International Relations: Food Security in Africa (Testimony, 07/31/96,
GAO/T-NSIAD-96-217).

GAO discussed the food security in Africa. GAO noted that: (1) 88
countries are classified as low-income and food-deficit states and 20
percent of the developing world's population is chronically
undernourished; (2) by the year 2010, 700 million to 800 million people
worldwide could be chronically undernourished unless food security is
improved; (3) poverty, weather, civil strife and war, population
displacements, widespread unemployement, unsustainable use of natural
resources, high debt services, economic mismanagement, and distorted
international markets are obstacles to world food security; (4) world
food supplies will have to at least double by 2025, mainly through
increased yields; (5) market-oriented agricultural policies will
probably limit food production surpluses in the future and budget
constraints are limiting donors' ability to provide food aid; (6) Africa
accounts for about 25 percent of the chronically malnourished population
in developing countries; (7) food security is precarious for sub-Saharan
African countries where the population growth rate remains at 3.2
percent; (8) most U.S. food aid is in the form of emergency and
humanitarian grants, but Africa no longer receives the largest share of
such aid; and (9) the November 1996 World Food Summit plans to seek
agreement on a broad policy statement and action plan for achieving
world food security.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  T-NSIAD-96-217
     TITLE:  International Relations: Food Security in Africa
      DATE:  07/31/96
   SUBJECT:  Food supply projections
             Food relief programs
             Developing countries
             Agricultural policies
             Budget cuts
             International trade
             Foreign aid programs
             International agreements
             Population growth
             Disadvantaged persons
IDENTIFIER:  1974 World Food Conference
             Africa
             Angola
             Burundi
             Eritrea
             Ethiopia
             Lesotho
             Malawi
             Mozambique
             Rwanda
             Sierra Leone
             Somalia
             Sudan
             Zaire
             Zambia
             Food for Peace Program
             Food for Development Program
             1996 World Food Summit
             
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Cover
================================================================ COVER


Before the Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on
Foreign Relations, U.S.  Senate

For Release on Delivery
Expected at
2:00 p.m., EDT
Wednesday,
July 31, 1996

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - FOOD
SECURITY IN AFRICA

Statement of Harold J.  Johnson, Associate Director, International
Relations and Trade Issues, National Security and International
Affairs Division

GAO/T-NSIAD-96-217

GAO/NSIAD-96-217T


(711221)


Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  ERS -
  FAO - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's
  GATT -
  USDA -
  USAID -

============================================================ Chapter 0

Madam Chair and Members of the Subcommittee: 

I am pleased to be here today to discuss the food security situation
in Africa.  My statement will cover

(1) the current status and future outlook for world food security in
general,

(2)Africa's food security dilemma in particular,

(3)U.S.  food aid and food aid programs, and

(4)the World Food Summit scheduled for November of this year. 

My testimony is based on some of our past work on food security
issues, as well as preliminary observations on work that we are
conducting, at your request, on global food security issues and U.S. 
government preparations for the World Food Summit. 


   CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE
   OUTLOOK FOR WORLD FOOD SECURITY
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:1

Food security exists when all people at all times have physical and
economic access to sufficient food to meet their dietary needs for a
productive and healthy life.  Food security has several important
dimensions: 

(1)Availability -- achieved when sufficient supplies of food of
appropriate quality are consistently available to all individuals;

(2)Access -- ensured when households and all individuals in them have
adequate resources to obtain appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. 

(3)Utilization -- refers to the proper biological use of food through
adequate diet, water, sanitation, and health care. 

The Administration acknowledges that world food security is important
to the United States for humanitarian, economic, and national
security reasons. 

The United States and other nations that signed the 1974 World Food
Conference Declaration committed to achieving world food security
within 10 years.  More than 20 years later, the world still falls far
short of this goal.\1 Eighty-eight countries are currently classified
as low-income and food-deficit states.  According to FAO, close to
800 million people, or
20 percent of the developing world's population, are chronically
undernourished.  Most of these people are in South Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa.  In addition, millions of other people in more
affluent societies do not have enough food to meet their basic needs. 
And millions more experience prolonged hunger during part of the
year, or suffer birth defects, growth retardation, mental deficiency,
lethargy, blindness, or death because they do not have the diversity
of food necessary to meet their total needs.  An estimated 200
million children under the age of 5 suffer protein or energy
deficiencies. 

