CARE and Oxfam today said the international aid system not fit for purpose and called for fundamental changes in order to tackle the challenge of food price hikes and impending food crises in East and West Africa. The call comes at the end of a conference on how best the world can address global hunger attended by some 30 leading UN and aid agencies in Rome.

“Food riots have pushed global hunger onto the political agenda but the aid business will not be able to tackle global hunger while it remains stuck in the past, seeing food crises as one-off events and not tackling the underlining problem – chronic poverty. The world has become much better at sending in teams to save lives but it seems incapable of doing what is needed to prevent crises happening in the first place,” said Barbara Stocking, Oxfam GB’s Chief Executive.

“When governments fail to act early enough," said Dr. Robert Glasser, CARE International's Secretary General, "the costs of dealing with a crisis increase enormously, both in economic terms and in loss of life.  Television pictures of aid being flown out to the latest food crisis is not a triumph of compassion but a sign of failure to act soon enough.”

CARE and Oxfam warned that besides the impact of food price hikes there are also early signs of impending food shortages in East and West Africa. These potential disasters could be averted if the world takes immediate action.

In East Africa the March to May rainy season has been slow to start, triggering concern that another widespread humanitarian crisis might strike for the second time in less than three years. Although there has been some rain over the last week, CARE and Oxfam are particularly concerned about hunger striking the poorest in southern Somalia and the Somali Region of Ethiopia and in West Africa there are worrying warnings of increased hunger hot spots in Mauritania and Niger.

Acting earlier not only saves more lives but makes economic sense. In 2004 and 2005 early warnings alerted world donors that in West Africa, Niger needed aid to avert a famine. There was no immediate response,  and it was not until television cameras showed emaciated children dying that the world acted. The cost of the delay was high in human life and in economic terms. The UN estimated that acting earlier would have cost $1 a day to prevent a child suffering from malnutrition. Because of delay it cost $80 to save a malnourished child.

Another area of concern is the inefficiencies and high costs resulting from self-interest on the part of those delivering aid. Shipping surplus food aid thousands of miles provides a boon to shipping companies, but also increases the cost of delivering food anywhere from 50% to 100%.

"Food aid can and does save lives. But due to powerful interest groups and outdated policies, food aid generally arrives too late, is too expensive and, when it floods weak, local markets, puts local farmers out of business and consequently puts back chances of recovery after the famine has passed," said Stocking.

CARE and Oxfam are calling for more aid of the right kind in the right place at the right time. Specifically, the organizations want:

Appropriate aid delivered according to needs:
The nature of food insecurity and vulnerability needs to be better understood in order to design more appropriate responses.
Alternatives to emergency relief, including food aid, to be delivered when appropriate, for example cash for work and other cash transfer schemes. Often food is available during a food crisis. The issue is that it is too expensive for the hungry to buy it. Buying food aid locally can help stimulate the local economy and keep farmers in work.
Chronic and cyclical problems need to be addressed through social protection mechanisms, such as social insurance and assistance.

Support development of poor country governments’ capacity to respond to chronic crises:
National governments need to invest in the social protection of their citizens, implement ‘safety net’ programmes (cash for work schemes or targeted assistance to the vulnerable) for populations at risk of hunger, intervene before livelihoods collapse.
Donors need to commit resources to support the establishment of local response and safety net mechanisms, eg the donors backed ‘Productive Safety Net Programme’ ensuring predictable assistance to eight million people in Ethiopia.
Mechanisms allowing more effective monitoring and coordination of international aid against hunger need to be established within the UN system, and with NGOs.

Disaster risk reduction is a key factor in preventing future crises:
Many weather-related crises are cyclical and preparedness and risk reduction strategies can reduce the loss of valuable agricultural production, but this requires a substantial change in emphasis from donors, who will need to make an investment before public support has been mobilized by images of starvation.

