G8 Nations Propose $20 Billion in Food Assistance

G8 Nations Propose $20 Billion in Food Assistance

President Obama answers questions July 10 in a press conference held at the end of the G8 Summit in Italy.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The world’s most advanced industrial economies agreed to provide $20 billion over the next three years to help farmers in the poorest nations improve food production and help the poor feed themselves.

“We have committed to investing $20 billion in food security — agricultural development programs to help fight world hunger,” President Obama said July 10 at a post-G8 Summit press conference in L’Aquila, Italy. “We do not view this assistance as an end in itself. We believe that the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it’s no longer needed — to help people become self-sufficient, provide for their families and lift their standards of living.”

The Group of Eight (G8) — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States — met for three days in the mountain town of L’Aquila about 130 kilometers east of Rome for its annual talks on the global economy, development efforts, climate change and a host of other economic and security issues. One of the eight member states hosts the annual meeting, which includes meetings with officials from emerging economies and others.

Obama said the group had gone into its food security meeting after agreeing to $15 billion for food security assistance, but agreed to boost it by $5 billion in “hard commitments.” The approach taken to enhance food security is different from previous efforts, the president said.

“I proposed a new approach to this issue, one endorsed by all the leaders here,” he told reporters.

It brings the resources of the most advanced economies to the poorest nations to provide coordinated support for food programs created by the countries themselves, Obama said. The plan also draws on support and guidance from multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

In talking with other G8 leaders, Obama used the example of his own father’s homeland, Kenya, to make the point about a different course in responding to food security.

“We’ve got 100 million people who dropped into further dire poverty as a consequence of this recession; we estimate that a billion people are hungry around the globe. And so wealthier nations have a moral obligation as well as a national security interest in providing assistance,” Obama said.

“The flip side is, is that countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in the world that are suffering from extreme poverty have an obligation to use the assistance that’s available in a way that is transparent, accountable, and that builds on rule of law and other institutional reforms that will allow long-term improvement,” the president said.

“There is no reason why Africa cannot be self-sufficient when it comes to food,” Obama said. “It has sufficient arable land.”

What Africa lacks is the right seeds and the right irrigation methods, but also the institutions to ensure that farmers will be able to grow crops and market them at fair prices, he said.

“My father traveled to the United States a mere 50 years ago and yet now I have family members who live in villages — they themselves are not going hungry — but live in villages where hunger is real,” Obama said. “This is something I understand in very personal terms.”

The G8 leaders said in a communiqué that food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture remain priority issues on their political agenda. “Food security is closely connected with economic growth and social progress as well as with political stability and peace,” the statement said.

“The food security agenda should focus on agriculture and rural development by promoting sustainable production, productivity and rural economic growth,” the statement said.

According to the World Bank, in 2008, when food demand far exceeded the supply in many less-developed nations, food riots and civil strife threatened to topple governments in more than 50 nations.

In a separate statement, the G8 leaders pledged to help African nations develop national water and sanitation plans; improve coordination within donor programs to promote more effective aid programs; align assistance to reflect national priorities; improve bilateral and multilateral contributions; and help the African Union, the African Ministers’ Council on Water and other regional economic development organizations.

The G8 leaders’ statement said the growing scarcity of water resources and the dramatic lack of sustainable access to water and sanitation create major impediments to sustainable development, wealth creation and the eradication of poverty.

After the G8 Summit closed, Obama was scheduled to meet in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI before heading to Accra, Ghana, where he is to deliver a speech before the Ghanaian Parliament on July 11.

For more information on the summit, see Group of Eight Summit: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead.

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