DEVELOPMENT: Report says Fix Policies to Prevent More Famine

By Emad Mekay Reprint | | Print |

Emad Mekay

WASHINGTON, Jul 25 2002 (IPS) - With more than 10 million people in southern Africa facing the threat of severe famine, a report is warning of more to come unless better policies are developed to attack persistent poverty.

Millions of people in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are critically short of food and thousands could die, says ‘Fighting Famine in Southern Africa’, released Wednesday by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

“A very large number of people are at risk of famine and death unless something is done,” IFPRI Director General Pinstrup Andersen told IPS.

“The situation is going to get very bad unless a lot of food aid gets into these various countries and, more specifically, to the areas where affected people are,” he said. “In the short run, food must start flowing in now.”

IFPRI said that in Malawi alone, an estimated 70 percent of the population is affected by food shortages, and the situation is only slightly better in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“The immediate causes of the current crisis are drought, flooding, and low levels of crop planting,” says the report. “What has made these countries so vulnerable to famine, however, is chronic poverty and inadequate policies..”

Conditions have now combined to create severe shortfalls in food production and, in turn, high prices for maize, the region’s staple food.

“The weather is part of it,” said Kenneth Simler, research fellow at IFPRI. “So the crop production was actually down. But as far as bad policies are concerned, that would spread around a bit to not only the countries themselves but also for the donors and the international financial institutions.”

For months, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have been pointing fingers at policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the famine in Malawi. They say the institution directed the government to sell its maize reserves, leaving nothing for periods of low production.

The IMF denies the charges, saying bad weather, poor management and distortions in the local market are the reasons for the famine.

Simler said inadequate investments in infrastructure are an important factor in the region. Poorly maintained roads, for example, lead to high costs for moving food from where it is plentiful to areas with shortages.

“This discourages producers from producing a surplus because they are not going to get a good price for it because of the huge transportation costs,” he said.

“That comes down to investments in roads and rails and the maintenance of those systems. This is where the international community and donors come in.”

Last week the United Nations estimated that 13 million people across southern Africa are facing starvation. The World Food Programme (WFP) and aid agencies appealed for 507 million dollar worth of food relief to try to ward off yet another humanitarian tragedy.

The organisations said that as many as 300,000 people could die from famine in the next six months.

IFPRI urged governments and aid agencies to work in the short term to minimize “the mortality, dislocation, and destitution”.

The report recommends that food be distributed to people “where they live” instead of to food camps.

Weakened by extreme hunger, people are reluctant to travel to central food aid outlets, which causes further deaths, it says.

Donors also must be careful to not dump large amounts of food on the market, depressing prices and ultimately discouraging local production that could cushion future disasters, says Simler.

Andersen said that without change, there would be a high chance of famine recurring.

“My main concern is what happens after this emergency and this potential catastrophe,” said the winner of the 2001 World Food Prize, an international honour dedicated to people working to improve food supply.

“We and the international community have to work with governments to put in place the changes that need to be made to make sure that next time the drought or the floods hit, there won’t be mass starvation.”

Critically important, he argues, is developing “the rural infrastructure and getting the market to work”.

Andersen recommends investing in feeder roads and smaller transportation networks.

Small farmers in southern Africa also need access to better technology, such as drought-tolerant varieties of crops and improved seeds and fertilizers, he says. They also need access to public goods such as primary health care and education.

Many of the deaths that occur during famine are due not to starvation, but to disease, says the report. Lack of nutrition makes people more susceptible to disease, and existing health services are often unable to take on the added burden.

“Because those things are missing, the countries are so vulnerable to even small climatic changes,” Andersen said.

Effective famine relief and prevention, requires improved co-operation among governments, NGOs, the private sector, and donors, adds the report.

“Famines signal the failure of institutions, organizations, and policies,” it says, cautioning that if governments and the international community continue to permit wars, civil unrest, corruption, and poor policies, countries will remain vulnerable to famines.