Voa Agriculture Report - World Bank Urges More Farm Aid; Is Criticized on Own Africa Record

fill in the blank with one suitable word

Im

Independent

Special

This

World

Yet

agriculture

and

at

countries

criticism

economic

eighty-seven

farming

governments

in

increased

levels

live

meetings

more

of

one-third

percent

report

says

that

the

to

took

urged

was

is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. The fall of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund just place in Washington. Earlier, the bank used its latest Development Report to call for more investment in agriculture developing countries. The World Bank says agriculture must be the center of development issues if international goals are be met. These goals are to cut extreme poverty hunger in half by two thousand fifteen. The report agricultural and rural areas have suffered from underinvestment over past twenty years. Seventy-five percent of the worlds poor in rural areas. But the bank says only four of official development assistance goes to agriculture in developing . Africa south of the Sahara depends on agriculture for growth. The World Bank says public spending there for is also just four percent of total government spending taxes are high. Recently the World Bank has faced of its assistance to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. That comes in a new report from the bank's own Evaluation Group. In the nineteen eighties and nineties African faced severe financial problems. As a result, the bank them to reduce their support for agriculture. The idea that market forces would push agricultural growth. But the says private business failed to replace government support for . The result? High fertilizer prices, reduced credit and lack improved seeds. The report compares agricultural performance between nineteen and two thousand one with levels in South Asia Latin America. Cereal production in South Asia, for example, while poverty levels decreased. But cereal production and poverty in southern Africa were unchanged. Cereal production was only the level of Latin America. In many sub-Saharan nations, than sixty percent of the people work in agriculture. slow agricultural growth combined with fast population growth means most countries are still trying to get enough food. Bank officials differed with some of the observations in report. But they say the bank is already investing in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. And that's the VOA English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For links the report and the management response, go to voaspecialenglishcom.. Steve Ember.

SCORE: