UNCTAD Official Blames Food Crisis On Structural Adjustment Programme

This Day
April 23, 2008
By Lucky Fiakpa

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The Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, embarked upon by most African countries in the 1980s, including Nigeria, has been blamed by an official of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Mr. Rolf Traeger, as one of the major reasons for the current food crisis plaguing some countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The projected national demand for rice in Nigeria is put at 4.64 million metric tons annually while current rate of consumption is put at 2.3 metric tons. Current local production of the commodity is a meagre 525,000 metric tons per annum. It follows straightaway that the country will have to import the shortfall which is projected at the cost of $267 million.

Under the guidance of institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Traeger, who spoke exclusively to THISDAY at the on going UNCTAD XII conference in Accra, Ghana said, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa embraced hook, line and sinker the Structural Adjustment Programme that was prescribed by the Bretton Wood institutions as the panacea for their economic woes.

This he said affected the production systems of these countries, the consequences of which is the current food crisis many of them are now experiencing."The production system of many developing countries underwent serious changes because on one side domestic support for production, that is subsidies to farmers, were generally cut.

At the same time there was a very deep trade liberalization that was put in place by the developing countries as part of the SAP."This means that it was much cheaper and easier to import those products.

This happens in a context in which international commodity prices were depressed or even falling. So in that context, developing countries were capable of importing food at reasonably low prices.

"It means that by importing food at low prices there was much more competition for domestic producers. So on the one side domestic producers lost subsidies and on the other side, they face competition from imported food as a result, they changed what they were cultivating or change the type of activities that they were undertaking.

This also means that the food security of these countries was jeopardised because the domestic capacity to produce food was significantly reduced.

The international prices of food and commodities started rising sometime as high as 20 or 30 per cent. It means that these countries have to pay much more for the food that they import. For the poorer countries for which buying food represents the major part for the little income that they have it became a big problem," Traeger said.

As a way out of the crisis, he would want the affected countries to have a rethink of the policies that were put in place in the 1980s and provide technical support, better irrigation techniques, better cultivation techniques as well as financial support to farmers."Infrastructure for rural development is also needed, like roads and marketing mechanism so that when farmers would know how to market their products," he said.He would also want the developed nations to heed the call of the World Bank and donate generously to the World Food Programme, WFP, to enable it provide immediate relief to the worse hit nations.Just yesterday, the United Kingdom, UK, announced a $910 million aid package to address rising global food crisis.Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, who made this known said, "rising food prices are a concern for us all, affecting the poor in every society. But in the poorest countries in the world, millions are going without food every day, creating social division and unrest."The Nigeria's response to the food crisis as declared by the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Sayyadi Abba Ruma, is that "government will facilitate provision of lands for large scale farming and co-operatives and government also intend to adjust import levies to reflect current challenges in development of local production, the rice value chain, especially by establishing agric processing centres and agric parks."This is long term in nature and it is hoped that people would alive then to reap the benefits of this package.

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