Annan wants green revolution
2004-07-05 12:11
Addis Ababa - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed on Monday for a green revolution in Africa, telling a conference in Addis Ababa that ending the continent's chronic hunger crisis was possible given the right strategies and political will.
Given the right kind of national and international support, Africa can achieve the green revolution it needs, he told the meeting in Addis Ababa, held on the eve of an African Union summit.
Nearly a third of all men, women and children in sub-Saharan Africa are severely malnourished. Africa is the only continent where child malnutrition is getting worse rather than better, Annan told the conference.
For dozens of countries, the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by the year 2015 seems more a far-off fantasy than an achievable target, he told an audience including high level delegates from across Africa and its development partners.
"We are here to discuss a way forward. We are here as part of a movement for the rural and agricultural transformation of our beloved continent," said Annan, who is Ghanaian.
"Let us generate a uniquely African green revolution - a revolution that is long overdue, a revolution that will help it in its quest for dignity and peace," he said, outlining a range of practical steps, from improving irrigation and soil health, to expanding electrification and road networks and urging an end to harmful trade practices such as farm subsidies.
A green revolution took place in the 1960s in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, tripling food productivity and greatly alleviating poverty.
"Africa has not yet had a green revolution of its own," Annan lamented, saying the knowledge and expertise needed to produce one were well established. What was lacking, he said, is the political will to put this knowledge into practise.
He also urged that Africa's fight against hunger and AIDS should go hand in hand.
"Hunger is a complex crisis. To solve it we must address the interconnected challenges of agriculture, health care, nutrition, adverse and unfair market conditions, weak infrastructure and environmental degradation," he said.