Ebola Wreaking Havoc on West African Agriculture By: Jeff Caldwell 10/16/2014 @ 11:06am Since now a suspected third case of Ebola has been discovered in the U.S., fears that the disease could spread further at home are growing. Some are legitimate and others largely unfounded. But, one thing thats certain: The diseases effects on and implications for West Africa -- an area in which the vast majority of the population depends on agriculture for sustenance and survival -- are enormous and tragic. The citizens of Liberia and Sierra Leone have for decades faced war, social unrest and health problems, all of which have required immense attention by officials to rebuilding infrastructure and systems critical to sustaining life. The latter nation especially had been excelling with those efforts, to the point that the small nations economy was among the top 10 in the world in terms of economic growth...up until May of this year. We have seen significant progress in Sierra Leone since 2007 in terms of the economy in general. We had been growing by double-digits. Sierra leone was one of fastest-growing economies in the world before Ebola came; if you look at world statistics, Sierra Leone is 7th in the world in growth in food production, says Dr. Joseph Sam Sesay, that nations Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security. Unfortunately in May, Ebola started; it came from someone who had been to Guinea and to where we export 90% of what we produce, cocoa and coffee. It came in May, the peak of cultivation season. Definitely, it has impacted agriculture. We have had an 11.3% economic annual growth rate for 2014. Today, we are only anticipating 3% growth rate. This is very serious. From left: World Food Prize Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, International Fund for Agricultural Development President Kanayo Nwanze, Liberian Minister of Agriculture Florence Chenoweth and Sierra Leone Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security Joseph Sam Sesay speak at the World Food Prize Forum. Farm production is not the only direct affect of Ebola on agriculture in West Africa, where as many as half of farmers have abandoned their farms out of fear of the disease. The infrastructure critical to moving farm products to the marketplace -- namely roads -- had been eroded by decades of unrest in Liberia, says that nations Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Florence Chenoweth. Once a 26-year war had ended in 2006, infrastructure rebuilding resumed. But since Ebola has begun its march through the nation, that infrastructure erosion has resumed, making moving ag products to ports a major challenge and increasing postharvest losses that slash overall ag production. After those long, long periods [of war], we started off determined to rebuild our totally broken country, because we are just that kind of resilient people. The gains that we achieved, I can tell you now, are almost all wiped out. When Ebola is contained in our country, we will virtually be starting all over again, including building roads, because there were no roads when we started to rebuild in 2006, Chenoweth says. No bridges, no public buildings, nothing. Infrastructure was all gone from those 24-plus years of war. We rebuilt them, but today our roads are gone. Looking into the near future, Sesay says its critical the international community doesnt take an isolationist approach with his nation and others nearby affected by Ebola. Such a tact might actually do more to worsen the Ebola epidemic in that part of the world. Isolation would not be a solution. Isolating the countries Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone wouldnt work. We are talking about the movement of people and goods, some of which is humanitarian. It is affecting our economy. Now, it is impacting neighboring countries, like Kenya. Now, in America, watching the TV, the problem is here, Sesay says. You cannot stop the people from coming. The best for me is to fight the war where the war is, not to wait until it comes here. Let us appeal to you to really support us so we can stop this. In our rebel war, we fought amongst ourselves. This is not something that came from us. This is an invisible enemy. The rebel might be next to you. World Food Prize Ambassador Kenneth Quinn echoes Sesays call for even broader, almost worldwide reasons: The issue in the short-term every day is about human health and protection. This is a call that should be heard everywhere: The implications of this disease for food production and for agriculture. Its a call not just about this disease, but about the potential for other both human and animal diseases and what their impact can be as we face what the World Food Prize Foundation has defined as the greatest challenge in human history: Can we produce and distribute enough food to feed 9 billion people in next 30 years?
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 08:26:13 +0000
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