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Droughts have resulted in bad yields for the SADC region
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April 19, 2008, 19:15
With food shortages on the rise world wide, Africa is facing an increasing challenge to feed its hungry. Today, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit decided on a plan of action: concrete programmes, with time frames.
President Thabo Mbeki arrived at the SADC summit from New York today along with Commonwealth Secretary, Kamalesh Sharma.
As the sun sets over Africa every day, many families go to bed with empty stomachs, and with soaring food prices, it can only get worse. The continent urgently needs a plan.
“We cannot just continue to talk, you can’t eradicate poverty immediately but you can reduce it,” says South African ambassador in Mauritius, Dumi Matabane.
“For example here in Mauritius, they say unemployment is very low and poverty is at 1%, therefore we need to find out how Mauritius is getting it right,” says Zambian Foreign Affairs Minister, Kabinga Pande.
Africa fighting poverty
Meanwhile, the current energy crisis within the African continent is making the fight against poverty even more challenging. It is slowing down economic growth, and affecting employment opportunities.
The rest of the world is also grappling with high food and fuel prices, but with its history of poverty, it's already a crisis in Africa.
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