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Conformém ent au règlement (CEE, Euratom) n° 354/83 du Conseil du 1er février 1983 
concernant l'ouverture au public des archives historiques de la Communauté économique 
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
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In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 354/83 of 1 February 1983 
concerning the openi ng to the public of the historical archives of the European Econom ic 
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amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1700/2003 of 22 September 2003 (OJ L 243, 
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file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation.  
In Übereinstimmung mit der Verordnung (EWG, Euratom) Nr. 354/83 des Rates vom  1. 
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
C O M (85) 308 final
B ru ssels, 25 June 1985
I
FA M IN E IN AFRICA
(Communication from the Commission to the Council)
C O M (85) 308 final

•C~orf 'ìof
FA M IN E IN AFRICA
Contents
A. Drought in 1984-85
B. Problems encountered in implementing in te rn a tio n a l aid
C. An a id  s tra te g y  and the ro le  of the E E C
(a) Emergency aid
-  Improvement of e a rly  warning systems
-  Improvement of aid  machinery
-  R e a c tiv a tio n  of economic a c tiv ity
(b) Immediate r e v i t a l i z a t io n  of the economies of the c o u n tries concerned
(c) S tru c tu ra l measures
D . C O N C L U S I O N

A . Drought in 1984-85
1. According to  the L atest in fo rm atio n  a v a ila b le , th e most urgent food 
needs of the twenty A frican c o u n trie s  most a ffe c te d  by the p re se n t severe 
drought appear to have been covered thanks to  the e f f o r t s  of the in te r n a tio n a l 
community. As a r e s u lt of th e d e c is io n s  taken prom ptly in the wake of
the vario u s appeals fo r in te r n a tio n a l a id , the Community, with the Dublin 
Plan and the food aid  a llo c a tio n s  decided in 1984 but fo r d e liv e ry  in 
1985, has undertaken to  supply th e e q u iv a le n t of 2.3 m illio n  tonnes of 
c e r e a ls , w hile the U nited S ta te s  w ill be d e liv e rin g  the e q u iv a le n t of 
2.6 m illio n  to n n es. Other donors have su p p lied  or w ill supply 1  m illio n  
to n n es, thus covering the most u rgent needs up to  October-November 1985, 
when the next h a rv e sts a re due.
2. I t  is  s t i l l  im possible to  p re d ic t how the rain y  season w ill be or what 
the p ro sp ects a re fo r the next h a rv e st (of crops sown w ith the seed le f t 
over or seed su p p lied  by the in te r n a tio n a l community in a d d itio n  to
food a id ) .
3. I f  immediate food needs have probably been covered in term s of o v e ra ll 
commitments, t h is  does not mean th a t the tragedy is  over:
th e re  are s t i l l  se rio u s  d i f f i c u l t i e s  as regards c o o rd in a tin g  consignm ents
of aid  and, even more so , c o o rd in a tin g  the d isp a tc h  of food aid  to  those 
in need;
th ese  d i f f i c u l t i e s  a re compounded when farm ers, h ith e r to  co n cen trated  
in camps, re tu rn  to  t h e i r  h oldings to  p rep are the new h a rv e s t, thus 
n e c e s s a rily  extending the area of d i s t r ib u t io n  of food a id , seed , e tc .
a d d itio n a l needs are a r is in g  in th e a re a s of h e a lth  and m a ln u tritio n , 
as an in e v ita b le  r e s u lt of the fam ine.

