IFAD president cautions on use of GM foods
By Sade Oguntola
Food production has improved with genetic
modification.
With the signing
of a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to strengthen their partnership and help alleviate poverty through agricultural enterprises in Africa, IFAD President, Lennart Båge has cautioned on the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to feed the world despite its immense potential.
IFAD president said though the body shares the view of the International Science Council that the lack of evidence of negative effects does not mean that new transgenic foods are without risk, all possible steps must be taken to guard against its adverse effects on food - not just human food, but global food chains - as well as threats to biodiversity due to the ‘flow’ of genes from GMOs to related species.
The MoU provides the framework for the two organisations to design and implement work programmes in different sectors. These include interventions in the fields of agro processing, agribusiness, rural community empowerment and renewable energy. It has been instrumental in the two bodies helping to mobilize co-financing of more than US$2.4 billion for 35 projects.
He said the new effort will focus on aligning operational policies in the countries in which we both have programmes and projects as a means of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency based on the outcome of the result of an ongoing review of the past development work by the two bodies.
According to him, the independent evaluation will also help to determine how they will help improve the contribution of agriculture and rural development to growth and poverty reduction. It will also analyse the agriculture sector’s international competitiveness and policy environment, and examine investment potential in vital sub-sectors, such as water, rural infrastructure and microfinance.
Throughout the review process, there will be opportunities for various stakeholders, including African governments and poor rural people themselves, to share their feedback and suggestions on the evaluation as well as to learn about its ongoing findings. The team of evaluators will release a final report towards the end of 2008.
He said climate change is one of the areas of focus for this strategic partnership because agricultural production and food security will be severely compromised by climate variability and change in many African countries.
The threat, according to him is most severe in sub-Saharan Africa, which faces multiple stresses and presently lacks a strong capacity to adapt to climate change.
“Over 95 per cent of African agriculture depends on rainfall. In some countries, yields from rain-fed agriculture could fall by up to 50 per cent by 2020. Changing rainfall patterns and higher temperatures are reducing agricultural yields, leading to new infestations of pests, decreasing fisheries resources that are essential for some rural livelihoods, and increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events,” he stated.
“For example, last year torrential rains and flash floods affected more than one million people across at least 17 countries in West, Central and East Africa.
The extraordinarily severe downpours killed scores of people, destroyed crops and hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases. By 2020, a projected 75 million to 250 million people will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change.
“About 50 per cent of farmland in Africa suffers to some extent from soil erosion; as much as 80 per cent of pasture and rangelands exhibit some form of degradation. Over 95 per cent of African agriculture depends on rainfall. Models indicate that about 80,000 square kilometres of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa currently deemed constrained will improve as a result of climate change.
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