FAO has projected that, unless the root causes underlying food
security are addressed by 2010, 700 million to 800 million persons
worldwide will still be chronically undernourished.  In sub-Saharan
Africa alone, FAO projects that the chronically undernourished will
increase from about 200 million to more than 300 million people in
the next 15 years (see app.  V).  Most of the rest of the chronically
undernourished will be found in South Asia. 

Poverty is a primary obstacle to food security.  Worldwide, 1.3
billion people, or nearly one-quarter of the world's population, live
on less than
1 dollar a day.  Their low income makes them especially vulnerable
when prices for basic commodities increase rapidly and sharply. 
Other important factors affecting food security include weather,
civil strife and war, widespread unemployment or underemployment,
inadequate returns to food producers, unsustainable use of natural
resources, high debt service, overvalued exchange rates, and
distorted international markets. 


--------------------
\1 The world has made some important progress toward reducing food
insecurity.  For example, according to the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization's (FAO) estimates, 35 percent of people in
developing countries were chronically malnourished in 1969-71 but
only 20 percent by 1990-92. 


      FUTURE OUTLOOK
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:1.1

Currently, world grain stocks are at a 20-year low, grain prices are
at an all-time high, and world food aid is in a sharp decline (see
apps.  I-III).  Food insecurity and food aid problems could increase
significantly over the short, medium, and long run.  There are
several reasons why this is so. 

Although population growth rates have been declining , the world's
population is expected to increase by 2.6 billion people by 2025.  As
a result, even with modest income growth, world food supplies will
have to at least double by that year according to the World Bank.\2
The Bank concludes that due to land and water constraints, future
increases in food supplies must come primarily from increasing
yields, rather than from area expansion and more irrigation.  This
would require a doubling of current yields over the next 30 years,
which is uncertain.  (See also app.  IV.)

An October 1995 U.S.  Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic
Research Service (ERS) study\3 found that world food aid needs will
nearly double over the next decade simply to maintain current
consumption levels.  This is even if one makes reasonably optimistic
assumptions about recipient countries' ability to produce their own
food or to import food commercially.  Far higher food aid levels
would be required if the target was to meet minimum nutritional
standards.  The study concluded that there is a looming mismatch
between food aid resources and needs.  If global food aid budgets are
maintained at 1995 levels, the gap between needs and resources will
grow rapidly.  Factors limiting food aid availabilities include
changes in agricultural policies that will likely reduce agricultural
surpluses, and reductions in aid budgets of donor countries. 
According to the study, funding will be the major factor affecting
food aid shipments in the future.  It noted that recent
governmentwide budget reductions in the United States and in some
other countries have already resulted in significant reductions in
food aid donations.  For example, food aid shipments of grain by
donors peaked at 15.2 million metric tons (mmt) in 1992-93, declined
to 12.6 mmt in 1993-94, and were estimated to have declined to 8.4
mmt in 1994-95.  U.S.  shipments peaked at 8.5 mmt in 1992-93 and
were estimated to drop to 4.2 mmt by 1994-95.  These reductions have
already affected the food security of the recipient countries. 

Other factors affecting the future of world food security include the
following: 

(1)Many major agricultural producers, including the United States,
Canada, Australia, and the European Union, are implementing
increasingly more market-oriented agricultural policies, partly in
response to the 1994 Uruguay Round trade agreement of the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).  More market-oriented policies
are likely to result in a reduction of agricultural surpluses and in
less grain held in stocks, particularly in government-held stocks. 
Lower average stocks, in turn, may lead to more year-to-year
volatility in grain markets.  Current U.S.  agricultural policy
removes the link between income support payments and farm prices.  As
a result, incentives for surplus agricultural production are
diminished.  U.S.  government-held stocks are likely to decline
sharply. 

(2)Although signatories to the 1994 Uruguay Round trade agreement
agreed to establish mechanisms to ensure that implementation would
not adversely affect food aid commitments to meet the authentic needs
of developing countries and stressed the need for bona fide food aid,
the agreement was not specific on how this is to be accomplished. 