On the recent food price crisis CARE AND Oxfam called for:
• Increase donor and national government investment in small-scale agriculture in developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most African governments have failed to meet their 2003 promise to allocate at least a tenth of their spending to agriculture and they are now reaping the consequences. Countries such as Malawi and Zambia have shown the way, moving from dependence on food aid to become cereal exporters in recent years. Greater international support is needed. It is important that humanitarian organizations ensure that women can access the opportunities that are created.
• Large-scale growth in biofuels demand has pushed up food prices and so far there is little evidence that it is reducing overall carbon emissions. Natural carbon sinks such as rainforests and grasslands are being destroyed to make way for new biofuel plantations and biofuel crops are displacing food production. Countries driving biofuel demand need to monitor the impacts of their policies on global food security and provide financial support for affected countries. Mandatory targets need to be reassessed in terms of likely impact on emissions and negative social and environmental side effects in developing countries, including higher food prices, land grabs and labour rights abuses. Developing countries need to integrate their biofuel strategies with food security policies to address issues such as land allocation and crop use.
• Ensure financial services such as insurance and credit are available to poor farmers. In Thailand, for example, small producers are going to the wall because banks will not lend them money to manage between harvests.
• Allow space for national trade policies to manage food security and rural development and to support the poorest and most marginalized farmers to gain from current price rises.
• Recognize that climate change is going to exacerbate these problems, requiring urgent mitigation and adaptation response
• Eliminate trade-distorting export agricultural subsidies, export restrictions and price controls. This will correct distortions in world markets and pave the way towards a long-term solution to unstable food prices.

"There is clearly a lot that governments and aid agencies must do to tackle hunger, " said Jonathan Mitchell, CARE's emergency response director. "What emerged from this conference is that humanitarian and relief agencies are committed to new solutions. We now need aid agencies to be held accountable and for donor governments to get behind these changes."

OXFAM 

The cereal import bill of the world’s poorest countries is forecast to rise by 56 percent in 2007/2008. This comes after a significant increase of 37 percent in 2006/2007, FAO said today.

For low-income food-deficit countries in Africa, the cereal bill is projected to increase by 74 percent, according to the UN agency’s latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report. The increase is due to the sharp rise in international cereal prices, freight rates and oil prices.

International cereal prices have continued to rise sharply over the past two months, reflecting steady demand and depleted world reserves, the report said. Prices of rice increased the most following the imposition of new export restrictions by major exporting countries. By the end of March prices of wheat and rice were about double their levels of a year earlier, while those of maize were more than one-third higher, according to the report.

FAO has launched an Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP), offering technical and policy assistance to poor countries affected by high food prices in order to assist vulnerable farmers to increase local food production. Field activities are starting in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal. FAO will also help governments prepare actions and strategies to increase agricultural production. In collaboration with the World Food Programme, IFAD and other partners, FAO will enlarge its food market information system to pull together and analyze various data sources at local, national and international levels and to disseminate this information. FAO has allocated US$17 million for these activities.

Domestic food prices spur social unrest

Prices of bread, rice, maize products, milk, oil, soybeans and others basic foods have increased sharply in recent months in a number of developing countries, despite policy measures -- including export restrictions, subsidies, tariff reductions and price controls -- taken by governments of both cereal importing and exporting countries to limit the impact of international prices on domestic food markets.

Food riots have been reported in Egypt, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Philippines and Haiti in the past month. In Pakistan and Thailand, army troops have been deployed to avoid seizing of food from the fields and from warehouses.

“Food price inflation hits the poor hardest, as the share of food in their total expenditures is much higher than that of wealthier populations,” said Henri Josserand of FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning system. “Food represents about 10-20 percent of consumer spending in industrialized nations, but as much as 60-80 percent in developing countries, many of which are net-food-importers.”

2008 forecast: production up

According to FAO’s first forecast world cereal production in 2008 is to increase by 2.6 percent to a record 2 164 million tonnes. The bulk of the increase is expected in wheat, following significant expansion in plantings in major producing countries.

“Should the expected growth in 2008 production materialize, the current tight global cereal supply situation could ease in the new 2008/09 season,” the report said.

But much will depend on the weather, FAO cautioned, recalling that at this time last year prospects for cereal production in 2007 were far better than the eventual outcome. Unfavourable climatic conditions devastated crops in Australia and reduced harvests in many other countries, particularly in Europe.

“Favourable climatic conditions will be even more critical in the new season because world cereal reserves are depleted,” the report said.

According to FAO’s forecast, world cereal stocks are expected to fall to a 25-year-low of 405 million tonnes in 2007/08, down 21 million tonnes, or 5 percent, from their already reduced level of the previous year.

“Any major shortfalls resulting from unfavourable weather, particularly in exporting countries, would prolong the current tight market situation; contribute to more price rallies and exacerbate the economic hardship already facing many countries,” the report said.

