News Release
For immediate release
12 August 2008

The poor hard hit by rising food prices – A matter of life and death

The Southern Africa Trust is organising a public policy debate on the future of food security and access to affordable food for the poor in southern Africa that is aimed at raising awareness about the link between food scarcity and climate change, and agricultural productivity and bio-fuel production in the context of the food price crisis facing the peoples of the region.

This debate is taking place in the wake of recent rise in world food prices which has transformed food insecurity from a difficult developmental problem into an emergency, hitting the poor hardest.

The public dialogue will centre on the Impact of Climate Change and Bio-fuels on Food Security in Southern Africa  and the lead discussant is Michelle Pressend, Senior Researcher in the Multilateral Programme at the Institute for Global Dialogue, South Africa; Professor Sam Moyo, Executive Director of the Harare-based African Institute of Agrarian Studies, Zimbabwe, will give an Overview on the State of Food Security in Southern Africa; Beatrice Mkwaila, the Policy Coordinator of the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM), will focus on Addressing Food Security Challenges in Malawi: The Experience of Small Holder Famers in Malawi; and Malcolm Damon the Director of the Economic Justice Network, South Africa, will lead on the Right to Food the Role of Finance Speculation in Price Hikes in Southern Africa.

 “The public dialogue is expected to promote greater understanding of food security issues in the public sphere as well as knowledge sharing on trends and developments on the matter,” says Neville Gabriel, Executive Director of the Southern Africa Trust.

Scheduled to take place on 14 August 2008 at Protea Hotel Parktonian in Johannesburg- South Africa from 17:30pm-19:30p.m, the public debate is being organised in collaboration with the SADC Council of Non Governmental Organisations (SADC CNGO), Economic Justice Network (EJN) of FOCCISA and  the Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC).

The Southern Africa Trust is an independent, regional, non-profit agency established to support deeper and wider engagement in policy dialogue to overcome poverty in southern Africa.  

For more info, contact;
Mpho Kgosidintsi
Tel: +27 11 318 1012
Mobile: +27 78 459 0152
Email: Mkgosidintsi@southernafricatrust.org