(3)To the extent that the trade agreement results in slightly higher
grain prices than without the agreement, food aid availabilities may
be reduced because a given budget will purchase less grain. 


--------------------
\2 Alex F.  McCalla, Agriculture and Food Needs to 2025:  Why We
Should Be Concerned (Washington, D.C.:  The World Bank, October
1994). 

\3 Food Aid Needs and Availabilities:  Projections for 2005
(Washington, D.C.:  USDA Economic Research Service, October 1995). 


   AFRICA'S FOOD SECURITY DILEMMA
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:2

In terms of food security and regions of the world, Africa faces the
most difficulties.  According to FAO, Africa currently accounts for
about 200 million, or about 25 percent, of the chronically
malnourished people in developing countries.  However, if no action
is taken to reverse the present trend, by 2010 this figure could
exceed 300 million and as much as 40 percent of the chronically
malnourished.  Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region where chronic
malnutrition is expected to increase between now and 2010.  (See app. 
V.)

According to one recent study,\4 Africa's agricultural production and
trade have been affected by a variety of factors from the period
following independence to the present, including:  (1) the effects of
the Cold War on agricultural and rural development policies, (2)
chronic civil and social strife and the displacement of populations,
(3) the mismanagement of national resources, (4) the failure to build
capacity in critical areas such as policy analysis and
entrepreneurship, (5) developments in the agriculture sectors and
policies of industrialized countries, (6) the reduction in demand for
primary commodities, (7) shocks caused by the oil crisis, (8)
periodic droughts,\5 and (9) the entry of the former Soviet Union
into world markets. 

In May 1996 FAO designated 14 of 48 sub-Saharan countries (involving
22 million people) as facing exceptional food emergencies.\6 The
countries and the reasons cited by FAO for the emergencies are listed
in table 1. 



                                Table 1
                
                Sub-Saharan Countries Facing Exceptional
                       Food Emergencies, May 1996

Country           Reasons for Emergency
----------------  ----------------------------------------------------
Angola            Population displacement

Burundi           Civil strife, displacement of rural population

Eritrea           Reduced harvest, large number of vulnerable people

Ethiopia          Large number of vulnerable people, localized drought

Lesotho           Drought-reduced harvest

Liberia           Civil disturbances, population displacement,
                  shortage of farm inputs

Malawi            Drought-reduced harvest, Mozambican refugees

Mozambique        Displacement of rural population

Rwanda            Population displacement, reduced plantings

Sierra Leone      Population displacement

Somalia           Civil strife, poor harvest

Sudan             Displaced persons, localized food deficits, civil
                  strife

Zaire             Rwandan refugees, civil disturbances affecting food
                  distribution

Zambia            Drought-reduced harvest
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Source:  FAO. 

FAO described the food security situation for sub-Saharan Africa as
precarious, as global cereal supplies tighten and food availabilities
shrink.  Sharp increases in cereal prices on the world market and the
consequent higher cost of cereal imports, coupled with balance of
payments difficulties in food-deficit countries, will mean that a
large proportion of food imports will need to be covered by food aid. 
However, FAO forecasts that global availability of food aid in
1995-96 will be only 7.6 million tons, down for the third consecutive
year.  The reduced availability and stiff competition for food aid
from countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union suggests
that Africa's minimum food needs in 1996-97 will remain unmet. 
Unless exceptional food aid allocations are made, FAO said,
undernutrition will rise further from its already high level.\7

Our analysis of Department of Agriculture data indicates that
sub-Saharan Africa's grains food deficit relative to its
nutrition-based food needs may have increased from as much as 12
percent in 1993-94 to as much as 17 percent in 1994-95.  In other
words, the hungry had even less food to eat.  The data also indicate
an increase in the deficit for Latin America from as much as 16
percent in 1993-94 to 22 percent in 1994-95.  However, the deficit
probably remained quite small for food aid recipient countries in
Asia, at less than 3 percent.  (See app.  VI.) During 1994-96,
countries in Asia and the Middle East received about 19 percent of
all U.S food aid.  Sub-Saharan Africa's share increased from about 31
percent to 33 percent between 1994 and 1995, but may drop to 26
percent in 1996.  The share of Latin American and Caribbean
recipients dropped from about 21 percent in 1994 to 16 percent in
1995.  (See app.  VII.)