- 2  -
4. Drought, th e cause of the fam ine, has a lso  considerably reduced foreign 
exchange incomes and ruined crop and liv esto ck  farm ers in the c o u n tries in 
q u e stio n . B esides th e immediate p r io r ity  of p ro te c tin g  the 1985 h a rv e st, 
a l l  th e p o ssib le  m easures to b e n e fit which, such as supplying seeds, have 
a lre a d y  been und ertak en , th e most se rio u sly  a ffe c te d  co u n tries must be helped, 
p a r t i c u l a r l y  by supplying inputs for the 1986 h a rv e st, to get th e ir 
a g r ic u ltu r a l s a c to rs  running norm ally again.
5. The p rese n t c r i s i s  should not be allowed to hide the fact th a t most 
A frican c o u n trie s are becoming in cre a sin g ly  incapable of supplying th e ir  own 
food needs (10% drop in per cap ita food production between 1972 and 1982) and 
th e re fo re  in c re a sin g ly  dependent on food aid and c o stly  commercial im ports.
This is  a r e s u lt m ainly of th e ir  in ap p ro p riate n a tio n al a g ric u ltu r a l p o lic ie s , 
the d e te r io r a tio n  of t h e ir  n a tu ra l environment and population growth o u tstrip p in g  
a v a ila b le  reso u rc es. Measures can be taken to tack le th ese s tr u c tu r a l problems 
but i t  w ill take tim e fo r th e ir  e ffe c ts  to be f e l t .  Meantime o th er d is a s te r s  
may supervene: the developed world, and in p a rtic u la r  the Community, must
improve i t s  re fle x e s  so as to be in a b e tte r p o sitio n  to lim it the e ffe c ts  
of th e se .
B-  Problems encountered in implementing in te rn a tio n a l aid
6. The f i r s t  lesson to be drawn from recent experience is the need to improve 
the e a rly  warning system s. During the present drought, governments have, owing 
to  a lack of exact in fo rm atio n , freq u en tly  underestim ated the dimensions of the 
c r i s i s  and of the vario u s d i f f i c u l t i e s  to be overcome; they have also  been 
slow to appeal fo r in te rn a tio n a l a id .
7. A  f u r t h e r , p e r s is te n t key problem has been coordinating the a rr iv a l of 
consignm ents and tra n s p o rtin g  aid  from African p o rts to d is tr ib u tio n  cen tres 
in th e in te r io r s  of c o a sta l s ta t e s ;  th is  problem is even more acute in the case 
of land-locked c o u n trie s , which depend on the cooperation of th e ir  neighbours 
(o ften  them selves facin g  the same problems) and on the proper fu n ctio n in g  of 
t h e i r  transhipm ent and tra n s p o rta tio n  in fr a s tr u c tu r e s .

- 3 -
8. Experience a lso  shows th a t th e food p roducts su p p lied  do not n e c e s s a rily  
correspond to lo cal c o n d itio n s and h a b its . Purchases of lo cal p roducts - 
sometimes in the same country or neighbouring c o u n trie s -  o fte n  prove more 
s u ita b le  w hile in some cases su p p lie s of p ro ce sse d , re a d y -to -e a t p roducts is 
p re fe ra b le  to those of raw fo o d s tu ffs .
C. A n aid  s tra te g y  and th e ro le  of th e E E C
9. To be ab le to ta c k le  th e v ario u s le v e ls of the problem , th e aid  s tra te g y  
must comprise s h o r t - , medium- and long-term  m easures. I t is  not ju s t a 
q u estio n  of fin d in g  ways of improving th e c a p ac ity  fo r re a c tin g  when c ris e s  
occur but a lso  of fin d in g  ways of p rev en tin g  th e recu rren ce of such c ris e s  in 
f u tu re . Measures aimed at speeding up aid  m achinery should th e re fo re  be 
complemented by ru ra l development m easures.
(a) Emergency aid
10. When c ris e s  o c c u r, adequate q u a n titie s  of s u ita b le  p roducts must reach 
those a ffe c te d  as soon as p o s s ib le . Experience gained in the la t e s t  A frican 
food c r i s i s  has shown th e need, on th e one hand, to improve the systems of 
m onitoring h arv est p ro sp e c ts and p re d ic tin g  se rio u s  sh o rta g e s and, on the 
o th e r , to improve the aid  m achinery. I t is a ls o  e s s e n tia l th a t s u ita b le  
m easures are taken to  enable fa m in e -stric k e n  p o p u latio n s to  resume t h e i r  
normal economic a c t i v i t i e s  as soon as p o s s ib le .
Whether r e la te d  to  e a rly  warning system s or to  th e p ro v isio n  of aid  p ro p er, 
however, a l l  m easures taken must be based f i r s t  and forem ost on th e local 
ca p ac ity  to  combat th e c r i s i s  and be aimed at re in fo rc in g  t h is  c a p a c ity .

