VAST STRETCH OF AFRICAN SAVANNAH RIPE FOR COMMERCIAL FARMING – UN

Unlocking the potential of a massive stretch of savannah spanning 25 African nations could boost commercial farming on the continent, according to a new United Nations study.

Some 400 million hectares in the Guinea Savannah zone – stretching from Senegal to South Africa – are ripe for commodity production, but at present, only 10 per cent of that area is actually being farmed, according to the book published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank.

It compares the African savannah with similar areas in north-east Thailand and the Cerrado region of Brazil, which share similar disadvantages. In the case of Thailand, there was abundant but unreliable rainfall, poor soils and a high population density, while in the Cerrado, remoteness, soils prone to acidity and low population were key problems.

In both Thailand and Brazil, governments helped spur agricultural growth "characterized by favourable macroeconomic policies, adequate infrastructure, a strong human capital base, competent government administration, and political instability," the study noted.

Africa, it argued, is better placed to reach its targets due to its use of new technologies; economic, population and urban growth; improved business climates in many countries; and stepped up foreign and domestic investment in agriculture, among other factors.

The smallholder-led agricultural transformation which took place in Thailand, rather than the large-scale farming led by wealthy farmers in Brazil, is a much better model for Africa to follow to ensure equitable development.

"Large-scale mechanized production does not offer any obvious cost advantages, except under certain very specific circumstances and is far more likely to lead to social conflict," said Michael Morris, the World Bank's Lead Agricultural Economist.

Commercializing agriculture will help to dampen the environmental effects of changing how the land is used in the Guinea Savannah, the study found.

However, intensification could also lead to the destruction of vulnerable ecosystems and the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides, it warned, calling on governments to monitor environmental impacts and take action to minimize damage.
________________

Brazil, Russia Trade Treasury Bills For IMF Clout

Brazil and Russia are set to unload US Treasury bonds as they acquire $10 billion each of new International Monetary Fund (IMF) securities designed to bolster the institution's aid programs, officials in the countries said Wednesday. The moves are part of a bid by the so-called BRIC nations -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- to play a bigger role at the IMF and other international institutions...." [The Wall Street Journal/Factiva]

Xinhua writes that "...Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega...said the [IMF] loan will be made in the form of bonds, thus it will not affect Brazil's foreign exchange reserves, which currently total about $200 billion. With the loan, Brazil will join the group of 47 countries which regularly finance the IMF's operations. 'In the past, the IMF helped Brazil. Now, Brazil will loan to the IMF to make the international trade viable,' Mantega said...." [Xinhua/Factiva]

AFP adds that "...IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn welcomed the move, saying 'Brazil once more reaffirms its strong role as a leading emerging market economy.' He added, in a statement: 'The Brazilian authorities have shown great leadership and engagement in the whole process of IMF reform and expansion of our funding, and I am pleased that Brazil is clearly showing its strong support to the international economic and financial system.'..." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

Brazil And China In Plan To Axe Dollar.

"Brazil and China will work towards using their own currencies in trade transactions rather than the US dollar, according to Brazil's central bank and aides to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president. The move follows recent Chinese challenges to the status of the dollar as the world's leading international currency.... An official at Brazil's central bank stressed that... what was under discussion was not a currency swap of the kind China recently agreed with Argentina and which the US had agreed with several countries, including Brazil...." [Financial Times/Factiva]

AFP adds that "... 'It's absurd if two important trading nations such as ours continue to carry out our commerce in the currency of a third nation,' Lula said in an interview published in the most recent issue of China's Caijing magazine.....China - an energy-hungry nation that is hugely interested in Brazil's natural resources - in March became the Latin American nation's biggest trading partner, ahead of the US. Brazilian exports to China - mainly iron ore and soya products - so far this year have grown 65 percent over the same period in 2008, a jump from $3.4 billion to $5.6 billion...." [Agence France Presse/Factiva]

AP reports that "...in an editorial in Tuesday's official China Daily, Lula said emerging economies like Brazil and China had a responsibility to help build a 'more just and fair international order.' The two nations should be 'fully aware of Brazil's and China's shared responsibility to help bring about the fundamental reforms in global governance that the world so urgently needs,' Lula wrote...." [Associated Press/Factiva]

UNAIDS CHIEF VISITS BRAZIL TO PROMOTE AWARENESS OF TB LINK, END PREJUDICE

The head of the United Nations agency charged with coordinating the fight against HIV/AIDS is in Brazil this week promoting awareness of the link between the epidemic and tuberculosis and the necessity to address discrimination in the South American country's response to HIV.

Brazil is home to some 40 per cent of people (730,000) living with HIV in Latin America, the largest epidemic in the region, while the next most significant HIV-positive population lives in Mexico with 200,000 people.

However, AIDS mortality rates were halved between 1996 and 2002 thanks to the country's commitment to providing access to both HIV prevention and treatment services, which has also helped stabilise the epidemic.

"We have to stop people living with HIV from dying of tuberculosis," Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said at yesterday's launch of a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on global TB control.

"Universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support must include TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment. When HIV and TB services are combined, they save lives," stressed Mr. Sidibé.

Underscoring a message of solidarity with those affected by HIV and his opposition to laws blocking AIDS services, Mr. Sidibé will meet in Brasília with Government officials, the National Congress Parliamentary group on HIV, as well as civil society actors active in promoting HIV awareness, protecting human rights and ending stigma and discrimination.

One meeting will bring together national level representatives of groups representing people living with HIV, youth, women, and lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders to discuss these issues within the national and local context.

Mr. Sidibé also plans to visit organizations providing vital services to children and young people in Rio de Janeiro as part of his first official trip to Brazil since becoming Executive Director of UNAIDS.
________________

BRIC Nations Call For More Balanced IMF.

Brazil, Russia, India & China (BRIC) Saturday sought a re-balancing of representation on the executive board and the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The demand was made at the G20 finance ministers' meeting being held near London.... They also asked for speeding up of the second phase of voice and representation reform in the World Bank group by April 2010.

The BRICs said it was necessary for developing countries to have a greater voice and representation. Similarly, leadership of the IMF and World Bank should not be subject to 'nationality or regional considerations.'

In related news, it was reported that the G20 summit should find ways to give other states a say in decisions by the world's richest to mitigate disasters like the US mortgage loan crisis, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.

Reiterating Russia's view that global finance needs sweeping reform, Medvedev said new tools and rules were needed 'so that the problems which start in one state will not trigger the hardest chain reaction' in others..