Jean Marie
Brown, “Marshall Plan for Food Aid”, Africa Research
Bulletin, 30 September
1987
This
article reports a French proposal for a “Marshall Plan” of food aid to
developing countries, especially former French colonies in
Africa. The plan
would prevent high-quantity cereal producers (the EU, Australia, the US,
Argentina, and Canada) from selling under priced cereal to countries such as
Japan, Russia, and Saudi Arabia who could afford to pay a market price for the
goods. The plan called for cereal
stock to be sold “at the cost price of the most competitive country below the
world price” and for the newly generated funds to be set up in a food aid
program that would “cover the immediate needs of developing countries” and
provide for “technical support and a provision of expertise”. The French Minister of Agriculture Giullaume visited the countries of
Cote
d’Ivoire,
Mali, and Chad in late August 1987 to promote the plan, which was
supported by all three heads of state.
Guillaume also announced new initiatives in each
country, consisting in helping to set up a
National Agronomy School in Cote
d’Ivoire,
providing low cost plants to Mali, and buying cereal from
Chad.
Jeremy Austin
Purcell
4 March
2002