--------------------
\4 A 2020 Vision for Food, Agriculture, and the Environment in
Sub-Saharan Africa, eds.  Ousmane Badiane and Christopher L.  Delgado
(Washington, D.C.:  International Food Policy Research Institute,
June 1995). 

\5 Major droughts occurred in 1972-73, 1983-84, 1992-93, and 1994-95. 
Other droughts, less severe and more localized, have occurred over
the years. 

\6 Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Rome:  FAO, May 1996). 

\7 The report found no signs of an imminent improvement in the food
supply situation of sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.  However, it did
note some positive signs.  For example, it said the supply situation
is generally satisfactory in western Africa, following good harvests
in most Sahelian and coastal countries. 


      SOME KEY FACTORS AFFECTING
      THE FUTURE OUTLOOK FOR
      SUB-SAHARAN FOOD SECURITY
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:2.1

Food security in sub-Saharan Africa is threatened by continuing and
rapid population growth.  It is the only region in the world where
the growth rate, currently at about 3.2 percent, has not started to
decline.\8 (Latin America's rate peaked at 2.9 percent in the early
1960s and South Asia's rate at 2.5 percent in the late 1960s.)
Population growth has important consequences for food security, since
Africa's food consumption currently exceeds its food production. 
Presently, 30 percent of sub-Saharan Africa's cereal output is in
areas of low and unreliable rainfall.  Fifty percent of cultivable
land is in arid and semi-arid regions.  Unless food production
expands at a rapid rate, imports will have to increase dramatically
to improve Africa's food security.  However, a number of African
countries face a bleak economic outlook.  Continuing balance of
payments difficulties are seriously limiting their capacity for
increasing commercial exports as well as imports.  Exports of primary
commodities, the main source of revenue for sub-Saharan Africa, show
a 20-year history of declining terms of trade.\9 The sharp rise in
international cereal prices is estimated to have increased the food
import bill of the low-income, food-deficit countries of sub-Saharan
Africa by approximately $1 billion during 1994-95.\10

In terms of income, many Africans are worse off today than they were
a decade ago, and real per capita income is projected to grow at only
0.3 percent during the 1990s.  By the year 2000, 30 percent of the
world's poor are expected to be in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 16
percent in the mid-1980s.  Poverty places a heavy burden on
sub-Saharan Africa's efforts to improve its food security situation,
since income is more likely to be needed for current consumption at
the expense of savings that could help finance investments in
economic development.  Increasing urbanization also adversely affects
sub-Saharan efforts to improve its situation.  At the current rate of
urbanization (about 8 percent per year),
41 percent of the population is expected to be urban based by the
turn of the century.  By 2020, at least 30 cities in sub-Saharan
Africa are expected to have more than 1 million inhabitants.  As
urbanization increases, the proportion of people not producing food
will increase, and the quality of the traditional rural agricultural
work force may deteriorate due to out- migration of some of the most
productive people from rural areas.  Moreover, because most migrants
are likely to be men, a concomitant increase in female-headed
households may occur.  Increased urbanization is also likely to
bolster the need to supply city populations with more water,
diverting supply away from agricultural areas.\11


--------------------
\8 According to FAO, demographic projections for 2010 by the United
Nations put the growth rate at
2.9 percent.  This would still result in an estimated 300 million
chronically undernourished people. 

\9 See A.  Marter and A.  Gordon, "Emerging Issues Confronting the
Renewable Natural Resources Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, " Food
Policy (Exeter, U.K.:  May 1996). 

\10 Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

\11 A.  Marter and A.  Gordon. 


