Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 13 • Number 26 • 15th July 2009

G8 Pledges US $20 Billion for Food Security

Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say

G8 leaders pledged US $20 billion in food security aid during its annual summit, held 8-10 July in L’Aquila, Italy. The funds are meant to help farmers in developing countries boost agricultural production in order to curb hunger and stabilise world food prices. The G8 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - had been expected to pledge US $15 billion, but that figure was later increased to US $20 billion, to be paid over three years.

The statement comes in the wake of a global spike in food prices that triggered public protests in many developing countries last year. For most of the past decade the world has consumed more grain than farmers could produce, due in part to demand from the rapidly growing middle classes in emerging economies like China and India.

“Since June 2008, international prices have come down but average prices are still 25 percent above the levels of 2005 and 2006 in real terms,” Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N’s Food and Agriculture Organization, told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

In this context, the new aid pledge looks different from other food security initiatives. Past food aid programs have put a strong emphasis on emergency assistance during famines. Last week’s statement, in contrast, places a focus on establishing a stable and sustainable food production system.

And the focus on sustainability was explicit. “Effective food security actions must be coupled with adaptation and mitigation measures in relation to climate change, sustainable management of water, land, soil and other natural resources, including the protection of biodiversity,” according to a joint statement the leaders issued on Friday.

The statement also cited “open trade flows and efficient markets” as a means of improving food security. “We are committed to improve access to information, promote conducive business environments, and investment in rural infrastructure, such as transportation, processing, storage facilities and irrigation schemes,” the document stated.

Some observers consider the agreement a significant step. Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, praised the commitment to agriculture. “In the past, food security was a mere bullet point at the G8,” he told The Washington Post.

Based on the G8’s track record on aid, others are not holding their breath. The G8 admitted last week that it is unlikely to meet a 2005 pledge of US $50 billion to the world’s poorest countries.

Otive Igbuzor, head of the HungerFREE campaign at ActionAid, said the food aid agreement was “a welcome step in the right direction,” but he is unsure that the funds will be enough. “The sums just aren’t adding up,” he told the Dow Jones Newswires. “Is this all really new money?”

Others have questioned the motivations behind the statement. The aid plan prioritises “better seeds and fertilisers” for farmers, a statement that some in civil society consider a nod to agribusinesses and chemical manufacturers, not to poor farmers.

“[L]anguage on high-yield seeds may just be shorthand for the false technological panacea of genetically modified crops as a solution to hunger, drought and climate change,” according to Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. Hauter added that “no drought-tolerant genetically modified seeds exist,” suggesting that the development of bio-engineered seeds has not addressed the real issues facing many farmers.

ICTSD reporting; “Summit pledges $20B in food aid,” THE WASHINGTON POST, 11 July 2009; “G8 admits its failure to meet Gleneagles aid pledges,” THE INDEPENDENT, 11 June 2009; “UPDATE: G8 Pledges $20B For Food Security To Poor Nations,” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10 July 2009.

o:p><@>

One response to “G8 Pledges US $20 Billion for Food Security”

Dagmar 16th July 2009 at 14:24
I think the shift to thinking about long term solutions for hunger is great. But short term solutions for urgent needs are still needed!

The purchase for progress programme from the World Food Programme combines both approaches very well: http://bit.ly/wvmC