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July 24, 2000: Hayes Urges Support for Senate Ratification of UN Convention to Combat Desertification

On the eve of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's consideration of the historic UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Corporate Council on Africa President Stephen Hayes urged that member companies communicate their support to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for ratification of the Convention. The United State is the only major country that has not ratified the treaty.

In a July 24 letter to Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator Jess Helms, Mr. Hayes pointed out that the Corporate Council strongly supports the ratification of the Convention. The Convention provides a viable framework for international cooperation to stem the loss of one of Africa's most precious natural resources: its fertile soil. Mr. Hayes explained that desertification has the greatest impact on Africa. More than two-thirds of the continent is desert or dry lands, and 73 percent of its agricultural dry lands (over one billion hectares) are already degraded. Moreover, an estimated 70 percent of the population live on and grow crops on this land. The absence of dry land management permits overgrazing and overcultivation that, in combination with poor irrigation practices, often exacerbate drought and famine in many areas of Africa.

The focus of the Convention is not on deserts but on drylands that are in danger of becoming deserts. The Convention calls upon Africa governments to put into place national plans for land use and management (dry land management schemes) that would prevent the loss of millions of productive acres, as well as an "enabling" environment for agricultural trade and investment.

Mr. Hayes stated that American agribusiness has a major stake in this Convention. American companies sell hundreds of millions dollars in irrigation and related equipment, seeds, fertilizer, and agro-chemicals to Africa, and offer the world's best expertise in dry lands management. Without Senate ratification, the Convention would bar American companies from participation, most notably from the roster of vendors and experts circulated to participating countries for contracts under the Convention.

Senate ratification will ensure that American agribusiness companies can compete for commercial opportunities and allow them to continue their global exports of technology and expertise. Equally importantly, ratification would also promote Africa's transition from food aid to food trade and offer better protection of Africa's fragile environment.

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