farm subsidies in developed nations, the report said.”This is not another ‘doom and gloom’ report on hunger in Africa,” said Rajul Pandya-Larch of the institute.Reducing child hunger “is not an automatic thing that would happen” without a change in course, Pandya-Larch said.If African nations maintain current policies, the hunger tally would rise to 41,9 million children in 2025, the institute estimated.But it could soar to 63 million if investment falls, farm output falters and HIV-AIDS continues to affect a large proportion of the population.Free trade in agriculture would bring an additional US$5,4 billion to Africa in 2025, according to the institute.About 60 per cent of that would arise from removing trade barriers and and increasing trade within Africa.The rest would stem from lower farm subsidies in industrialised nations, blamed for reducing worldwide crop prices.”They (subsidies) really make it much more difficult for African farmers to compete with European and American farmers,” said Rosegrant.Trade reform would mean higher grain, meat and milk prices, he said, and governments might have to help citizens buy food if there were sharp increases.- Nampa-Reuters