FAO urges all donors and International Financing Institutions to increase their assistance or consider reprogramming part of their ongoing aid in countries negatively affected by high food prices. A tentative estimation of the additional funding required by the governments to implement country projects and programmes for dealing with soaring food prices ranges between US$ 1,2 and 1,7 billion. The release of these funds can provide important support for poor farmers, including access to inputs and assets, to enhance the food supply response in the next agricultural seasons.

Worldwide, 37 countries are currently facing food crises, according to the report. Click here for the complete list of countries in need of external assistance.

New FAO fertilizer outlook to 2011/12 published

World fertilizer production is expected to outstrip demand over the next five years and will support higher levels of food and biofuel production, FAO said in a new report entitled “Current world fertilizer trends and outlook to 2011/12” published today.

“High commodity prices experienced over recent years led to increased production and correspondingly to greater fertilizer use,” said Jan Poulisse, FAO fertilizer expert.

“This has led to tight markets and higher fertilizer prices. While it is expected that the demand for basic food crops, fruits and vegetables, for animal products and for biofuel crops is likely to remain strong, we expect fertilizer supply to grow sufficiently to meet higher consumption,” he added.

The FAO report estimates that world fertilizer supply (nitrogen, phosphate and potash nutrient) will increase by some 34 million tonnes representing an annual growth rate of 3 percent between 2007/08 and 2011/12, comfortably sufficient to cover demand growth of 1.9 percent annually.

Total production is expected to grow from 206.5 million tonnes in 2007/08 to 241 million tonnes in 2011/12. Fertilizer demand will increase from 197 million tonnes today to 216 million tonnes in 2011/12.

World nitrogen supply is forecast to rise by 23.1 million tonnes by 2011/12; world phosphate fertilizer supply will increase by 6.3 million tonnes and potash supply by 4.9 million tonnes.

Africa will remain a major phosphate exporter and increase nitrogen exports while importing all of its potash. Fertilizer consumption in Africa continues to be largely restricted to 10 countries, main consumers are Egypt, South Africa and Morocco.

It is expected that North America will continue to be a net importer of nitrogen and that the region will move into increasing phosphate deficit while remaining a primary supplier of potash.

Asia is expected to produce a rapidly increasing surplus of nitrogen, but will continue to import phosphate and potash.

How men and women farmers are differently affected

The effect of climate change “on gender equality and women´s empowerment could be profound, and could in many areas of the world diminish considerably the progress we have made so far in securing gender equality,” said Iceland’s Minister of the Environment, Ms Thorunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, at an FAO event marking International Women’s Day.

Vulnerable areas and the poor will be particularly hit by climate change, the Minister said. Small and poor indigenous communities are faced with changes affecting their livelihood and social structure. Temperature changes in the oceans could affect the fish stocks many coastal communities depend on for their survival, she said.

In vulnerable areas in Africa, Asia and Latin America climate change could affect the existence of millions, especially in rural agricultural and coastal areas. Such prospects are especially alarming since agriculture is now increasingly recognised as a crucial element in addressing poverty and food security. All changes in agricultural production have considerable effect on the situation of women, given their crucial role in food production in many areas.

Role of agriculture

While noting that the food and agriculture sector’s contribution to climate change was over 30 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions, it is vital to understand how to ensure food security when temperatures and sea level are rising, extreme events becoming more frequent and seasonal trends are difficult to predict, observed FAO Deputy Director-General Mr James Butler.

“In order to be truly prepared for the impacts of climate change on food security, we must ask ourselves who are the most vulnerable and how they can be involved in addressing this global issue, noting that men and women are differently vulnerable and how each can contribute to addressing climate change,” he said.

Adaptation is the key

In the climate change debate, adaptation is increasingly being seen as a key policy priority. Adaptation at an accelerated and more targeted pace is seen as critical for the secure development of vulnerable populations, like the estimated 1.4 billion rural people who depend on small-scale farming in developing countries. These men and women will be differently vulnerable to climate change impacts due to pre-existing inequalities. For example, rural women tend to have less financial, physical and human resources than men, so they will have fewer options for responding to the effects of climate change. Also, poor women tend to rely more than men on natural resources, so when these are directly hit by climate change, women’s livelihoods will also be affected. Adaptation strategies that do not take into account the differences between men’s and women’s vulnerabilities and resources are less likely to succeed.

