Many efforts to build food security in Africa give attention to the supply of staple foods at a country level, with little or no attention to food security for families at a household level - where hunger becomes a reality.

The dialogue will be held at the Southern Sun Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa, on 30 June 2011 starting at 09h00.

Supported by the Flemish Government, the dialogue will include in-depth discussion on the strategic importance of people who grow food in their homesteads (smallholder farmers), if we are to overcome hunger in southern Africa. During the dialogue, studies will be presented that show the productive potential and economic viability of smallholder farming in the region. The dialogue will also explore the obstacles and limitations faced by smallholder farmers.

The United Nations' first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, with a specific target between 1990 and 2015 to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. The Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that by 2010, the number of undernourished people in the world was 925 million. This marks significant progress towards achieving the target. However, the proportion of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa remained the highest at about 30 percent, down only marginally from 1990 levels. This compares to an average of 18% in low- and middle-income countries. While there has been significant progress in some countries in the region, the proportion of people with insufficient daily calorie intake increased from 29% to 76% in the DRC and the share of underweight children increased in some countries such as South Africa, for example.

"Smallholder farmers can reduce hunger where it matters immediately - at household level - if they are supported to increase food production. But too little attention is given to household-level farmers. We need a forum like this dialogue to reflect on these issues and agree on the best way forward with all the different role-layers," said Themba Mhlongo, the Head of Programmes at the Southern Africa Trust.

Farmer organisations, researchers, civil society groups, and government officials from South Africa and selected countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are expected to attend the dialogue.

 

Panellists include Lindiwe Sibanda from the Food Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Moses Shaha from the Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers' Forum (ESAFF), Russell Wilderman from IDASA, Tendai Murisa from TrustAfrica, and Ishmael Sunga from the Southern Africa Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU).

 

Members of the media are invited to attend the dialogue.

The Southern Africa Trust is an independent non-profit agency that supports deeper and wider regional engagement to overcome poverty in southern Africa.

IDASA is an independent non-profit public interest organisation promoting democracy in Africa.

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For more information, please contact:
Mpho Kgosidintsi
Tel: +27 11 318 1012
Mobile: +27 83 646 8233
Email: communications@southernafricatrust.org