by Daniel Ooko

    NAIROBI, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Oxfam International warned on Tuesday that failure to invest in African agriculture is leaving millions hungry, calling on the Africa Union (AU) summit in Libya to take urgent actions to combat the growing food crisis.

    The organization said this week's AU summit must produce urgent and radical steps to reform agricultural policy on the continent, with food crisis and hunger in Africa set to increase in the face of the global economic and climate change crises.

    In its latest report, Investing in Poor Farmers Pays: Rethinking How to Invest in Agriculture, released on the eve of the summit, Oxfam said more and wiser investment in small-scale agriculture is needed.

    "One in three Africans is now affected by food crisis. Investing in agriculture is part of the long-term solution to the food, financial and climate crises," said Lamine Ndiaye, head of Oxfam's Pan Africa program for Economic Justice.

    "The economic collapse is changing the way that people suffer from hunger -- food is available but it simply costs too much for millions of people to afford. AU leaders must commit to more investment in small-scale African agriculture to break the current dependency on the global market."

    The report warned that under-investment and bad agricultural policies by the African governments and international donors have exacerbated chronic poverty and hunger for tens of millions of Africans.

    It said about 60 percent of all Africans live in rural agricultural areas, while the urban poor are also increasingly facing food crises and malnutrition.

    Oxfam welcomed the AU's decision to make agriculture this summit's theme. It said local communities must have a greater say in shaping the policies that affect their lives if real change is to occur.

    Oxfam urged the African governments to meet the commitments they made at the 2003 AU Summit in Maputo to allocate a minimum of10 percent of national budgets for agriculture, and more for rural development.

    Only seven countries have since reached this modest target. Most African governments are averaging only about 4.5 percent.

    Yet investing in agriculture pays for itself by reducing poverty, reducing dependency and stimulating local markets, Oxfam's report found.

    The organization said international donors have also failed to live up to their commitments to poor African farmers.

    Just over 1 billion U.S. dollars of the 12 billion dollars that donors committed last year to help poor countries cope with the global food crisis has so far reached the ground.

    Bad donor policies, such as forced liberalization of local markets and support for large-scale agricultural projects instead of small-scale community farmers, have also undermined African agriculture.

    While spending on agriculture in poor countries has decreased over the past 20 years, the United States spent 41 billion dollars and the EU 130 billion dollars on its domestic agricultural markets in 2007.

    "This summit must mark a new era for African farmers. Small-scale agriculture is the backbone of most African economies, the largest contributor to many countries' GDP, and is absolutely integral to African development," Lamine Ndiaye said.

    "Yet for decades, our own governments and the international community have repeatedly neglected and under-invested in agriculture and rural development. Many farmers work in harsh, remote environments with inadequate access to markets and basic services such as water, land, healthcare and education."

    Oxfam's report argued that additional investment must also be spent more wisely. Climate change is one of the biggest long-term challenges facing Africa, with decertification and drought devastating many rural areas.

    Community farmers manage some of the most degraded and fragile lands, and effective investment must aim to promote environmental sustainability. Marginalised and impoverished areas also need particular support.

    "Investing in agriculture goes hand in hand with addressing the marginalisation of entire sectors of African society. Rural development is badly needed in areas without schools and healthcare, and among pastoralist communities," said Lamine Ndiaye.

    "Women play a vital role in the agricultural economy yet are hampered from reaching full potential by low rates of literacy, nutrition and civil rights, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. Securing land rights for women and empowering women farmers would mark a major step forward."