US provides Ethiopia with $112 million in Emergency Funds

The United States has recently given $91 million in emergency food funds and $21 million in humanitarian aid to Ethiopia, one of the countries hardest hit by the food crisis.

From AllAfrica.com:

According to press statement from the US embassy in Addis Ababa , the donation was in response to Ethiopian government’s revised June 2008 Humanitarian Requirement Report.

This new donation coupled with last month’s announcement of $80 million in emergency assistance brings the total US assistance in response to the drought to [nearly] $200.

“The donations have come in response to continuing humanitarian needs in Ethiopia, where poor end erratic rainfall distribution, high food prices, ongoing conflict, arid limited humanitarian access have negatively impacted food, water, and pasture availability, resulting in increased malnutrition rates, food and water shortage, and heavy loss of livestock,” the statement said.

A majority of the funds will be divided between non-governmental organizations already performing on-the-ground relief work, such as UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee. Through their work, the funds are expected to help over 1 million people, including over 50,000 malnourished children.

-Betsy Avila

More on the New E.U. Ag. Pledge

There’s a piece in today’s Christian Science Monitor on the E.U.’s new pledge to give 1 billion euros in unused farm subsidies to African farmers.

“In the past, that €1 billion would have gone to paying for the so-called “grain mountains” and “milk lakes” that resulted when EU farmers produced more than they could sell. The European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which consumes 40 percent of the EU’s total budget, provides subsidies for farmers who produce surpluses of certain crops.

But with spiraling food prices (7.1 percent higher in EU member states this April than the previous year), European agriculture no longer needs the safety net. And with many parts of the world suffering food shortages, the EU, said agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel at a conference on the crisis last week, “needs to act now to boost harvests [in developing countries] over the next seasons.”

More info in the piece.

What We Want from the G8 in ‘08 – Agriculture

[See earlier posts on what we want from the G8 here and here.]

One main thing we’re asking the G8 to commit to this year is a comprehensive plan focused on boosting food security and agricultural productivity in Africa. Growing concern over rising food prices helped get these issues onto the summit agenda, and ONE has been working to make sure that a concrete action plan comes out of this discussion.

Three-quarters of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas and most rely on agriculture to feed themselves and their families. Many of these people (especially in Africa) cannot grow enough to eat or sell, and have trouble accessing markets that would help them get better prices for their goods. Solving these complex problems requires a dual-pronged approach: firstly, immediate assistance for those in need in the form of food, seeds, and fertilizer; secondly, long-term improvements in agricultural technology, infrastructure, and improved irrigation techniques to generate sustainable agricultural growth.

At past summits, the G8 has stressed the central role that agriculture plays in African development, yet G8 countries have made few commitments to increase funding for Africa’s farmers. As a result, Africa’s agricultural sector has been seriously under-funded in the past 15 years- the percentage of official development assistance that went to agriculture fell from over 16% in 1980 to under 4% in 2004.

In light of the current food crisis and the historic neglect of the agricultural sector, we’re asking the G8 to commit to both long and short-term solutions to boost food security and agricultural productivity. Here are ONE’s three top-line agriculture asks: (more…)

Hey G8, Listen to Pedro

Many African countries are facing a grave threat from rising food prices. That’s why we’ve been asking President Bush and other G8 leaders to take immediate action to soften the blow on the poor and reverse the underinvestment in long-term agricultural productivity.

Some of us have been in Mozambique this week; a country like Mozambique is particularly vulnerable to global food shocks. Not only is it very poor (75% of the country lives on less than $2 per day), it also imports roughly 75% of its food and is hit by a drought or flood every six months.

Despite these challenges, many parts of Mozambique have ideal climate conditions for agriculture production and there’s certainly no shortage of land – Mozambique runs 1,500 miles down Africa’s eastern coast and is twice the size of California.

Today we tried to learn why Mozambique is not able produce more food – both for local consumption and export. To find answers to our questions, we visited plant scientist Pedro Fato at the Instituto de Investigacao Agraria de Mozambique (IIAM) just south of Maputo. IIAM is an agricultural research institute jointly funded by the Government of Mozambique and private donors, including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Rockefeller Foundation. Pedro and his team are breeding more nutritious and insect resistant varieties of maize (corn), cassava, sorghum and sweet potatoes – all foods considered staples here in Mozambique. In the accompanying picture you can see Pedro holding orange maize which IIAM has bred to be rich in vitamin A and beta carotene.

