UN Official Blames Food Crisis On Structural Adjustment Programme pushed by World Bank and IMF

[JohnWxy]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x172195

Under the guidance of institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, Traeger, who spoke exclusively to THISDAY at the on going UNCTAD XII conference in Accra, Ghana said, most countries in sub-Saharan Africa embraced hook, line and sinker the Structural Adjustment Programme that was prescribed by the Bretton Wood institutions as the panacea for their economic woes.

This he said affected the production systems of these countries, the consequences of which is the current food crisis many of them are now experiencing."The production system of many developing countries underwent serious changes because on one side domestic support for production, that is subsidies to farmers, were generally cut.

At the same time there was a very deep trade liberalization that was put in place by the developing countries as part of the SAP."This means that it was much cheaper and easier to import those products.