.. and mitigation

Mitigation is another building block of climate change response. “Poor rural people can play a major role in mitigating climate change through the sustainable management of land, forests and other natural resources,” said IFAD Assistant President Jessie Rose Mabutas. And climate change mitigation policies can represent a historic opportunity to acknowledge and remunerate them for providing environmental services that benefit us all.

International agricultural commodity prices are rising because of a combination of factors: an increased demand for food due to rapid growth in emerging countries like India and China; unprecedented and rapid migration from rural to urban areas; recent poor harvests in some countries that may be a result of climate change; and the conversion of land use from food crops to biofuel crops. “This will have enormous consequences for poor rural people, particularly for women who often are responsible for providing food for the family,” said Ms Mabutas.

Highlighting the role of potato in the fight against hunger and poverty

A world photography contest to highlight the role of the potato as a source of food, employment and income in developing countries was launched today by FAO and the United Nations. The contest is being held in conjunction with the UN’s International Year of the Potato (IYP) in 2008.

IYP aims at raising global awareness of the potato’s key contribution to agriculture, the economy and world food security, and at fostering improved potato-based systems to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The IYP World Photography Contest, “Focus on a global food”, invites photographers to capture the spirit of the International Year in images that illustrate potato biodiversity, cultivation, processing, trade, marketing, consumption and utilization.

“Potato is the world’s number four food crop, after rice, wheat and maize, with annual production of more than 300 million tonnes,” said FAO’s NeBambi Lutaladio, the IYP coordinator. “It is grown in more than 100 countries, from the Andes and China's Yunnan plateau to the subtropical lowlands of India, on the plains of northern Europe and the steppes of the Ukraine. Photographers who explore the world of the potato will find plenty of subject matter.”

Sponsored by Nikon, the IYP photography contest is an opportunity for photographers to showcase previous work or to capture new images that depict the many activities related to this vital crop.

The contest has separate categories for professional and amateur photographers, and will accept single digital images or “photo stories” of four to eight related images, in either black-and-white or colour. Participants can submit their digital files by uploading them directly via internet or sending them by normal post on a CD-ROM.

The winning photographs will be chosen by a selection panel that includes some of the world’s leading professionals in the field of photography. Winners in the professional and amateur categories will be awarded cash prizes totalling some US$11 000 as well as Nikon cameras. The deadline for entries is 1 September 2008.

2010 global forest assessment to provide input to climate change debate

FAO has called upon countries to participate in preparing the next Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), the most comprehensive data collection on the state of the world’s forests to date.

Started over 60 years ago, the Global Forest Resources Assessment process provides information on how much forest exists, how it is being managed and how it is being lost. Global forest cover currently amounts to just under four billion hectares or about 30 percent of the world’s land area. Although the rate of net loss of forest has decreased in recent years, the world is still losing about 200 km² of forest a day, according to FAO data.

It is expected that the next report, to be finalized in 2010, will review the status of forests in 235 countries and territories, of which 175 countries have already nominated officers whose duty it will be to ensure that countries provide accurate and timely information on their forest resources.

“Stronger support from countries and advances in communication technology will make the next Global Forest Resources Assessment the most comprehensive and reliable yet,” said Jan Heino, Assistant Director-General for FAO’s Forestry Department. “The 2010 assessment will be an important tool in measuring the impact of deforestation on climate change and the role of forests in mitigating the effects of climate change”.

“The success of FRA 2010 will depend on the extent to which countries provide accurate and objective information”, says Mette Wilkie, who oversees the data collection process at FAO. The last survey was produced with the help of over 800 people involving teams working in 172 countries and many more are likely to be involved this time around. Some 220 experts are attending this week’s meeting at FAO to kick-start the process.

Remote sensing

One of the techniques used to collect the information is an ambitious new global remote sensing survey. Using satellite data from 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2005, forest cover will be surveyed across the planet in about 13 500 plots, providing a sampling intensity of 1 percent of the global land surface, to obtain statistically valid information at regional and global levels.

This survey will generate unprecedented information on deforestation, afforestation and natural forest expansion. It will provide insight into the land uses that are replacing forests. It will improve understanding of the global contribution of forests to greenhouse gas emissions and reductions. It will also establish a common framework and methodology to enable developing countries to improve their monitoring of current and future deforestation rates.

In addition, the 2010 assessment will expand our knowledge of the biological diversity of forests and will include a special study on trees outside forests, a survey of the area of forest under sustainable forest management, and data on forest laws, policies and institutions.