      U.S.  DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE
      ASSISTANCE POLICY TOWARD
      SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:2.2

In February 1996 the U.S.  Trade Representative sent the President a
comprehensive trade and development policy for the 48 countries of
sub-Saharan Africa.  According to the report, Africa's aspirations
for growth and development have been hampered by a combination of
problems, including flawed economic policy choices, political
mismanagement and an absence of democratic political institutions,
weak private sectors stifled by dominating parastatals, overwhelming
debt burdens, poverty and widespread unemployment, and environmental
degradation.  The report says that the primary responsibility for
achieving sustainable economic development and increased trade and
investment lies with the people and leaders of Africa.\12

It also concludes that bilateral and multilateral international
cooperation is essential to reinforce African national efforts and
that resources available to the U.S.  government, multilateral
institutions, and others providing official development assistance to
Africa are in decline.  The report outlines a policy approach
structured around several basic objectives:  promotion of trade and
investment liberalization, development of the private sector,
enhancement of the infrastructure, and economic and regulatory
reform.  However, it contains no discussion of the food security
situation affecting many sub-Saharan African countries and whether a
special strategy is needed to address the problem. 


--------------------
\12 As discussed in the following section, this approach is
consistent with the U.S.  Agency for International Development's
(USAID) development assistance policy and with the government's
position paper on food security prepared for the World Food Summit. 


   U.S.  FOOD AID AND FOOD AID
   PROGRAMS
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:3

U.S.  food aid programs have sought to enhance food security in
developing countries through the use of agricultural commodities and
local currencies to (1) combat world hunger and malnutrition and
their causes; (2) promote sustainable economic development, including
agricultural development; (3) expand international trade; (4) develop
and expand export markets for U.S.  agricultural commodities; and (5)
encourage the growth of private enterprise and democratic
participation in developing countries. 

Historically, the United States has provided much of the world's food
aid.  (As shown in app.  III, other major donors over the years
include Australia, Canada, the European Union, and Japan.) According
to USDA, in 1995, the United States provided about $1.35 billion
worth of food aid assistance, including $500 million for emergency
relief.  U.S.  food aid, primarily under the Public Law 480 (Food for
Peace) Program, has decreased in absolute terms and as a percentage
of total U.S.  agricultural exports since the 1950s and 1960s when it
was the primary U.S.  agricultural export program.  More recently,
the amount of U.S.  food aid has dropped dramatically from 13.1
million metric tons in fiscal year 1993 to an estimated 4.0 million
metric tons in fiscal year 1995.  ( See app.  VII.) The decrease was
due in part to budgetary constraints and the reduction of
government-held commodity surpluses.  A similar trend has taken place
in other donor countries including the European Union, Canada, and
Australia. 

Despite sub-Saharan Africa's growing food security needs, U.S.  food
aid varies due in part to unpredictable emergency food needs. 
According to the Congressional Research Service, in fiscal year 1993
when eastern and southern Africa experienced a major drought, U.S. 
food aid amounted to 43 percent of bilateral aid, and in 1994, when
conditions improved, it dropped to 27 percent.\13 Most U.S. 
sub-Saharan Africa food aid is in the form of emergency and
humanitarian grants under title II of the Public Law 480 program. 
Countries in sub-Saharan Africa receive a significant proportion of
title II food aid annually. 

According to USDA's Economic Research Service, the distribution of
U.S.  food aid has changed in the last 5 years mainly as a result of
the fall of the Communist system in Europe and changing food needs
around the world.  It reports that from 1989 through 1992, Africa
received the largest share of U.S.  food aid.  However, it states
that in 1993 the region that received the largest share was Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union countries, especially Russia. 
Concurrently, the share of U.S.  food aid to Asia and Latin America
decreased.\14 (See also app.  VII.)

Sub-Saharan African countries rarely receive long-term concessional
food aid loans under title I of the Public Law 480 program, since
only a few countries are in a position to make repayments.  A few of
Africa's poorest countries have received U.S.  food donations under
title III of the Public Law 480 program, known as "Food for
Development," which can be used for feeding programs or sold on the
open market, with proceeds to be used for development purposes.  A
few African countries have benefitted under section 416(b) of the
Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended which permits donations of
surplus food to developing countries, emerging democracies, and
relief organizations. 

