L'Aquila Food Security Initiative

U.S. President Barack Obama, right, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, center, attend a meeting at the G-8 conference.

10th July. L'AQUILA, Italy -- The Group of Eight leading industrial democracies pushed many priorities of their summit to larger groups of countries, placing the next moves in trade negotiations, climate-change talks and containing Iran's nuclear program in front of the so-called G-20 and the United Nations in September.

The nations gathered in L'Aquila did achieve one parting success, a $20 billion pledge over three years to overhaul food and agricultural assistance to the poorest countries. Only about half that pledge is new money, according to the White House, but it roughly doubles nonemergency agricultural assistance.On Thursday, it had seemed that the total would be only $12 billion, below the level intended just days before. Instead, last-minute pledges came from Canada and the European Union, among other countries.

Mr. Obama, in a Friday morning session, made an emotional, personal appeal, saying richer nations had an obligation to act. But he also said recipient nations had to acknowledge that they were complicit in their poverty, through corruption, a lack of transparency and other barriers to growth.

Reference:

The joint statement on global food Security by world leaders gathered in the Italian town of L'Aquila for the G8 summit

The Joint Statement on Global Food Security ("L'Aquila Food Security Initiative") is endorsed by the G8 and by Algeria, Angola, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Libya (Presidency of the African Union), Mexico, The Netherlands, Nigeria, People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, Commission of the African Union, FAO, IEA, IFAD, ILO, IMF, OECD, The Secretary General's UN High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis, WFP, The World Bank, WTO who attended the food security session at the G8 Summit in L'Aquila on 10 July 2009 and by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Bioversity/Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Global Donor Platform for Rural Development , Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR).

The AU Agriculture Conference

Ministers of agriculture articulated the major agricultural issues at AU Ministerial Conference which took place 22-24 April, 2009 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The host Minister, Honourable Tafera, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Federal Republic of Ethiopia opened the meeting calling on all cooperating partners to support Africa's development efforts under the CAADP agenda.

Africa's lead donors attending the meeting include JICA, The World Bank, EU, DfiD, FAO, WFP, IFAD and AGRA. Others present are AfDB, Global Donor Platform, the UN High Level Task Force on Food Security and UNECA.

Sierra Leone's Minister of Agriculture, Honourable Sessay, gave a moving outline of Africa's vast water and land resources and stressed that if the continent focused strongly on the disciplined planning process under CAADP, there is no doubt, the continent will overcome its developmental obstacles.

Libyan Minister of Agriculture is chairing the AU Ministerial Session on Agriculture which is on the theme "investing in agriculture for economic growth and food security" and tackling the key issues of climate change, livestock development, land policies, food security, agricultural finance and the overall status of CAADP implementation.

The decisions of the Ministers in Addis will form the main materials for the consideration of the AU Heads of State Summit in June/July, 2009.

During the meeting, COMESA Senior Agricultural Advisor Dr Cris Muyunda held sessions with several COMESA Ministers among them Honourable Joseph Made Minister of Agriculture from Zimbabwe who reconfirmed that country’s readiness to host the COMESA Agriculture Meetings from May 11-15, 2009 in Harare.

Dr. Muyunda also met Honourable Amin Abaza Minister of Agriculture from Egypt who reiterated his readiness to host the 2nd Joint COMESA Agricultural/Environment Ministers Meeting in Cairo from 15-16 August, 2009.

Meanwhile, the Head of Malawi Delegation Dr. Daudi Yamba has confirmed that the Malawi CAADP Compact has been approved by the Malawian Cabinet. This brings to two, after Rwanda the number of CAADP Compacts concluded in the COMESA bloc. COMESA is now way ahead of all Regional Economic Communities on the continent in concluding CAADP compacts.

All going according to plan, COMESA should have three compacts by the time of the COMESA Summit in June this year.

Reference
04/05 COMESA Ministers Articulate Agricultural Issues at the AU Agriculture Conference

WFP and the impact of high food prices

Earlier this year, the International Development Committee (IDC), which is a cross-party committee of members of the British parliament, announced that it was going to launch an inquiry into the work of WFP and the impact of high food prices. The IDC has a mandate to look into the work of any humanitarian agency that receives funding from the British government and to pass judgement on whether those funds are being used to the best effect.

WFP cooperated with the committee inquiry, hosting committee members in Ghana, where they visited one of WFP's Humanitarian Response Depots, facilitating a trip to London by the ED who gave public testimony on WFP's behalf, and hosting a committee visit to Rome to meet a number of people at headquarters.

The results were published in the UK on 23/07 and have given a very positive assessment of WFP's work -- particularly in the context of the challenges presented by high food prices. Alongside the general global issues that are addressed, there are sections that address the particular issues that WFP faces in places like Darfur, Zimbabwe, and Somalia - where the committee raises the issue of the lack of naval escorts.

Reference:

The World Food Programme and Global Food Security. HC 493-I, Tenth Report of Session 2007-08 - Volume I: Report, Together with Formal Minutes . Author: House of Commons - International Development Committee. Publisher: TSO (The Stationery Office)

New Collaboration among Rome-based UN Agencies and AGRA

ROME (4 June 2008) A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to boost food production in Africa’s “breadbasket regions”. The new partnership will work closely with other stakeholders to rapidly improve food production, food security and rural incomes. Careful environmental monitoring, and conserving biodiversity, water and land will be given high priority.

