Underskog

Sakse fra SUM:

Co-organizers: Spire, The Developments Fund’s Youth Organisation

* Stein Bie, professor, Noragric, Norwegian University of Life Science, and chair at ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics).

* Asbjørn Eidhammer, director at the Evaluation Department at Norad, and former ambassador at the Norwegian embassy in Malawi.

* Tendai Shupekile Ngosi, member of the secretariat in Network for Youth Development, Malawi, and participant in Spire’s exchange programme with this network.

* Kristin Ulsrud, head of Spire’s campaign ”Green illusion?” (Chair)

Why are so many Africans hungry after decades of development programmes and endless speeches about how to fight hunger? The ongoing food crisis puts hunger on the international agenda, which is an important step to find ways to reduce hunger. But more important, what is needed more than anything else is action to reduce the number of hungry people. And in order to find the right strategies it is absolutely necessary to look back and learn from previous experiences. Some claim that developing countries need more resources to develop their agriculture. But what kind of agriculture should be promoted and who is it to decide? There is no use in increasing the amount of foreign aid if the resources are not spent properly.

Two important questions are how small scale farmers can be included and also gain benefits from increased support to agriculture, and how food can be more accessible to poor people. Both African countries and their donors need to come up with long lasting and sustainable solutions to fight hunger. Malawi is a country that has followed its own ways to reduce hunger. The government in Malawi has done the opposite of the recommendations from the World Bank and increased food production thanks to subsidized seeds and fertilizers. The subsidy programme is financed by aid from Norway, among other donors. Is Malawi’s subsidy programme to be followed by other African countries or is there other alternatives regarding agricultural policy and techniques. Is the aid from Norway spent efficiently and does it contribute to development and food security? What can be learned from Malawi?