[Closed] Peeling paint: advice

The paint on my 5 year old Kona hardtail has started to flake away around the rack mounts on both sides. What's the best way to treat this? How important is paint for protecting an alu frame?

I'm not too interested in cosmetics for that small an area, just want to do enough to protect the frame and prevent it stripping further.

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/6952833254_627fc28b3d_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5343/6952833254_627fc28b3d_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyharp/6952833254/ ]IMG_9716[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/allyharp/ ]allyharp[/url], on Flickr
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7231/7098903339_9e79dea443_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7231/7098903339_9e79dea443_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/allyharp/7098903339/ ]IMG_9717[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/allyharp/ ]allyharp[/url], on Flickr