"Unlocking the potential of agriculture in Africa is a huge challenge, but it can be done,” said FAO Director Jacques Diouf. “This initiative is an important contribution to reduce the number of more than 200 million hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa.” Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Board of AGRA, said that they are hoping to spur a green revolution in Africa that respects biodiversity and the continent’s distinct regions and great variety of crops.

Reference: AGRA press release 04/06 Partnership to Boost Agricultural Production in Africa's "Breadbasket Regions"

in Africa agriculture lending will increase from US$ 450 to over US$ 800 million

The World Bank Group is boosting overall support for global agriculture to $6 billion from $4 billion over the coming year. This includes IBRD lending, grants and highly concessional credits from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), which supports the world’s poorest countries, and finance for agri-businesses and trade finance. For example, in Africa agriculture lending will increase from US$ 450 to over US$ 800 million.

In addition to our financial support the Bank is also providing policy, technical and research advice to countries. Over the last 6 months, over 40 governments have sought policy advice from the Bank on how to deal with the rising food prices. Working in partnership with WFP, FAO, IFAD,NEPAD, UNICEF and others, the World Bank has concluded needs assessments in over 25 countries and has over a dozen more underway. The social as well as agricultural needs assessments will serve to guide policy responses as well as financial assistance to these countries.
The Bank is making $100 million available in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, and Niger through additional financing and restructuring of existing operations.

• Rapid needs assessments have been completed for Burkina Faso, Burundi, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Assessments are ongoing in Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, and Niger.
• In Guinea, the Bank is preparing an emergency budget-support operation to help the government manage the sharp rise in food and oil prices.
• The Bank is working on irrigation and water management in Ethiopia, fertilizer use in Malawi, market access for smallholders in Senegal, and crop diversification in Mali and Uganda.

Reference: Food Crisis: Background Note

Workshop on Food and Nutrition Security to Accelerating Investments in Response to High Food Prices and Food Insecurity

The African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), in collaboration the World Bank, the Food and agriculture organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have hosted a Food Security Workshop with the theme Accelerating Investments in Response to High Food Prices and Food Insecurity in Johannesburg from 20 to 23 May.

It was attended by about 200 participants drawn from 18 countries in Africa, development partners, NGOs, farmers associations, research institutions, regional economic commissions, regional organizations, and Lead Institutions for CAADP Pillars including FARA.

Speaking at the opening session, Prof. Richard Mkandawire, head of CAADP at NEPAD, said:

"This workshop is aimed at assisting African countries to identify, and formulate initiatives for boosting food security and agricultural investment in Africa. It is the result of our collective efforts to deal with the rise in food prices".

The main goal of this workshop was to assist governments in selected countries in Africa to identify and formulate an appropriate country framework of specific food security interventions following an approach to boost food production, availability and access to food for the most vulnerable and cope with higher and more volatile food prices.

Specific objective included:

• Country teams revising their initial project designs for investment
• Developing action plans for finalizing the project preparation
• The participants being exposed to CAADP and in particular CAADP Pillar 3 and its relevance to investment options for food and nutrition security programmes
• Sharing experiences and learning lessons for effective planning

Reference: AllAfrica 27/05 Africa: Agriculture to Be Discussed in Japan

Secretary-General UN calls for food security measures

20 April 2008 – The forces of trade and globalization that have driven a “virtuous cycle” of economic prosperity around the world in the last two decades must be allowed to continue or the current crisis in poor countries over soaring food prices will only worsen, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a major gathering of trade and development officials today.

Speaking in Accra, Ghana, at the opening of the twelfth UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Mr. Ban warned that neither the food crisis nor the chance that some regions may be poised for a slowdown should be used by governments as an excuse to turn towards protectionism.

“One thing is certain: for the past three years, the world has consumed more
food than it produces. Grain stocks are at their lowest in 30 years. The
situation is unsustainable.”

Mr. Ban told the conference that immediate steps must be taken to guarantee the world's food security, starting by ensuring the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has the additional $755 million it needs to cover the rising costs of its existing emergency operations.

In the long-term, he said, agricultural production must be expanded, especially in the developing world and sub-Saharan Africa. “Simply improving market efficiency can have a huge effect. Roughly a third of the world's food shortages, according to the WFP, are the result of bottlenecks in local markets and distribution systems.”

Welcoming the World Bank's plans to increase its agricultural lending in Africa from $400 million to $800 million next year, the Secretary-General said the rest of the international community must take similar measures to alleviate the problems of the developing world.

From left to right: President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva of Brazil during UNCTAD XII opening ceremony

Reference: UN Newscenter: Secretary-General Ban warns against impulses towards protectionism

Related: America Gov 17/04 Food Crisis Has Long-Term Global Challenges, Rice Says

Will the world go short of food?

The head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010. What impact will this have? Head of the WFP, Josette Sheeran, has warned that global food reserves are at their lowest level in 30 years. She said that the WFP may have to ration foods due to funding shortages.Ms Sheeran linked rising food costs to energy and grain prices, the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels.

Areas where the WFP is already seeing an impact include:

• Afghanistan: 2.5 million people in Afghanistan cannot afford the price of wheat, which rose more than 60% in 2007
• Bangladesh: The price of rice has risen 25% to 30% over the last three months. In 2007, the price rose about 70%.
• El Salvador: Rural communities are buying 50% less food than they did 18 months ago with the same amount of money. This means their nutritional intake, on an already poor diet, is cut by half.
• Anger over rising food prices have already led to riots in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Morocco.

The BBC has a special day of coverage of this issue on Tuesday 11 March, online, on radio and on TV.