by Francesco Petrelli*
In Africa more is spent on weapons than on feeding the population. A sad reality, fueled by the major exporting countries, which describes a continent crossed by conflicts atrocious and often forgotten, in which the number of undernourished people can only increase as a result.
Especially if the effects of theinflation of foodstuffs – which reached over 10% in 2022 in almost all African countries – and of the climate crisis that generates desertification, Drought and floods.
The numbers are pitiless, there are many contradictions, the result of short-sighted political choices and unfulfilled promises, on which today, on the occasion of the opening of the 36th African Union Summit it is more necessary than ever to rekindle attention. At stake is the present and future of tens of millions of people.
The choices that lead to hunger are also the responsibility of African governments
Among the causes of the growth of hunger across the entire continent in 2022, there is certainly the chronic under-investment in agriculturewhich constitutes the main economic sector of the continent.
Most African governments (48 out of 54) said they spend on average just 3.8% of their budget on the sector, with some states stopping at 1%. In other words almost three-quarters of governments they reduced the share of public expenditure destined for agriculture from 2019. Without respecting the commitments solemnly undertaken to bring investments to at least 10% of the national budget and by not mitigating in any way the effect of the Ukrainian crisis, which made splash the prices of fertilisers, fuel, seeds and other essential materials, with an inevitable collapse of cereal production in Africa in 2022.
While globally, wheat production remained almost unchanged last year constant (with 777 million tons of wheat in 20/21, versus 771 million expected in 22/23).
“During the rainy season, we didn’t have the money to pay for the fertilizer. The result is that we will not have a harvest this year”, says Sidbou, a small producer of Burkina Fasoone of the countries most affected by the food crisis, where Oxfam is working to respond to the emergency.
Arms investment knows no crisis
Conversely, however, last year African governments spent almost double (6.4% of their budget) on the purchase of armaments of various nature. While the ongoing conflicts, especially in the Sahel and in central Africa, they continued to destroy agricultural land, forcing people from their homes and consequently fueling hunger.
To understand the phenomenon, only a few data are needed. In the last year the number of people affected by malnutrition has increased by 20 million, with the result that today one in 5 people in Africa is undernourished, it is 278 million people and among them the most affected are the most fragile: 55 million children under 5 years old.
Everyone assumes their own responsibilities
A tragic picture on which it is crucial to intervene as soon as possible and which requires an assumption of responsibility and a route change immediate.
An appeal that how Oxfam we strongly relaunch, so that above all investments are increased in support of small farmers who by the millions are unable to reach the markets of neighboring countries with their products, due to the poor infrastructure, the cost of materials and the increasingly high tariffs for exports between African countries. With the paradox that for many African nations it is more convenient today import food from Europe, Asia or South America rather than neighboring countries.
At the same time it is essential to support the ability of small producers to resist the climate chaos, pushing rich countries and major international donors to do their part.
Without significant and additional funding to limit “damages and losses” – with respect to those already provided for in development aid allocations – and for the adaptation and mitigation of changes climaticthere will be no salvation in the most affected African countries.
As well as to face the food crisis – aggravated and accelerated by the Ukrainian crisis and by the abnormals speculative effects that this has induced – the response of international cooperation (effective because it is able to intervene on the economic and environmental impacts) is urgent and necessary.
The investment in cooperation is still completely insufficient
According to the OECD, in 2021 industrialized countries have destined only 0.33% of their gross national income (GNI) to development aid. A share that is dramatically far from the 0.70% they had promised in 1970 and which represents one of the fundamental objectives of theAgenda 2030 dell’Her for sustainable development. For Italy, the allocation to public aid increased from 0.22% to 0.29%. An effect that probably cannot be replicated because it is due to donations from vaccines for Covid and extraordinary funding to UN agencies engaged in the fight against the pandemic.
While, despite the declarations of priorities on food security, Italian bilateral cooperation invests in agriculture and food security still too little: less than 10% of its budget.
The responsibility for the current emergency certainly lies with the international community, donor countries, global economic institutions, but today African governments are also called to give a true answer to the cry of pain of their continent.
*Oxfam Italia food safety policy advisor