CHRISTIAN AID BLAMES 'RUINOUS POLICIES' FOR FOOD CRISIS

Pictures available: See Notes to Editor

Full Report at http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/food_report_2008.pdf

Ruinous agricultural policies forced on poor countries by donor governments and international financial institutions are a prime cause of the food crisis that threatens 100m people with hunger, says Christian Aid.

In the run up to next week's G8 summit in Japan, the international development agency is calling on wealthy countries to abandon the doctrinaire belief that trade liberalisation always acts as an engine of growth.

In a new report Fighting Food Shortages: Hungry for Change, Christian Aid analyses the underlying causes of the current food shortages, and the action that should be taken to prevent them recurring. It also gives first hand accounts of the situation in 14 countries where shortages are hitting hard.

'Food security will be high on the agenda when the G8 meets. Rich countries must accept that nothing less than a new, pro poor agricultural revolution is needed if future shortages are to be avoided,' says the report's lead author, Oliver Pearce.

'Agricultural polices imposed on poor countries in the past few decades have had a ruinous effect. In return for trade and aid, they have been forced to remove protective tariffs from agricultural produce, reduce subsidies, and lift price controls.

'Markets have been prised open for heavily subsidised food exports from richer nations. Local farmers and agricultural businesses have found themselves undercut and been forced out of business. Marketing boards and state banks have also been closed, removing essential lifelines for small scale farmers.'

Other long term factors causing the current crisis, says Christian Aid, are under investment by the developed world in agriculture in poor countries, and pressure on farmers to switch to cash crops such as flowers and tobacco. An already dire situation has then been exacerbated by biofuel production, climate change, the oil price rise and speculation in commodities.

Christian Aid's findings on trade liberalisation are backed by a new report initiated by the World Bank in partnership with a number of agencies of the United Nations.

The Synthesis Report of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), recently signed up to by the UK government, stresses that small-scale farmers, particularly women, need far greater support if future food shortages are to be avoided.

One key paragraph reads: 'There is growing concern that opening national agricultural markets to international competition before basic institutions and infrastructure are in place can undermine the agricultural sector, with long term negative effects for poverty, food security and the environment.'

Christian Aid calls on the UK government to outline how it is going to put the recommendations of the IAASTD report into practice, adding that it should serve as a template for all discussion about how to avert future food shortages.

The IAASTD's recommendations include greater investment in small scale staple food production, market development and infrastructure. Marginal farmers should also be given access to microcredit and other financial services.

With the proportion of women in agriculture as high as 70 per cent in some countries, the report stresses that they need better access to education, information, science and technology, as well as credit schemes and income generating activities.

For more press information, pictures or case studies, please contact Andrew Hogg 0207 523 2058/07872 350534

Notes to Editors:

Christian Aid works in some of the world's poorest communities in more than 50 countries. We act where the need is greatest, regardless of religion, helping people build the life they deserve. Christian Aid has pictures available of people affected by food shortages in Haiti, Burkina Faso, India and Bangla Desh 3. This week at the Royal Show (3-6July) in Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, Christian Aid has re-created a garden from Burkina Faso, West Africa, to showcase how farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are adapting to the effects of climate change. The exhibit demonstrates simple soil and water conservation techniques being used by farmers in order to help them combat the ever present threat from drought and floods. It also shows the planting techniques used to help them grow more crops to feed their families.

Andrew Hogg

News Editor/Campaigns Editor ( 00 44 (0) 207 523 2058 / 00 44 (0)7872 350534 * Christian Aid, 35 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7RL 7 00 44 (0) 207 620 0712 ahogg@christian-aid.org