U.S.  food aid programs have not been without problems.  For example,
in a 1993 review,\15 we identified several problems involving the
U.S.  Agency for International Development's (USAID) management of
Public Law 480 titles II and III food aid programs, most notably that
USAID had not developed policy guidance on how food aid should be
used as a means of contributing to long-term food security.  Other
problems included USAID's lack of criteria and guidance for
implementing food aid programs, USAID's inability to demonstrate the
impact of its food aid programs on food security, and USAID's failure
to ensure accountability for food aid resources.  We made 13
recommendations to USAID for addressing these problems.  In March
1995,\16 we reported that USAID had fully or partially implemented 11
of 13 of the recommendations.  Most importantly, in February 1995,
USAID issued written policy guidance on how food aid could be used to
achieve food security and was in the process of developing an overall
"management for results" approach that will change the focus from
measuring program outputs to measuring impact. 

In a 1995 review,\17 we found that title I could be making a
meaningful, short-term contribution to the food supply in some
recipient countries, but that its contribution to sustainable
economic development was minimal because of the program's small size
relative to each country's overall development needs.  Also, we noted
that title I's importance to helping develop long-term agricultural
markets--one of its primary objectives-- had not been demonstrated,
and that the program's multiple and sometimes competing goals and
objectives and various program requirements made it difficult for
USDA to integrate title I into an effective program strategy. 


--------------------
\13 Raymond W.  Copson, Africa:  U.S.  Foreign Assistance Issues,
Library of Congress, Congressional Research Service Issue Brief
IB95052 (Washington, D.C.:  July 16, 1996). 

\14 Agricultural Export Programs (Washington, D.C.:  USDA/ERS). 

\15 See Food Aid:  Management Improvements Are Needed to Achieve
Program Objectives (GAO/NSIAD-93-168, July 23, 1993).  The study
examined programs in eight overseas missions, including missions in
three African countries--Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Zambia). 

\16 Foreign Aid:  Actions Taken to Improve Food Aid Management
(GAO/NSIAD-95-74, Mar.  23, 1995). 

\17 See Food Aid:  Competing Goals and Requirements Hinder Title I
Program Results (GAO/GGD-95-68, June 26, 1995).  The review included
audit work in seven overseas posts, including two in Africa (Egypt
and Morocco). 


   WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
---------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:4

In November 1996 a World Food Summit will be held in Rome.  This is
the first major conference of world leaders to assess world food
security issues since 1974.  Countries attending the summit are
trying to reach agreement on a broad policy statement and plan of
action for significantly advancing world progress toward achieving
food security.  The summit will not seek to establish new
institutions for promoting food security nor pledges from donor
countries for increased levels of assistance.  It is not clear at
this time whether an attempt will be made to secure agreement on a
target year for achieving global food security. 

Preparations for the summit have been underway for some time.  Since
January 1996, various forums have discussed suggested drafts of a
policy statement and plan of action for the summit and country and
private sector views on world food security.  FAO member countries
have prepared individual country position papers, laying out their
views on actions needed to advance world food security and describing
the status of food security within their respective borders.  In
addition, countries within specific geographical regions (e.g., North
American, Latin America, etc.) have prepared regional papers on the
subject. 

In early July, the U.S.  government finalized a position paper for
the summit that summarizes its views on food security.  In addition,
the United States completed a regional paper that was jointly
prepared with Canada.  (A high-level interagency task force, co-led
by USDA, the State Department, and USAID prepared the U.S.  paper and
input for the joint paper with Canada.).  According to the U.S. 
paper, the root causes of food insecurity must be addressed by both
individual countries and the international community as a whole. 
However, the paper states that because of the difficult budget
environment in both the United States and abroad, developing
countries will have to take primary responsibility for improving
their own food security with limited external assistance. 

In the U.S.' view, countries that have demonstrated the most progress
in achieving food security are those that have seriously pursued
policy reform, macroeconomic stabilization, and structural
adjustment, while focusing government activities on public goods
investment and provision of safety nets.  Such commitment and
assumption of responsibility at the national level create a climate
conducive to private and public external investment.  Consequently,
the United States plans to concentrate its food assistance efforts on
those countries that are willing to review and change their national
policies to improve their own food security.  This approach is
consistent with USAID statements in recent years that it is
concentrating its assistance efforts on those countries that are
partners in development and where sustainable development results can
be achieved.  According to USAID, sustainable development cannot be
achieved in countries that are not willing to change their policies,
do not allow their own citizens to participate adequately in the
development process, and have not invested their own resources in
sustainable development or have invested a disproportionate amount in
the military at the expense of development. 

