[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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