VZCZCXRO1997 
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO 
DE RUEHDK #0647/01 1571211 
ZNR UUUUU ZZH 
P 051211Z JUN 08 
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR 
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0588 
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY 
RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC 
RUEHLMC/MCC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000647 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, AF/EPS, IO/UNP, INR/AA, AND EEB/TPP/ABT/ATP 
FOR JANET SPECK 
 
USDA WASHDC FOR FAS/OCRA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID EAGR PREL ECON UN FAO SG
 
SUBJECT: SENEGAL: WADE WAGES FOOD FIGHT AGAINST FAO 
 
REF: A) DAKAR 497 B) DAKAR 471 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade continued his 
campaign against the FAO during the World Food Summit, calling for 
the UN agency to be disbanded. Many believe his attacks on the 
organization have more to do with domestic politics than 
international food aid policy. President Wade's critics allege that 
the president is merely trying to scapegoat the FAO for his 
administration's failures and to weaken a potential political 
competitor in the form of the Senegalese head of the FAO. A 
proposed FAO emergency seed and fertilizer program that would 
benefit 13,000 of some of Senegal's neediest households might become 
a victim of Wade's hostility to the organization. END SUMMARY. 
 
Wade Blames FAO for Africa's Food Insecurity 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) President Abdoulaye Wade has launched a very public and very 
bitter attack on the United Nations Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO). On May 4 on state television, President Wade, 
who has come under fire at home for rising food prices, blamed the 
FAO for his country's and the developing world's food insecurity. 
He called the organization a "bottomless pit of money largely spent 
on its functioning with very little effective operations on the 
ground," going on to call food aid "charity" and a "huge swindle." 
He proposed that the FAO be folded into a newer UN agency, the 
International Fund for Agricultural Development, which he said 
should be based in Africa. He even threatened to try to sue the FAO 
for allegedly wasting money. 
 
¶3. (U) On June 3, President Wade continued his assault on the FAO 
during the World Food Summit in Rome, calling the UN agency a "waste 
of money" and a failed bureaucracy that should be "scrapped." He 
described the current system of food assistance "a comedy," railed 
against Africans being treated like "beggars," and demanded that the 
developed world stop "imposing institutions [and] experts on 
[African countries]." 
 
But Many Believe this is Just Politics as Usual 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In Senegal, many have speculated that Wade's tirades 
against the FAO have more to do with domestic politics than 
principled opposition to the FAO and international food aid. 
President Wade recently announced an initiative called GOANA (Grand 
Agricultural Offensive for Nutrition and Abundance) which aims to 
boost production through mechanization, improved seeds, fertilizers, 
and farming techniques and to attract new investments by political 
and business elites into agricultural enterprises (Ref B). However, 
GOANA is viewed by many observers as an effort to buy time and 
convince Senegalese that the Wade administration is doing something 
to tackle the shortage of rice and rise in food prices. Sources at 
the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that within the Ministry itself 
there are deep reservations over the scope and feasibility of the 
plan. The attack on the FAO is viewed by many as an effort to 
scapegoat outsiders for the Wade administration's mismanagement and 
poor governance. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, Jacques Diouf, the 
Senegalese head of the FAO, is coming to the end of his last term. 
Speculation is rampant that Wade views the upcoming return of Diouf 
to Dakar as a political threat to his efforts to anoint his son 
Karim as his heir as president and that Diouf is the real target of 
his broadsides against the FAO (although Wade was careful to say 
this was not the case during his remarks in Rome). 
 
FAO Emergency Program Could Be Victim of Wade's Assault 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Against this backdrop of presidential hostility to its 
work, the FAO is working to implement an emergency seed and 
fertilizer distribution program that would benefit 13,000 households 
in seven regions in Senegal. Seeds to be distributed include 
millet, sorghum, maize, niebe (beans), and rice as well as vegetable 
seeds. All seeds will be certified and distribution is ready to 
start soon, but the GOS has yet to approve the program. The project 
was developed and sent to the Ministry of Agriculture in late April. 
After being approved by said Ministry, the project needs to go to 
Ministry of Economy and Finance for approval. As of June 6 this has 
not happened. Some believe it is because the Minister of 
Agriculture is afraid to forward the project in light of President 
Wade's comments. At a recent stakeholders meeting, it came to light 
that the Minister of Economy and Finance wasn't even aware of the 
project. Nonetheless, FAO is moving forward based on the verbal 
commitment of the Ministry of Agriculture. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Senegal continues to face serious food security challenges 
(Ref A) given that the FAO project would only target those in most 
need - a small fraction of the total number of farming households. 
First, there are a number of regions that face food insecurity and 
their food and seed stocks have dwindled to threatening levels. The 
amount and composition of food consumption has dramatically changed. 
Given that the GOS has not appealed for food assistance, the World 
Food Program (WFP) is unable to respond - their existing program is 
constrained by increasing prices, increased need, and a flat budget. 
Second, for Senegal to grow more food there is a need for certified 
seed and fertilizer to meet even a scaled-down version of the GOANA 
targets. These inputs are simply not available in the quantities 
needed - especially for certified seed which should be propagated 
locally with local varieties. Observers believe that the 
combination of denial on the food security side and overambitious 
(and underfunded) development plans will continue to erode support 
for the administration. In his Rome remarks, Wade was adamant that 
Senegal could solve its own problems. He asserted that the concept 
of "food assistance" is "unacceptable" and that Senegal does not 
need outside experts, but only supplies of seed and fertilizer. 
Should they be hungry, Wade advised Senegalese to "tighten their 
belts." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) There is no doubt that at least some of President Wade's 
comments are heartfelt. He is well known for his criticism of 
development assistance that focuses primarily on the provision of 
technical assistance and the organization of seminars and 
conferences. For Wade, the only assistance that counts is kind that 
results in tangible benefits to Senegal, preferably in the form of 
infrastructure, and he has said as much to senior USG officials. 
Moreover, Wade is walking an increasingly fine line with donors. On 
a per capita basis, Senegal is one of the world's largest recipients 
of foreign assistance and the Wade administration allows a vast 
array of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to 
operate in the country. At the same time, he has recently taken the 
public view that NGOs are largely paternalistic and patronizing. 
One of Wade's goals appears to be to increase the amount of 
assistance funds that the government itself manages. Nevertheless, 
there is also little doubt that Wade is on the defensive because of 
the rise in food prices and the perception that the government has 
not done enough. It is also true that Wade has a history of 
systematically waging preemptive campaigns against any and all 
potential political competitors. 
 
SMITH