Paris-Dakar rally: ActionAid responds to the World Food Crisis
ActionAid's unique collaboration between young people in France and Senegal aims to force international action to end the current food crisis
Young campaigners in both countries will unite to urge governments across the world to combat the crisis.
Nearly 40 countries across the world are facing a full blown crisis after prices of basic foods soared by up to 40% over the last 9 months.
In Senegal ActionAid is organising a Kaa Konko KÉLÉ or HungerFREE Festival to urge young people to pressure on their government and the international community so that they honour their commitment to halve hunger by 2015.
The Dakar-based festival will be followed by the launch of the HungerFREE campaign in Paris, which will put added pressure on the French government which will hold the presidency of the European Union during the second part of 2008.
In Dakar, artist Kalidou Kassé and rapper Didier Awadi will headline the festival and work with young people to put pressure on the decision makers to implement policies to fight hunger in Senegal.
In Paris, Didier Awadi and Ivory Coast legend, Tiken-Jah Fakoly will hold a concert and urge young people to ask the French government to:
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Reform the EU Common Agricultural Policy which continues to subsidise huge agriculture businesses that undermine the competitiveness of African products.
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Stop forcing Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) governments to sign Economic Partnership agreements (EPAs) which weaken efforts by small farmers to grow their own food.
These events will be organised in collaboration with “Peuples Solidaires”, ActionAid’s partner in France.
ActionAid’s HungerFREE campaign, launched last year in over 20 countries, is a global campaign which aims to force governments to deliver on their commitment to halve world hunger by 2015.
In Senegal it is called Kaa Konko KÉLÉ and aims to force the government to:
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Guarantee women’s rights access to land. In Africa, women produce around 80% of food but own only 2% of land. According to the FAO: “If we give women a better access to land and credit, we would make a big step towards the achievement of the millennium development goals“.
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Reduce the number of middlemen that prevent small producers from selling their c crops at a fair price in order to feed their families.
Programme of the « Kaa Konko KÉLÉ – HungerFREE » Festival
Wednesday 30 April: Lobby visits: Youth representatives will meet with the ministries and MPs in charge youth, women’s rights and agriculture.
Thursday 1 May: Field visits: Young people from Dakar will meet young farmers in the villages of Thiamene Birane and Lerane Coly in the department of Foundiougne (Region of Fatick).
Friday 2 May: 10:00am Debate at the University of Dakar (UCAD II). Representatives of student organisations will debate with ministries representatives and MPs about the role of young people in the agriculture and fisheries industries.
16:00 Press Conference at the cultural centre Léopold Sédar Senghor in Pikine (suburb of Dakar) with Kalidou Kassé, ambassador of the HungerFREE campaign in Senegal, Alhassan Cisse, ActionAid head of food security programme in Senegal, Ibrahima Niasse, President of the Senegalese peanut producers association (CCPA) and Samba Gueye, President of Senegal National Rural Council (CNCR).
17:00 Kalidou Kassé opens an exhibition of paintings and other works at the cultural centre Léopold Sédar Senghor in Pikine. Kalidou Kassé, who is president of the International Association of Painters worked with 17 young Senegalese artists to create paintings focusing on hunger. These paintings will then be exhibited in Paris during in June during the launch of the HungerFREE campaign in Paris.
Saturday 3 May: 16:00 Didier Awadi concert at the Niary Tally football stadium (Avenue Bourguiba). Public concert featuring other famous Senegalese musicians including Pape Diouf. Didier Awadi will sing his latest song Kaa Konko KÉLÉ composed especially to support the HungerFREE campaign, live for the first time
Sunday 4 May: 16:00 Final of the City Battle with the participation of Y Dee, DJ Rakim and other artists at the Olympic swimming pool.
This competition features basket-ball, roller-blading and break-dancing and will bring together young people from across Senegal to educate them about the HungerFREE campaign.
Contacts : Alexandre Polack +221 77 108 67 44 ou Faty Kane +221 77 655 99 55
NOTES
- Over 85% of the young people aged between 15 and 25 are living in developing countries and around 238 million live in extreme poverty with less than $1 a day. Around 462 million survive on with less than $2 a day.
- Around 255 million young people live in the world’s 19 poorest countries; 15 of these, including Senegal, are in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Senegal itself, 15-34 year olds make up 35% of the population.
- The number of hungry people in the world has increased over the last 10 years and now numbers over 850 million. In Senegal, malnutrition levels are persistently high with over 50 percent of households affected by poverty. Chronic malnutrition is twice as high in rural than in urban areas. Many people spend up to 48 percent of household income on food.
- World prices for many staple food crops such as wheat, rice and maize have seen record increases in the last few months. Predictions from the FAO and IFPRI both suggest that food prices will be high for at least the next ten years.
- In this context it is urgent for the youth to be included in the debate about initiatives taken to fight poverty and hunger in order to keep the issue at the top of the political agenda in Senegal.