Action needed to improve access to inputs to boost local food production in most affected countries

FAO is urging governments and the international community to implement immediate measures in support of poor countries hit hard by dramatic food price increases.

Currently 37 countries worldwide are facing food crises due to conflict and disasters. In addition, food security is being adversely affected by unprecedented price hikes for basic food, driven by historically low food stocks, droughts and floods linked to climate change, high oil prices and growing demand for bio-fuels. High international cereal prices have already sparked food riots in several countries.

In its November issue of Food Outlook, FAO estimated that the total cost of imported foodstuffs for Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs) in 2007 would be some 25 percent higher than the previous year, surpassing US$ 107 billion.

“Urgent and new steps are needed to prevent the negative impacts of rising food prices from further escalating and to quickly boost crop production in the most affected countries,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf at a press conference at the Organization’s Rome headquarters.

“Without support for poor farmers and their families in the hardest-hit countries, they will not be able to cope. Assisting poor vulnerable households in rural areas in the short term and enabling them to produce more food would be an efficient tool to protect them against hunger and undernourishment,” Dr Diouf added.

Short-term support

FAO is calling for urgent action to provide small farmers in LIFDCs that depend heavily on food imports, with improved access to inputs like seeds, fertilizer and other inputs to increase, in particular, local crop production.

Within countries, improved access to these inputs could be provided by issuing poor farmers with vouchers to buy seeds, fertilizer and other inputs for major staple crops, which should increase local food production. Such steps could help to alleviate the persistent threat of severe undernourishment of millions of people, FAO said.

FAO will support a catalytic model programme in close cooperation with the private sector. At the same time, FAO aims to assist countries in mobilising resources required to strengthen their productive capability, market access and other measures required for long-term household food security.

Malawi’s success

“Some countries like Malawi have proven that it is possible to boost local food production through the provision of vouchers for farm inputs,” Diouf said.

“The Malawi programme, helped by good rains, has over the last two years produced spectacular results whereby maize production in 2006/07 was one million metric tonnes higher than national maize requirements. The value of the extra production was double that of the investment provided. Many small-scale farmers have benefited and have increased production for their own consumption. The Malawi success could be replicated by other countries facing a very difficult food production environment.”

Short-term intervention will by no means replace medium and long-term investments for enhancing the production capacity in the target countries, FAO said.

“On the contrary, we want the pressure on governments to finance expensive food imports to be eased so they can focus on long-term solutions. Short-term investments have to be accompanied immediately with measures to ensure water control, increase rural infrastructure and improve soil fertility and guarantee long-term sustainability of food production,” Diouf said.

FAO will fund a model programme of interventions from resources put at its disposal by member countries and will encourage national governments, international institutions and other donors to replicate and expand successful interventions in line with ongoing international initiatives.

Millions of orphans and vulnerable children in need of support – new manual published

Farm schools for vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic are playing an increasingly important role in sub-Saharan Africa, FAO said today. The schools are teaching orphans vital farming and life skills ensuring them sustainable livelihoods and long-term food security.

A new manual on how to set up a Junior Farmer Field and Life School (JFFLS) has just been published by FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP).

HIV and AIDS have a tremendous impact on rural communities in Africa, particularly on children.

“Children and youth are charged with the heaviest burden of the AIDS crisis,” said Marcela Villarreal, Director of FAO’s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division. “Without their parents, they become more vulnerable to hunger and poverty, disease, conflict, sexual exploitation, forced migration and environmental degradation. The schools are an attempt to give orphans the means and the confidence to survive in an often very difficult environment,” she added.

The number of orphans and other vulnerable children is growing in sub-Saharan Africa as a serious consequence of the AIDS epidemic, conflicts and displacement. To date, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than 40 million orphans, with an estimated 11.4 million children orphaned by AIDS.

Schools in eleven countries

Since 2004, FAO has established highly successful JFFLS projects targeting several thousand youth in eleven African countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Collaborating partners are national governments, non-governmental organizations, local institutions and WFP.

JFFLS seek to improve the lives of children and youth aged 12 to 18 years who live in food insecure communities where HIV and AIDS have had a strong impact, particularly in rural areas. As parents and family members become ill, children often become directly involved in food production and processing. As a result, young girls and boys may have to drop out of school, either temporarily or permanently.

During an entire agricultural season, a group of 30 boys and girls follow the life cycle of crops. The agricultural training covers field preparation, sowing, weeding, irrigation, pest control, use and conservation of available resources, food processing, harvesting, storage and marketing skills. The schools pay particular attention to teaching local agricultural production skills that have not been passed down because of the early death of parents.

