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Responding toAfrica’s foodcrisisNinth Meeting of the RegionalConsultation Mechanism of UNAgencies and OrganizationsWorking in Africa in Support ofthe African Union and its NEPADProgrammeUNCC, Addis Ababa21 October 2008We are meeting at a time of serious concern about the global economicoutlook. Our apprehensions about the impact of highfood and oil prices on African countries have now been compoundedby worries on how the global financial crisis will impact on Africaneconomies, which have grown steadily in the recent past and seemedon the cusp of sustained economic take-off. It is difficult to judge thefull extent of the impact of the financial crisis on African economiesif only because of the rapidly changing nature of events in global financialmarkets and differing degrees of exposure to them by Africancountries.What is clear however is that because of its vulnerability, negative developmentsin the global arena pose a particular challenge for Africa.This continent is particularly vulnerable because its growth is not yetself-sustaining and it has the steepest road to travel to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals in the short time remaining to the targetdate. The effect of recent declines in commodity prices, is doubleedgedin the sense that it may mean lower costs of energy but alsomeans falling revenues, even for non-oil producers. Indeed, there isneed for vigilance to ensure that the combined effect of the food, fueland financial crisis does not derail the recent good economic performancein Africa but also that it does not undermine recent notableimprovements in governance.260 Part Five