-  - 4 -
Improvement of the early warning systems
11. The e a rly  warning systems -  aimed at d e te c tin g  food c ris e s  in 
advance -  are n e c e s s a rily  based on the systems fo r m onitoring 
a g ro -m eteo ro lo g ical co n d itio n s and crop growth. The n a tio n a l 
a d m in istra tio n s  of th e c o u n tries concerned are in most cases not at 
p re se n t in a p o s itio n , owing to a lack of human and fin a n c ia l reso u rces, 
to  o p e ra te  such system s on a s a tis f a c to r y  b a s is . The f i r s t  p r io r ity
must th e re fo re  be to  improve the local capacity to c o lle c t and process 
th e a v a ila b le  d a ta .
12. In a d d itio n , u t i l i z a t i o n  of remote sensing techniques is  opening 
up new p o s s i b i l i t i e s  which could become o p e ra tio n a l in the near fu tu re  
and a p p lic a tio n  of which to the A frican co n tin en t ought th e re fo re  to 
be speeded up.
The Community is  alread y  a c tiv e  in th ese various areas and ought 
to  s te p  up i t s  o p e ra tio n s , in p a r tic u la r  as regards:
-  r e s to rin g  or re in fo rc in g  the cap acity  of the n a tio n a l a u th o ritie s
to  i n s t i t u t e  permanent m onitoring systems covering the various aspects 
of d ata c o lle c tio n , tran sm issio n  and pro cessin g ;
-  c re a tin g  sm all ag ro -m eteo ro lo g ical s ta tio n s , such as those already 
s e t up by th e Community in Guinea, and organizing the tra n s fe r of 
in fo rm atio n  via communications s a t e l l i t e s ;
- o rg an iz in g  the c e n tr a liz a tio n  and c o lla tio n  of the a v a ila b le  d a ta ;

- 5  -
- developing remote sensing o b se rv a tio n  system s covering the whole of 
the A frican c o n tin e n t. In t h is  a re a , which is  very prom ising fo r 
the f u tu r e , i t  is  im portant th a t those involved (EEC, Member S ta te s , 
re c ip ie n t c o u n trie s ) b e tte r  co o rd in ate t h e i r  a c t i v i t i e s  aimed at 
determ ining and s e le c tin g  th e most a p p ro p ria te  system s. The Community 
has a lread y  u n d ertak en : tem porary m easures in th is  area (Las Palomas 
s ta tio n  on the Canary I s la n d s , f e a s i b i l i t y  study fo r e a rth  s ta tio n  
a t N a iro b i).
14. These v ario u s types of m easures ought to  be accompanied by a s e rie s  
of s tu d ie s , aimed in p a r t i c u l a r  at id e n tify in g  areas with s im ila r drought 
and d e s e r t i f i c a t i o n  problem s; such zoning by lik e a re a s would improve 
th e i n te r p r e ta tio n  of a v a ila b le  d a ta  and make fo r th e  d e f in itio n  of
more a p p ro p ria te  a c tio n  programmes.
Improvement of aid  m achinery
15. The key problem is  s t i l l  the tr a n s p o r ta tio n  of a id , i . e .  the time 
between th e d e c is io n  to  supply emergency food aid  and i t s  a r r i v a l  at 
i t s  d e s tin a tio n . I n i t i a t i v e s  taken in t h i s  area must be aimed f i r s t  
and forem ost a t improving the m o b iliz a tio n  of a v a ila b le  reso u rces on
th e ground or in ad jacen t c o u n trie s . C learly  th is  a p p lie s  to food s to c k s, 
which must be made a v a ila b le  to th o se h it by fam ine, but a lso  to  tra n s p o rt 
f a c i l i t i e s .  All those c o u n trie s  which a re s u s c e p tib le  to food c ris e s  
should draw up rap id  a s s is ta n c e  p lans covering th ese  v a rio u s areas 
( c o n s titu tio n  and m o b iliz a tio n  of b u ffe r s to c k s , tra n s p o rta tio n  to  c r i s i s  
a re a s , d is t r ib u t io n )  and th e ro le  to be played by fo re ig n  a s s is ta n c e .

