Dear friends and fellow comrades,
On the occasion of the 50th session of the Committee on World Food Security (Rome, 10-13 October 2022), the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s (RLS) Southern Africa and Geneva offices release a report on the state of African agro-food systems in the face of the current global food price crisis.
The authors argue for the urgent need to break path dependency
According to UNCTAD, 25 African countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for at least 30% of their wheat, while 16 of these 25 source 50% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine. In Southern and Eastern Africa, maize-based food systems have resulted in a significant reliance on food imports in order to ensure food security, making countries in these regions particularly vulnerable to external food price shocks.
50th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS)
Based on this report, the authors make concrete recommendations for short and medium-term interventions. The CFS meeting in Rome next week must lead the charge in turning the tide and handing over food systems back to farming and fishing communities, food workers and consumer groups.
Recommendations (non-exhaustive list)
- Debt relief and debt cancellation for heavily indebted and food-importing countries
- Strengthening social protection systems and subsidies
- Reduce dependence on fossil-fuel-based inputs by phasing out agricultural support that focuses on the supply of agrochemicals and commercial seeds that promote monocrop production
You can find the report here. Please share the report within your own networks.
Thank you so much and warm regards,