NEW DELHI, 10 April 2008 — India and Africa vowed yesterday to strive together for food security and called on the western world to rethink diverting huge food stocks for biofuel, creating shortages and driving up prices in poorer countries.

Rising food and oil prices threaten many African economies and are a headache for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government, which faces national elections next year.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned yesterday that high food prices and shortages would continue in the short term, making some poorer countries vulnerable to food riots.

While the move to turn food into biofuel has benefited a handful of grain-surplus African countries such as Uganda, speakers at the summit blamed the tactic for skyrocketing prices and shortages.

“It is a challenge in the sense that there is this problem of shortage of food in a number of countries and there is a problem of high prices,” Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Tanzanian president and head of the African Union, said.

“These days the farms have been put to biofuel production creating a shortage of food and therefore creating a problem of high prices.” He said Africa just needed to solve its agricultural production problems to produce enough that could not only feed the continent, but also provide for the world.

At the summit, India and Africa pledged support to each other for a permanent seat in the expanded United Nations Security Council. Favoring reforms of the world body to make it more representative and democratic, Kikwete said in his closing remarks: “We are ready to pitch for reform of the UN Security Council to make it more representative, to make it more democratic.”

The summit adopted Delhi Declaration and Africa-India Framework for Cooperation, which according to Singh, would constitute “blueprint” for the 21st century. Speaking at a joint press conference, Singh said: “This is a historic summit between India and countries representing the African Union (AU) and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa.”

Elaborating on the priority India is giving to strengthen its ties with Africa, Singh said: “Our decision to expand unilateral duty-free and preferential market access to all the 50 Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are in Africa, and our offer of lines of credit amounting to $5.4 billion are steps in this direction. The enhancement of our budget for technical assistance and training programs and, greater opportunities for African students to pursue studies in India reflect the priority we attach to human resource development and capacity building.”

To illustrate India’s approach toward Africa as one that centers on technology transfers and human resource development, Singh offered New Delhi’s assistance to usher in a green revolution in Africa through holistic capacity building in agricultural production, storage and transportation.

“We are not in any race or competition with China or any other country. The desire of India and Africa to work together is not new,” Singh said.

“We don’t seek to impose any pattern in Africa. It’s for the African people to decide on their future,” Singh replied when an African journalist asked him to compare India’s approach toward Africa with that of other Western powers and China.

“We are willing to offer whatever help we can to build capabilities in Africa. We share a colonial past and have been partners for a long time,” he said.

The market access plans announced Tuesday were aimed at building African capacities and economies, he said.

The two sides agreed to meet every three years and to draw up a joint plan of action and an appropriate mechanism to implement the framework for cooperation within a year. The next summit would be held in 2011 in Africa.

“India stands committed to work together with Africa to strengthen our cooperation in every possible way. We wish to be partners in Africa’s resurgence,” Singh said.

“We hope that this summit has enabled to convey to the people of Africa India’s readiness to be a partner in their quest for stability, peace and prosperity.”

— With input from agencies