“Students learn about preventing plant pests and diseases. In the same way, they learn that they can protect themselves against risks such as HIV/AIDS and other diseases,” Villarreal said.

The schools address a wide range of issues such gender sensitivity, child protection, psycho-social support, nutrition education and business skills. Experience has shown that the schools provide a safe and social space for boys and girls, enabling them to develop their self-esteem and confidence.

Food support, provided by WFP, is an essential part of the JFFLS program. “Providing a nutritional meal to children in the schools is both an incentive for them to attend lessons and gives them an energy boost to participate actively,” said Robin Jackson, Chief of WFP’s HIV/AIDS Service.

The local community plays an important role in monitoring and implementing the schools, including providing land and volunteers. A JFFLS is run by a small group of people, often including a local extension worker and a teacher.

Getting started

The new FAO/WFP manual Getting Started! Running a Junior Farmer Field and Life School provides details for staff of ministries and non-governmental organizations on how to set-up, operate and sustain a field school.

The manual is based on the experience of people working with rural vulnerable youth. It is generic and can be used in different regions of the world.

Synergies identified at a meeting in Rome

Eleven African countries have agreed to join forces to meet the challenge of education for rural people. At a recent meeting in FAO headquarters in Rome they also decided to identify synergies and establish international technical cooperation aimed at enhancing education and training in rural areas.

Representatives from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania adopted a series of recommendations directed to four main stakeholders: African governments; relevant ministries; multilateral and bilateral agencies; international higher learning and research institutions.

Governments were invited, among other things, to strengthen the coordination and synergies with education for rural people strategies and programs and to increase public resources for education and training in rural areas.

Relevant ministries (Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, etc.) were asked to work together to design programs that reflect local cultural and social values and that transmit problem-solving, production and enterprise development skills. They were also asked to collect and analyze relevant statistics and establish education management information systems in order to improve monitoring and management of education in rural areas.

Multilateral and bilateral agencies, particularly the FAO, ADEA and UNESCO, were requested to increase their support for capacity building and institutional strengthening of education for rural people. Special efforts should be made to disseminate and further expand the FAO electronic “Toolkit”.

International higher learning and research institutions were invited to provide scientific expertise, technical assistance and training in strategic areas of education for rural people at national and local levels, particularly with respect to addressing major research issues such as the impact of globalization, biofuels and climate change on rural livelihoods.

The meeting on Education for Rural People in Africa (Rome, 28 -29 November 2007) was a follow up to the ministerial seminar which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in September 2005.

Presently, rural people represent approximately 70 percent of the total population in Africa and will remain the majority over the next three decades, as it is projected that they will represent 58 percent in 2030.

Education and training for rural people is a strategic priority for sub-Saharan Africa in its fight to eradicate poverty, hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy. School life expectancy for men in this region of the world is of 8.5 years in urban areas as compared to 5.5 years in rural areas. For women it is respectively 7.6 and 4.3 years. Furthermore, for every 100 urban children who have access to primary education, only 68 do so in rural areas. And for every 100 children in urban areas who complete primary school, only 46 do so in rural areas.

Countries report progress

Country reports were presented at the meeting in FAO. In Mozambique where 71.4 percent of the population live in rural areas, the illiteracy rate in urban areas is 41.7 percent as compared to 65.7 percent in rural areas. Following measures taken by the government such as the suppression of school fees and the free distribution of textbooks in primary schools, school enrolment of 6 year-old children in the first grade has grown from 58.2 percent in 2005 to 70 percent this year.

In Burkina Faso, 1 077 schools were built during the last three years in rural areas. Mass campaigns to sensitise families to send girls to schools; scholarships for girls and school feeding programmes have contributed to increase school attendance.

In 2007, in South Africa, some 14 000 schools became no fee schools targeting the poorest rural communities. About 5 million school boys and girls have benefited from this measure. In some provinces, free transport is offered to students who live far from school. Currently 200 000 students benefit from this provision. A mass literacy campaign will be launched in 2008.

FAO is the lead agency regarding the Education for Rural People initiative. It works hand in hand with ADEA, UNESCO and others including the Italian Directorate for Development Cooperation (DGCS) and the French ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs. ADEA ( www.ADEAnet.org ) promotes effective education policies that are designed and developed by Africans.