The United States has said that it will continue to play a major role
in promoting food security around the world.  To this end, the United
States plans to do the following: 

  -- enhance U.S.  government support for research and technology
     development in agriculture and related sectors, both at home and
     abroad. 

  -- continue support for food security through the use of
     agriculture programs, development assistance, and food aid. 
     Employ an integrated approach to sustainable development, with a
     strong emphasis on those countries that show a good-faith
     willingness to adopt necessary policy reforms. 

  -- work with all countries to achieve freer trade and to assure
     that the benefits are equitably realized.  Urge all countries to
     open their markets in the interest of achieving greater
     stability and participation in the world market. 

  -- continue support for international efforts to respond to and
     prevent humanitarian crises that create a need for emergency
     food. 

  -- continue efforts to encourage and facilitate implementation of
     food security-related actions adopted at recent international
     conferences or established in recently agreed-to conventions. 

  -- work within the multilateral system to enhance global approaches
     to food security. 

  -- continue to work toward food security for all Americans. 

During July 29-August 22, FAO countries will present and exchange
individual country position papers at a meeting in Italy.  In
addition, it is the first meeting where all of the regional country
papers will be exchanged and discussed.  The meeting will also
discuss a proposed draft policy statement and plan of action for the
summit.  Substantive negotiations among member countries are
expected, aimed at trying to reach a consensus on most, if not all,
major issues to be addressed by the draft.  In late September, the
Committee on World Food Security will meet and try to negotiate a
final text for use by the summit leaders.  If not fully successful, a
senior officials' meeting will try to accomplish the same immediately
before the summit itself, which is scheduled for November 13-17. 

A variety of issues may arise in the course of the negotiations. 
Although we do not know the content at this point, based on
discussions we have had with officials and our monitoring of two
forums where comments were provided on draft position papers for the
summit, differences may surface between developed and developing
countries over the amount of reform the latter need to undertake and
the amount of assistance the former are willing to provide.  Other
issues that may arise during the negotiation process include the
following: 

  -- Are international grain reserves adequate given the unusually
     low levels to which world grain stocks have fallen and the
     adoption of more market-oriented agricultural policies by many
     countries?  Do major agricultural producing/exporting countries
     have sufficient incentive to hold stocks adequate for coping
     with emergency situations?  Is some sort of new global grain
     reserve required? 

  -- Have agricultural reforms introduced by the 1994 Uruguay Round
     trade agreement had any negative effects to date on the
     least-developed and net food-importing countries in terms of
     access to adequate supplies of basic foodstuffs from external
     sources on reasonable terms and conditions, including financing
     of their normal levels of commercial imports?  If so, are other
     countries prepared to increase food aid commitments to offset
     such effects? 

  -- Will food-insecure countries be asked to open their markets to
     international agricultural trade as a condition for receiving
     assistance designed to help them achieve food security over the
     long run?  If so, what assurances will they obtain that major
     agricultural producing/exporting countries will keep their
     markets fully open at all times, including in times of tight
     world supplies and rapidly rising prices? 

  -- In seeking to identify what actions are needed to help all
     countries achieve food security, what scenarios of future world
     agricultural production should be considered? 

  -- Should a target date for achieving world food security be agreed
     upon?  Without a target date, will summit signatories be able to
     outline a realistic plan of the actions needed to achieve food
     security?  Should a plan of action estimate the amount of
     resources required in agricultural production and food-related
     investment to achieve food security? 

  -- Given that food aid donations have declined during the past 3
     years and given projections of a significant mismatch between
     food aid resources and food aid needs in future years, what will
     make an action plan for achieving food security credible to
     food-insecure countries? 

In summary, we believe that the World Food Summit provides an
important opportunity for all countries to address critical issues of
world food security.  Hopefully, it will do so in a way that
significantly advances efforts by sub-Saharan African countries to
cope with their food security problems. 


-------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 0:4.1

This concludes my prepared remarks.  I will be happy to answer any
questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have.