OTTAWA – Canada should not reduce its support for international agricultural development despite budget and deficit problems, says the head of a United Nations development program.
Fawzi Al-Sultan, president of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development, said investment in Third World development and conservation can save money later in food aid or even peacekeeping.
“What happens if you don’t help now?” he asked during a three-day visit to Ottawa to discuss continued Canadian funding and development issues.
“There is a greater cost later.”
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Al-Sultan estimated the cost of delivering one tonne of food aid to Africa at up to $1,000, most of it in transportation.
“That is the amount of money it takes through our programs to get a family out of poverty.”
Yet developed countries around the world are reconsidering their foreign aid spending as they deal with domestic budget pressures.
Maintain commitment
The IFAD president said part of the reason for his Ottawa visit, sponsored by the Canadian Hunger Foundation, is to talk to the new government about maintaining its three year, $30-million commitment when the regular fund pledging session is held this fall.
He said in Canada as elsewhere, foreign aid spending is being questioned.
“What we really want to do is rebuild that constituency here,” he said.
“Canada has been a very generous supporter and I expect that will continue.”
IFAD, through loans and grants, supports small-scale local projects to help Third World farmers become more self-sufficient.
Land conservation
In the past decade, one of the emphases has been on a $400-million land conservation effort in 23 sub-Saharan African countries affected by drought and desertification.
Such simple efforts as hillside trenching, rock walls and ditches are used to capture water and to limit soil drifting and degradation on thousands of African farms.
In those areas, farmers have been taught basic conservation techniques and as a result, food production and rural stability have increased.
Now, money for that special project is running out, said Al-Sultan. A special plea for more funds will be made early next year.
Meanwhile, the march of land degradation in Africa continues, according to an IFAD report.
Despite the efforts to combat the effects of drought in many countries, it estimates that every year, between 50,000 and 70,000 square kilometres of food-producing land are lost to natural and man-made degradation forces.
It is an area the size of Ireland.
“Land degradation has made much of once-fertile Africa look like the far side of the moon, barren and desolate, and is one of the major causes of Africa’s poverty,” Al-Sultan said in a statement accompanying the report.
He said poor cultivation practices, increased livestock herds and growing human populations are the main causes.
