May 14, 2008 (LPAC)--In an op-ed published on Sunday, by the Journal du Dimanche, the president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, calls for Africa not only to become self-sufficient in food production but to generate food surpluses. Wade starts by decrying the fact that “every time there is a food crisis in Africa, the proposal is made to put out the fire, without fighting to solve the causes. One sends us airplanes with emergency aid instead of helping us to produce what we eat.” “I intend to use the occasion provided by this crisis to finally ensure our food independence”, stated Wade. “The objective is to mobilise populations to achieve a surplus of food production”.

In this context, Wade gives the example of a six year deal they just signed with India. Senegal will buy 600.000 tons of rice from India, the first year, which is the total yearly consumption of rice of the country. But through “technical assistance, equipment, seeds and training” provided by India, the deal is that next year Senegal will only import 400.000 tons, the next year 300.000 tons, etc. Wade says: I will not take financial aid, but if somebody tells me “we will give you pesticides, seeds and tractors…, I accept”. Senegal just adopted two measures to go in this direction: 1) the de-taxation of all farming revenue in the next 5 years and the de-taxation of all imports of farming equipment.