DURBAN (Commodity Online): Africa has expressed concern over demand to halt conversion of forest land for palm oil cultivation by environmental NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and institutions such as the World Bank to promote sustainability at the United Nation’s Climate talks in Durban.
The move threatens the livelihoods of South African people and create food insecurity in the region.
The pro-development NGO World Growth released a new report urging world leaders to focus on the importance of food security, particularly in Africa, and the critical role of palm oil as an effective strategy to reduce food insecurity.
"Poverty alleviation in Africa continues to lag the rest of the world. The rural poor are a large proportion of the food insecure – half of Africa's food insecure people are smallholders. The problems facing Africans in accessing food supplies are clear. Agricultural productivity is low. Post-harvest losses are high, as are the costs of internal transport and distribution. As a consequence, smallholders are unable to produce enough either to feed their families or to lift them out of poverty. In South-East Asia, commercial palm oil plantations have been highly successful at reducing rural poverty levels, fostering employment for small holders, developing rural infrastructure, and providing a source of inexpensive, staple food for the population as a whole." said J. A. Kufuor, Former President of the Republic of Ghana in the new report.
According to World Growth Chairman and former Ambassador, in Africa, there are several palm oil development projects are in the process of being implemented. If they proceed to fruition, these investments have the ability to increase the local supply of an important food staple, reduce the need for Africa to import substantial quantities of palm oil, provide the basis for a new export industry and, most importantly, boost job creation in a region historically beset by poverty.
But this miracle is under threat from Western sustainability standards, championed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that will undermine efforts to strengthen food security amongst the very poor, such as smallholders.
Efforts in Durban will also seek to instill new policies that enshrine a view that forest land conversion should be halted due to its large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions
"Concerted attempts are underway to restrict the type of land on which oil palm plantations may be developed, most prominently by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation and environmental NGOs. For some time, environmental campaigners have been actively seeking to stop multilateral and private financial support to major palm oil developments in Africa, regardless of the net economic and social benefit that the local population can expect to receive from these developments. In the context of African food security, this campaigning is misguided and dangerous. Because food security is one of Africa's prime challenges now and in the coming years, I am pleased that this paper re-focuses the debate away from environmentalism, towards the positive role that staple crops, such as palm oil, can play in African development.” Added said J. A. Kufuor.
World Growth is an international non-governmental organization established to expand the research, information, advocacy, and other resources to improve the economic conditions and living standards in developing and transitional countries.
