[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 27, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S6984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HUNGER AND POVERTY IN AFRICA

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, it is my pleasure to join with Senators 
Leahy  and Hagel in submitting S. Con Res. 53, which encourages the 
development of strategies to reduce hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan 
Africa.
  In the year 2000, almost 200 million Africans, fully a third of the 
total population, went to sleep hungry and 31 million African children 
under the age of five were malnourished. One child out of seven dies 
before the age of five, and one-half of these deaths are due to 
malnutrition. Nearly half of sub-Saharan Africa's population, some 291 
million people, live on less than $1 a day, and almost 85 percent of 
the world's 41 heavily indebted poor countries are in sub-Saharan 
Africa.
  These problems are compounded by epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, 
malaria, cholera, and other diseases now ravaging the continent. The 
human costs are staggering. Almost 4 million people are infected with 
AIDS each year, adding to the over 25 million already infected. Over 75 
percent of the people worldwide who have died of AIDS lived in Africa. 
One million people each year, mostly children, die from malaria.
  Hunger only adds to the spread of disease, rendering the poor and 
malnourished too weak to defend against AIDS and other infectious 
diseases. Even if treatment clinics are available, those suffering from 
hunger are unable to afford fees for care or medicine to aid them with 
their battle against the illness.
  Despite funding shortfalls, the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, USAID, and other U.S. government agencies, foundations, 
universities, non-governmental organizations, NGOs, and private sector 
companies are presently implementing many innovative programs directed 
toward alleviating hunger and poverty in Africa.
  While tremendously significant, these actions are not enough to keep 
poverty and hunger from growing in many African countries. Many of our 
experts have concluded that the United States is not tapping into the 
full range of interest, ability, experience and capacity available to 
address this problem. The introduction of our Resolution, which 
addresses these issues, coincides with the conference of The 
Partnership to Cut Hunger in Africa, an independent effort formed by 
U.S. and African public and private sector institutions, international 
humanitarian organizations and higher educational institutions. 
Michigan State University continues to play a strong leadership role in 
this effort. The President of Michigan State University, Peter 
McPherson, serves as one of the Partnership's co-chairs and was 
instrumental in arranging conference-discussion activities in the 
Senate this week.
  The goal of the Partnership is to formulate a vision, strategy, and 
action plan for renewed U.S. efforts to help African partners cut 
hunger dramatically by 2015. For three days this week, the 
Partnership's 22 distinguished policy experts and practitioners from 
the U.S. and 8 African countries will share their views on hunger in 
Africa and will open a dialogue on the role the U.S. might play in 
diminishing hunger and poverty in Africa. On Thursday, June 28, 2001, 
Partnership experts will culminate their 3-day conference with a 
roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill, during which time they will 
share their findings and action plan to effectively combat hunger and 
poverty in Africa. I am honored to have the opportunity to join in 
hosting this event.
  I ask unanimous consent that the members of the Partnership to Cut 
Hunger in Africa and the Partnership's expert panel be printed in the 
Record. They are as follows:
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                  Partnership To Cut Hunger in Africa


                              expert panel

       From Bamako, Mali:
       Dr. Bino teme, Scientific director, Institute for Rural 
     Economics.
       Mme. Konare Nafissatou Guindo, Administrative and Financial 
     Director, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local 
     Government.
       Dr. Niama Nango Dembele, Coordinator, APCAM-MSU Market, 
     Information Support Project, Visiting Assistant Professor, 
     Michigan State University.
       Dr. Mbaye Yade, Coordinator, Institute du Sahel/MSU, Food 
     Security Support Project, Visiting Assistant Professor, 
     Michigan State University.
       From Maputo Mozambique:
       Mr. Joao Carrilho, Vice-Minister, Ministry of Agriculture 
     and Rural Development.
       Mr. Sergio Chitara, Executive Director, Confederation Of 
     Mozambican Business Associations CTA.
       From Accra, Ghana:
       Dr. Sam Asuming Brempong, Department of Agricultural 
     Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ghana.
       Dr. Kwaku Owusu Baah, Faculty of Agriculture, University of 
     Ghana.
       From Abuja, Nigeria:
       Dr. Salisu A. Ingawa, Head of Unit, Projects Coordinating 
     Unit (PCU), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural 
     Development.
       Dr. Ango Abdullahi, Special Adviser to the President on 
     Food Security.
       From Entebbe, Uganda:
       Dr. Isaac Joseph Minde, Coordinator of ECAPAPA Project, 
     ASARECA.
       Dr. Fred Opio, International Food Policy Research 
     Institute, Regional Office for the 2020 Network--Eastern 
     Africa.
       Dr. Peter Ngategize, Plan for Agriculture Modernization, 
     Ministry of Finance.
       Dr. J.J. Otim, Presidential Advisor on Agriculture, Office 
     of the President.
       From Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:
       Mamou Ehui, Economic Commission for Africa.
       From Rwanda:
       Edson Mpyisi, Coordinator of Food Security Research 
     Project-FSRP//MINAGRI, Ministry of Agriculture.
       Others:
       Dr. Akin Adesina, Resident Representative for Southern 
     Africa, The Rockefeller Foundation.
       Serge Rwamisarabo--USAID/Rwanda, Francis Idachaba 
     University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Kandeh Yumkella--UNIDO/
     Nigeria, Mbenga Musa, Executive Secretary of CILSS, 
     Ouagadougou, Yamar Mbodj, Food Security Advisor, CILSS 
     Secretariat, Ouagadougou.


                          executive committee

       Peter McPherson, Co-Chair, President, Michigan State 
     University.
       Alpha Oumar Konare, Co-Chair, President, Republic of Mali.
       Senator Robert Dole, Co-Chair, Special Counsel, Verner, 
     Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand.
       Lee Hamilton, Co-Chair, Director, The Woodrow Wilson 
     International Center for Scholars.
       David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World.
       Mary Chambliss, Deputy Administrator, Export Credits, 
     Foreign Agriculture Service, USDA.
       Imani Countess, Outreach Director, Shared Interest.
       William B. DeLauder, President, Delaware State University.
       Stephen Hayes, President, Corporate Council on Africa.
       Joseph Kennedy, Co-Founder, Africare.
       George Rupp, President, Columbia University.
       Emma Simmons, Director, Center for Economic Growth and 
     Agricultural Development, USAID.
       Edith Ssempala, Ambassador, Republic of Uganda.
       Bob Stallman, President, American Farm Bureau Federation.

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