Africa-Press – Cape verde. The mission of the Minister of Agriculture and Environment to Senegal, to contact the ambassadors residing in Dakar and partners at the regional level, was “successful”. According to Gilberto Silva, the theme of this diplomatic offensive was around food insecurity, the impact of the “triple crisis” that affects Cape Verde.
The displacement of this official aimed, on the other hand, to establish institutional articulations in the search for solutions to mitigate the situation of food insecurity caused by persistent droughts, by Covid-19 and now by the war in Ukraine.
“This mission had a lot to do with the fact that many embassies are based in Dakar, as it was not possible to establish a more direct contact here in Cape Verde. As it is an issue that deserves specific treatment, we decided to carry out this mission”, stressed Gilberto Silva to A NAÇÃO, underlining that in Dakar the Cape Verde mission had the support of both the FAO subregional office (United Nations Program for Food and Agriculture), as well as the regional directorate of WFP (World Food Programme).
Regarding the feedback from the institutions contacted, the official underlines that the mission had the objective of articulating and raising awareness on the issue of food insecurity. “This follows on from other previous initiatives and what I can tell you is that our partners are very aware of the consequences of this triple crisis for Cape Verde”.
Gilberto Silva considers that, overall, this mission was “successful”, but he made a point of noting that “the objective was not to get out of there with help, as these are things that require some complexity, in a process that usually takes a long time. and with steps that must be respected”.
About the platform for grouped acquisitions, Silva explains that it is an initiative of the African Union in partnership with the ADB (African Development Bank), which will create “many facilities”, especially for the acquisition of seeds and fertilizers.
“It is an opportunity for countries and obviously no African country will be excluded and everyone is invited to join according to their needs. We already have the documentation on this matter and we are going to analyze this program that aims to support agricultural campaigns and the entire production theme”, highlights Gilberto Silva, stressing that it is not a program that does not include emergency aid measures.
United States of America with a lack of infant milk
The United States of America, the first world power, is going through an infant milk crisis. According to the French publication “Challenges”, President Joe Biden has multiplied military investments in Ukraine, he runs the risk of resorting to an airlift to try to solve the shortage of infant milk in his country.
This crisis, largely the result of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, has already led major world food producers such as China and India to close their respective borders so that their cereals first benefit their domestic market. “Food sovereignty is the first condition of sovereignty”, warns “Challenges”.
According to the same publication, the situation of the infant milk market in the US shows how sensitive the issue of food sovereignty has become in recent years, now aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine, two important world producers of food and fertilizers.
“Some are discovering it, others have been preparing for it for a long time”, notes the French publication. “Population growth in developing countries and the increase in demand and standard of living in developed countries, in a context of climate change, epizootic diseases and armed conflicts in large agricultural areas, pose serious threats to global food production. In short, there will be no food for everyone! And the war in Ukraine and global warming are not helping.”
With the crisis, warns “Challenges”, for more than a month, American families have struggled to stock up on infant milk. Store shelves are empty, online merchants are out of stock or asking customers for unusual prices and delays. And it’s not about giving your child a product that doesn’t offer absolute guarantees as to its traceability and quality.
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