ACHIEVING MDG # 1: SSA MOVES BACKWARDS

The United Nations Organization (UNO) has set 2015 a benchmark for achieving eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by halving, the proportion of the world's population who live on less than one dollar a day and who are malnourished by 2015. The Drum Beat issue No. 336 of February 27, 2006 contains sampled ideas, experiences, and impact evidences from people working to achieve MDG No. 1 around the world. It is very clear from some of these resources that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are not doing well. Most of them have increased the number of people leaving on less than 1 USD compared to the year 2000 when the efforts to end hunger were universalized and institutionalized. The World Bank report indicated that about 70% of those being addressed by MDGs live in rural areas. This means agriculture is an important sector in overall achievement of the goals. Neglecting this important sector by any key player may constitute failure in meeting the targets set. While it is 5 years since implementation of MDG began, SSA has 204 million hungry and is the only region where both general undernourished and children’s underweight status are increasing. The phased out Government of Tanzania (1995 – 2005) admitted to have paid very little attention on farmers and hence rural development at large. Political and economic analysts and other critics claimed that this was not only a very big mistake any government could make, but also betrayed the majority labour force and voters in Tanzania.