Pedro outlined three major challenges to boosting agriculture growth and productivity in Mozambique

1. Water: nearly all agricultural production in Mozambique is rain-fed. With a typical rainy season lasting only three months, basic irrigation techniques and technology could significantly boost yields
2. Inputs (fertilizers and seeds): Fertilizer is expensive and not widely available in Mozambique. There is currently no domestic production; the limited quantities that are available are imported from South Africa. New seed varieties are also lacking. Approximately 70% of farmers are using unimproved local maize, which has lower yields and isn’t as resistant to pests and diseases. Like fertilizer, there is also no local seed production
3. Infrastructure: most of Mozambique’s agricultural activity occurs in the north of the country, where long distances and poor roads make it difficult to move crops beyond village markets. Improved access to markets could dramatically increase incomes for farmers and cooperative groups.

Pedro also told us more money is needed for agriculture research and extension workers so that new seed varieties and inputs can make it into the hands of farmers. He also said commercial farming is needed in Mozambique. Agriculture in here is mainly limited to smallholder farmers, limiting productivity, distribution and export potential. Pedro told us that 95% of maize in Mozambique is produced by small holder farmers.

Mozambique certainly isn’t alone. Many sub Saharan African countries are facing similar challenges. We’re hopeful that the global attention on food prices will translate into a sustained investment in long-term agriculture growth in places like Mozambique.

-Ben Hubbard and Tyler Denton, ONE.org

Farm Bill: Same Bill, New World

Today, the House of Representatives voted 318-106 to pass a $300 billion, 5 year Farm Bill. While the bill funds some domestic conservation and nutrition programs and food aid, it also includes agricultural subsidies that have a tangible impact on global poverty. Agricultural subsidies, which Japan and other rich countries in Europe use as well, have historically been used to help farmers earn a living when world prices for commodity crops such as wheat, corn, and rice are low and farmers lose revenue. However, these payments can also cause subsidized crops to flood overseas global markets, making it difficult for farmers in poor countries to sell agricultural products in their own markets.

Farm incomes are higher than ever, the US Department of Agriculture reports that net farm income will top $92 billion in 2008, far exceeding the 10-year average of $61 billion. These agricultural subsidies often go to the wealthiest farmers in the country. Even under the new legislation only individual farmers who make $750,000 or more in farm income would be ineligible for direct subsidy payments. The legislation that the House approved today essentially continues subsidy programs that disadvantage the poor. During this time of high food prices, when U.S. farmers are earning at record levels and poor people in developing countries are struggling to feed their families, it makes little sense for the US Congress to pass a program that can have such a damaging impact on farmers in poor countries.

Next the legislation moves to the Senate, where it is likely to pass easily as well. The White House has threatened to veto the legislation when it comes to the President, but House and Senate leaders are saying that they will vote to override a veto, which requires a 2/3 vote in both houses.

To read more on the Farm Bill see the articles below

AP article

WSJ article

Links to some of our partners’ work on the Farm Bill

Oxfam America

Bread for the World

-Sara Rogge, Senior Trade Policy Advisor

Agriculture Key to Addressing Hunger Crisis

An op-ed in Tuesday’s IHT offers an interesting perspective on the surge in world food prices. Author Robert Paarlberg points out that the hunger crisis was brewing long before food prices shot up.

Rising prices are having the harshest impact on urban populations, which are traditionally better off than their rural counterparts and rely on international markets for food. In cities across the developing world, rising prices are forcing people to reduce spending on things like gas and health care in order to feed their families.

The true epicenter of the hunger crisis is in rural areas, where poverty levels are much higher and subsistence agriculture is the main source of employment. Paarlberg argues that hunger here depends less on international food prices and more on agricultural productivity. He writes,

Africa’s food crisis grows primarily out of the low productivity, year in and year out, of the 60 percent of all Africans who plant crops and graze animals for a living… The average African smallholder farmer is a woman who has no improved seeds, no nitrogen fertilizers, no irrigation and no veterinary medicine for her animals. Her crop yields are only one third as high as in the developing countries of Asia, and her average income is only $1 a day.