- 6 -
16. Secondly, the i n i t i a t i v e s  should concentrate on speeding up 
th e d e liv e ry  of food aid  and, in p a r tic u la r , reso lv in g  problems 
connected with unloading and inland tra n s p o rt, where b o ttlen eck s are 
lia b le  to  o ccur.
17. As fa r as the Community's p a rtic ip a tio n  in th ese i n i t i a t i v e s  
is  concerned, in term s of both f a c i l i t a t i n g  the m o b ilizatio n  of local 
reso u rces and ensuring more e f f i c i e n t  d e liv e ry  of a id , a s e rie s  of 
m easures is  c a lle d  fo r to  improve and in crease the a d m in istra tiv e  
and f in a n c ia l c ap acity  of the Community and i t s  Member S ta te s . To 
t h i s  end i t  w ill be necessary to :
( i) sim p lify  and speed up yet fu rth e r the Commission procedures 
fo r approving th e a llo c a tio n  of food a id ; a review of these 
procedures is  c u rre n tly  in hand;
( i i )  c re a te  or in cre a se  emergency aid  reso u rces, both at Community 
lev e l and in the v ario u s Member S ta te s , so as to ensure a very 
ra p id , a p p ro p ria te  and f le x ib le  response to the v a rie ty  of needs 
which a r is e  (Lomé Convention ty p e).
18. I t w ill be n ecessary in p a rtic u la r  to c re a te  the resources required 
to :
(i) ensure th a t consignments are d e liv e re d  " fre e  at d e s tin a tio n " ,
in th e case of those Member S tates which do not do th is  at p re se n t;
( i i )  help the c o u n trie s concerned to m obilize t h e ir  own tra n s p o rt 
(p riv a te  v e h ic le s , maintenance and o p eratio n  of pubicly-owned 
v e h ic le s) and c o n trib u te  towards the expansion and/or renewal 
of t h e i r  dom estic tra n sp o rt f l e e t s ;
( i i i )  develop and co ordinate a i r l i f t s ,  including the o p eratio n s side 
(ground s t a f f  and maintenance w orkshops), making p a rtic u la r  
use of a i r c r a f t  belonging to  the Member S ta te s ' a ir l in e s .

- 7  -
19. It w ill thus be necessary  to sim u ltan eo u sly  develop emergency 
reso u rces and improve th e c o o rd in a tio n  of th e use made of them at 
Community le v e l. For th is  pu rp o se, i t  would be u se fu l to  se t up an 
autonomous and d e c e n tra liz e d  European emergency aid  c a p a b ility  based 
p r in c ip a lly  on:
(i) a c r i s i s  s t a f f ,  supported by a permanent u n it w ith in  the 
Commission,
( i i )  a proper system  of c o o rd in a tio n , se t up in advance and tak in g  
in the whole range of reso u rces deployed by the Member S ta te s .
In th is  c o n te x t, i t  would be necessary  to  determ ine to what 
e x te n t use could be made of the Member S ta te s ' e x is tin g  c iv il 
defence s e rv ic e s  (in c lu d in g  m ilita ry  u n i ts ) .
R e a c tiv a tio n  of economic a c ti v it y
20. Emergency aid  must be planned in such a way th a t i t s  im plem entation 
w ill not merely not in te r f e r e  with the resum ption of normal economic 
a c ti v it y  (when th e cause of the d is a s te r  has d isap p eared ) but ra th e r 
genuinely help r e v i t a l i z e  the economy. I t is  im portant wherever p o ssib le
to  avoid p o p u latio n  displacem ent and, above a l l ,  f o r e s t a l l  ru ra l depopulation 
through the a p p ro p ria te  lo c a tio n  of d is t r ib u t io n  p o in ts  and choice 
of types of d i s t r i b u t i o n .
21. Furtherm ore, th e p ro v isio n  of food aid  should at the a p p ro p ria te  
tim e give way to  o th e r types of a id , such as the in p u ts (seed , f e r t i l i z e r ,  
p e s tic id e s  and lig h t a g r ic u ltu r a l equipm ent) e s s e n tia l fo r the rev iv a l
of a g r i c u lt u r a l  p ro d u ctio n .
22. With regard to  im plem entation p ro ce d u re s, th e E E C  and i t s  Member 
S ta te s  are to  a larg e  e x te n t dependent on the a u th o r itie s  and agencies 
which ad m in iste r a s s is ta n c e  on the spot ( r e c ip ie n t governm ents, N G O s 
and in te r n a tio n a l o rg a n iz a tio n s ) sin ce n e ith e r  the Member S ta te s ' 
am bassadors n o r, in th e main, the Commission d e le g a tio n s , are equipped 
fo r t h i s  p a r t i c u l a r  ta s k .

