Steve Baragona is reporting for Voice of America News online that the Obama administration has committed $3.5 billion over the next three years in agricultural aid to help developing farmers. This amount is part of the commitment of the richest nations in the United Nations to provide $20 billion in agricultural aid to developing nations and their struggling farmers.The amount announcement comes as numbers are coming in on the airwaves on how big the world hunger problem currently is, how big the problem will get to be by 2050, and what can possibly be done to curb the problem. Both the U.S. and the U.N. agree that immediate, emergency food aid must continue to be distributed as needed, but the real answer to curbing hunger problems is to make agriculture more efficient and productive in the nations with hunger problems.
The announcement of the funding amount comes as the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with nations of the UN General Assembly for their meeting in New York. Secretary Clinton is explaining the administration’s plans to the UN. The strategy includes “investments in research and development, access to improved seed and fertilizer, insurance programs for small farmers, as well as improved infrastructure such as roads and storage facilities to help farmers get their products to market.”
Currently there are 1 billion people in the world that go hungry on a daily basis. One of the changes to agriculture that may be necessary to combat the problem is monoculture crops. By growing one crop, farmers leave themselves open to disease or infestations that could wipe out an entire crop. By diversifying farmers can grow more types of food crops, which in turn could improve their income earning potential while alleviating some of the risk inherent in production.
Baragona reports that despite the recent investment pledge of $20 billion from the G8 nations, currently only 5 percent of donor dollars for aid are committed to agriculture, despite the belief among experts that agriculture development remains the key to fixing the global hunger problem. This number is down from 17 percent in the 1970s. According to Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, head of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network, a non-profit consulting group, “says the decline in agricultural aid budgets is partly behind the recent food crisis in Africa.”
The food crisis may not go away any time soon if current practices are continued, so for many the latest plans for aid money is refreshing in that new ideas are being promoted.
To read the Baragona article click here.
Posted; 10/20/09
