Food security in Africa: U.S. support falls short, new report

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, released an important report last week scrutinizing U.S. based efforts to relieve hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa (a one page summary is accessible here).

The GAO stressed that efforts to tackle the root causes of food security have been “insufficient.” USAID is criticized for having focused most of its efforts in Africa on inefficient food aid practices, but the agency "has not addressed the underlying factors that contributed to the recurrence and severity of these crises." The report also called for greater integration between U.S. government agencies on agricultural development in Africa.

The report comes as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization high level meeting on the food security in Rome is about to begin. Will the FAO meeting result in a larger and more constructive commitment to address food insecurity from the Bush Administration? Judging from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer's comments on Thursday, it looks like a major push for greater use of biotech crops in developing countries will be a big part of the U.S. strategy. This emphasis on costly, patented biotech crops runs counter to recommendations in the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development report issued last month, which have already been approved by 57 governments.

IATP's Carin Smaller will report more on the FAO meeting in Rome throughout the week.