- 8 -
In order th a t such aid  should help to  lim it the adverse e ff e c ts  of 
drought on the way p e o p le 's  lives are organized, i t s  p r a c tic a l a p p lic a tio n  
should be conceived in such a way as to provide fo r:
Ci) the means to  ensure the next h arvest by supplying at the rig h t 
tim e th e necessary a g ric u ltu r a l in p u ts, p a r tic u la r ly  seed.
In i t s  c u rre n t programme the Community has provided the large 
q u a n titie s  req u e sted , but i t  is  necessary to  in crease the scope 
fo r t h i s  f u r th e r ;
( i i )  maximum use of lo cal resources and manpower, enabling the population 
to  assume a g re a te r share of re s p o n s ib ility  (e .g . production 
of d rie d  m eat, o ff-seaso n  market gardening, "food for work" 
program mes). However, the "food for work" system can be applied 
g e n e ra lly  only if  each d ro u g h t-affected  country makes advance 
p re p a ra tio n  fo r work programmes which can r e a lly  begin to be 
implemented once the d is tr ib u tio n  of food becomes necessary;
( i i i )  p r i o r i t y  fo r the purchase, where a v a il a b il it y  p erm its, of
fo o d stu ffs  lo c a lly , in the country concerned or in neighbouring 
c o u n tr ie s , in order to prevent market d isru p tio n  and reduce 
tra n s p o rt c o s ts , so as to meet the needs of d e f i c it  co u n tries 
and c re a te  an o u tle t for surplus c o u n trie s, thus helping promote 
reg io n a l co o p eratio n .
(b) Immediate r e v i t a l i z a t io n  of the economies of the c o u n tries concerned
23. The e f f e c ts  of the p resent drought w ill be f e l t  for a long time 
a f t e r  the emergency has passed and w ill in h ib it the normal functioning 
c a p ac ity  of th e c o u n trie s a ffe c te d . It w ill be im portant th e re fo re  
to  lig h te n  balance-of-paym ents p ressu res caused by f a llin g  a g ric u ltu ra l 
e x p o rts , by g iv in g  p r io r it y  to the supply of inputs for the 1985-86 
farm ing season.

- 9 -
24. At Community lev e l i t  w ill acco rd in g ly  be necessary  a t the 
a p p ro p ria te  tim e to  ra p id ly  m o b ilize th o se fin a n c ia l reso u rces s t i l l  
at the d isp o sa l of th e Community (pre Lomé I I I )  and th e Member S ta te s 
^or key import programmes (rap id  disbursem ent o p e ra tio n s) and to examine 
im m ediately what e x c e p tio n a l and supplem entary reso u rces could be m obilized 
in case of need.
(c) S tru ctu ral_ m easu res
25. In s p ite  of th e d e te r io r a tio n  of the gen eral food s itu a tio n  and
the c u rre n t em ergencies, A frica as a whole is  not condemned to permanent 
food dependence. P roperly used and e x p lo ite d , i t s  p ro d u ctiv e p o te n tia l 
should be capable of m eeting in cre a se d  req u irem en ts, but t h i s  w ill req u ire  
not only g re a te r a s s is ta n c e  from the in te r n a tio n a l community but a lso :
(i) a r e o r ie n ta tio n  of dom estic p o lic ie s  on food p ro d u ctio n  (food
s tr a te g i e s )  and, in p a r t i c u l a r , th e in tro d u c tio n  of food s e c u rity  
p lan n in g , so as to  compensate fo r the v a g a rie s of the clim ate 
and t h e i r  e f f e c ts  on food supply;
( i i )  the development of environm ental p ro te c tio n  programmes, p a r t i c u l a r l y  
those aimed at combating d e s e r t i f i c a t i o n .
26. At Community lev e l i t  w ill be n ecessary  to  use a v a ila b le  resources 
in o rd er to  help achieve th e dual o b je c tiv e s  of p o lic y  reform  and 
environm ental p ro te c tio n .
(i) The Community is  a lread y  su p p o rtin g  reform s of th is  type in four 
A frican c o u n trie s  under th e "food s t r a t e g i e s " . I t w ill seek, 
under Lomé I I I ,  to  extend t h i s  approach to  a l l  of i t s  p a rtn e rs  
which a re faced with the problem of food s e c u r ity . However, to 
be s u c c e s s fu l, such reform s w ill re q u ire  very s u b s ta n tia l te c h n ic a l 
and f in a n c ia l a s s is ta n c e  which th e Community alone cannot p ro v id e, 
even with a c o n c e n tra tio n  of i t s  re so u rc e s.

