Food fight flares over US aid
2004-02-06 09:09
Liesl Louw
Johannesburg - Over the past two years food aid totalling hundreds of thousands of tons has been despatched to South Africa's neighbouring countries.
Half of the food is shipped directly from the US. South African farmers are complaining this is a ploy by the US to dump its surplus subsidised agricultural production.
Farmers claim a massive influx of US production is damaging local markets.
National Millers' Chamber executive director Jannie de Villiers says exports of wheat flour and maize meal from South Africa to the Southern African Development Community have been reduced by half, mainly due to US food aid.
Aid organisations deny this, saying much of the food aid is still bought in South Africa.
The US says it gives food aid only to alleviate the plight of hungry people.
The World Food Programme (WFP) notes meanwhile that the international community has reacted favourably to calls for food aid. A total of $305m (R2bn) of the $432m (about R3bn) requested has been raised.
However, donor countries are slow in responding to calls for funding development projects aimed at assisting needy countries to overcome their problems.
Only $9,5m (R65.5mn) was raised of the set $220m (about R1.5bn) required to fund projects including agricultural development, HIV/Aids relief and education.
The future looms dark if development projects cannot come off the ground says Richard Lee, WFP spokesperson.
Contribution by the US
US food aid for the period July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004 comes to 250 000 tons out of a total of 460 000 tons distributed by the WFP.
Apart from the food distributed by the WFP the US also gives food aid to three non-governmental organisations, World Vision, the Catholic Relief organisation and Care International. US aid totals 376 000 tons.
The WFP buys the remainder with donations.
Lee maintains that about 60% of the food is bought in South Africa.
As a result of drastic price increases, aggravated by the strengthening rand, it is now cheaper to buy abroad than in South Africa, Lee says. South Africa's role is therefore likely to decline.
Donor countries who give cash stipulate whether food should be bought locally, to stimulate production, or at the cheapest rates.
Tenders are sent to a limited list of approved companies and a donor committee and the WFP decide whose tender is accepted and at what price. Proceedings are confidential and there are concerns that small farmers in other African countries are not sufficiently organised to compete in the process.
GM debacle
US aid last year had been directed at Zimbabwe (250 000 tons), Mozambique (49 710 tons), Malawi (32 000 tons), Zambia (22 310 tons), Lesotho (16 100 tons) and Swaziland (6 970 tons).
Maize constitutes the bulk of food aid since it is the staple food of the people. The US, however, provided almost an equal quantity of sorghum (100 400 tons) to maize (123 760 tons). The rest consisted of beans and cooking oil.
US maize is mainly yellow maize, while white maize is generally consumed by the people. "We always try and give people what they want, but we can't if it's not available," says Dirk Dijkerman, USAid director for South Africa.
Disputes arose since most US maize is genetically modified (GM-maize). Zambia refused the aid and countries like Zimbabwe insist that they only want to receive ground GM maize.
Dijkerman says almost all US maize is transported as kernels to be ground locally in order to give smaller local millers in other Southern African countries a chance.
De Villiers says South African millers had received some of this corn to grind, but this does not occur on a regular basis.
Dijkerman also denies that food aid is strangling local production or that local markets are being created for US products. "In certain areas local production is in fact stimulated since food aid is often coupled with agricultural aid."
Lee agrees: "It's difficult to see how markets can be created in Southern Africa since aid goes to the poorest of the poor - people who have never had any significant buying power."
South African farmers, however, disagree. De Villiers claims that in certain countries, notably Lesotho, there is a corn surplus currently as a result of too much aid and commercial millers in Lesotho are now selling the corn across the border in South Africa. These sales are affecting the local market negatively, he says.
'Unfair'
Grain SA chairman Bully Botma says farmers do not oppose aid to the hungry in the region. South Africa is likely to import grain next year in any case. More generally, it is unfair to expect South African farmers to compete with subsidised grain from the US, he says.
Complaints were also raised that sensational statements over food shortages in the region created a perception of local shortages, thus driving up prices.
There are serious concerns that the situation is likely to continue for some time, particularly since the HIV/Aids epidemic has drastically reduced the capacity to produce food.
On the agricultural front people are encouraged to cultivate more drought resistant crops such as sorghum and casava. The process however, is slow and experiments in other African regions have shown that people are reluctant to switch from traditional crops.
Dijkerman says USAid's main task is development, including stimulating local production by trade agreements such as the US African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa).
The current drought is yet another indication that there is little sign of real development in poverty stricken Southern African countries.
- Media24 Africa