-  10  -
To achieve critical mass, the Member States must therefore give 
priority to supporting such reforms, in close collaboration with 
the Community and non-European providers of aid.
Under these programmes, special attention must be accorded to  
measures such as:
.  improving agricultural research concerning Sahelian arid areas,  
coordinating existing research facilities and transferring research  
findings to end-users through improved extension services;
.  improving and expanding storage capacity for food, seed and  
inputs (fertilizers and pesticides);
. developing irrigation and, through appropriate extension services,  
providing peasants with the technical knowledge to utilize  
water resources;
.  reducing population pressure in areas of low production potential  
and introducing methods of crop and livestock farming suited  
to such areas.
) With regard to environmental protection and efforts to combat  
desertification, the Community has recently defined priority areas  
and measures with a view to protecting existing forest resources  
and carrying out reafforestation. However, in order to achieve  
critical mass here too, all European aid donors, whether Community  
or bilateral, must give priority to this type of assistance, commit  
themselves for a long period and organize their aid or support  
measures effectively with appropriate coordination structures).
For these measures to be more effective, there must be greater  
Community coordination. The introduction of coordination procedures  
on a country-by-country basis or per type of operation should  
be considered.

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D. CONCLUSION
The Cormnui ity and its Nember States,, which provide around 55% of  
c.tructijr'al. aid to sub-Saharan Africa, have a major responsibility  
not only to respond to the emergency but also to revitalize Africa's  
agricultural production.
To increase the effectiveness of efforts to help combat famine and  
malnutrition, a range of measures is proposed with the aim of:
(i) helping vulnerable countries to draw up rapid assistance plans  
covering various aspects such as the constitution and  
mobilization of security stocks and the improvement of rapid  
alert systems through better coordination as well as an increase  
in European efforts in this sphere with a view to embracing
the whole of Africa;
(ii) helping disaster-stricken countries to maintain in working order
and mobilize the whole of their transport fleet and, where necessary,  
increase their transport capacity by means of external aid;
(iii) improving aid machinery, in particular by setting up a European  
crisis staff, strengthening coordination and adapting aid  
implementation procedures;
(iv) contributing to the reactivation in 1986 of economic activity in  
disaster-stricken countries (e.g. by financing input importation  
programmes);
(v) helping in the longer term to implement agri-food development  
and environmental protection policies by drawing up a coherent  
and coordinated European programme in each of the countries  
requesting Community assistance for such needs.
This approach must lead to greater efficiency. It should be stressed,  
nevertheless, that the Community and the Member States must be ready  
to make available additional financial and human resources should this  
be necessary.
This specifically European contribution will be coordinated with that  
of other aid donors, notably as part of the follow-up to the resolutions  
passed at the Bonn Western Summit. It is on this basis that the  
Community should participate in joint activity as agreed at the Summit,  
the conclusions of which will be forwarded to the Foreign Ministers  
of the Western Summit nations (by September).