Global Development the Focus of 2009 Hunger Report

On Monday, one of ONE’s partners – Bread for the World – released their annual Hunger Report. The report, entitled Hunger 2009: Global Development: Charting a New Course, focuses on how particular changes and investment in approaches to development can combat the global hunger crisis.

In addition to the global financial crisis, the world is in the midst of a food and a fuel crisis. In less than two years, the number of people who are hungry globally has increased by 75 million, and 100 million people are at risk of being pushed into poverty. Paying more for food – especially for poor families who already spend half or more of their income on food – means shifting to fewer, less nutritious meals per day, and reducing expenditures on other necessities like education and health care.

As the Hunger Report explains, there are several causes for the increase in food prices including an increased demand from people who have moved out of poverty, drought in major grain-producing regions like Australia, fuel price hikes, and years of poor policy choices by the developed world – like subsidies and tariffs – that have ravaged agricultural sectors in the developing world.

The Hunger Report proposes two primary solutions for ensuring long-term global food security. The first is to invest in agriculture in the developing world. Historically, the U.S. and other Official Development Assistance (ODA) providers have addressed hunger by investing in food aid. While in certain emergent situations food aid is vital, the long cycle of hunger and poverty that has left millions vulnerable to the smallest increase in food costs can only be addressed by developing local agricultural sectors.

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NPR Covers Zimbabwe

NPR aired a fantastic piece this morning about the food crisis in Zimbabwe. You can check out the interactive feature at NPR.org, complete with photos and a stunning audio slideshow. Definitely recommended!

Excerpts below, full piece here:

The U.N. says that a little less than half of Zimbabwe’s population — about 5 million people — will need international food assistance by the end of the year, with talk of a full-scale humanitarian emergency. Lee says the World Food Program is feeding 4 million people this month alone, but that stocks will run out by year’s end.

“At the moment, we have no food supplies for distribution in January and February, just when the crisis is reaching its peak,” Lee says. “So we can get to enough people in Zimbabwe, we can provide them with sufficient assistance, but we need additional resources, and we need those additional resources now.”

President Robert Mugabe’s critics blame his land reform and redistribution policies for triggering the current food crisis and economic meltdown. Productive white-owned commercial farms in this region used to be part of the Zimbabwean miracle — the regional grain basket — until they were occupied by Mugabe allies, and many farmers and workers were driven from their lands.

-Chris Scott

South Korea to Grow Corn in Madagascar

Some interesting news from the world of agriculture and development: last week South Korea announced plans to plant corn in Madagascar, reflecting a growing trend in the region to secure cropland abroad to address the duel challenge of recent food price increases and a shortage of cropland at home.

Daewoo Logistics, a South Korean company best known for its automobile production, has secured rights to develop 1.3 million hectares in Madagascar; 1 million will be used to grow corn and 300,000 will be used for palm oil production. This scheme will enable Daewoo to produce 10,000 tons of corn in 2010 and 5 million tons of corn annually – more than half of South Korea’s annual need - once the land is fully developed, which will take about 15 years. Daewoo plans to manage its plantations directly and use labor from South Africa.

The area that Daewoo will be planting in Madagascar is approximately equivalent to 240 large US farms. Currently, South Korea imports corn primarily from the US. In 2007 the US harvested approximately 37 million hectares of corn, and is expected to harvest about 32 million in 2008.

South Korea is one of several countries following the trend of developing agricultural commodities abroad. Companies in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Kuwait have done the same. Especially considering the fear of decreasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Africa because of the global economic crisis, new investments like South Korea’s are encouraging for Africa’s economic climate. It is unclear, however, why Daewoo intends to staff their farms with South Africans rather than local people from Madagascar.

-Beth Adler

UN Summit Recap

I thought I should share some inside skinny on the week we spent in New York September 22-26 at the UN’s special summit on the Millennium Development Goals. We went there to try to attract some attention to - indeed celebrate - the efforts against extreme poverty in recent years, and to call for an acceleration of that progress.

Bono was frantically blogging for the Financial Times in every spare second throughout the week on his way to and from meetings with various leaders. The meetings were many: with Spanish President Zapatero to plan for their E.U. presidency in 2010; with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia to discuss their remaining private commercial debt (think that’s sorted now); with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to push on the overall Millennium Goals project; and with President Sarkozy of France and President Barroso of the EU to push Europe on delivering an extra billion euros from the EU budget to fight hunger and invest in agricultural productivity in Africa. Bob Geldof arrived a few days into the melee and participated on the opening panel of the Clinton Global Initiative, popped up on CNN, and met with Mayor Bloomberg, Bill Gates and others along the way.

One highlight was unveiling our “Celebrate Accelerate” video to a crowd of activists and leaders (including Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Jeff Sachs) honoring the “quietest storm in town”: the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Another, was dropping in on the “In My Name” launch where we regrouped with will.i.am and other activist allies.

An important part of the week was passing over ONE members’ hunger petition, with 50,000 signers, to Bob Orr, the Assistant Secretary General. The petition targets Ban Ki-moon, and all the G8 leaders, asking them to finance the current $1 billion gap in worldwide agricultural financing.

In addition to all of this, Kim Smith and a team of staff and volunteers brought the ONE Bus to town and, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, parked it in some highly visible locations in the city.

By September 26th, it was clear it had been a decent week. In total there were $16 billion worth of commitments, some old, and some new, focused largely on building upon success to get more kids in school; eliminating malaria deaths by 2015 (yes, that’s got chutzpah – but by acting together it can be done); and renewing efforts against maternal mortality and hunger.

By investing in the fight against extreme poverty we can create new and stable markets where currently there are none; build strong global growth engines that can keep the global economy going when some of us falter; ensure strong health systems; and ensure that other’s instability doesn’t become ours. Above all - because it’s morally the right thing to do.

So now this piece of the campaign goes on to upcoming votes in Brussels on agriculture funding, and a key meeting about financing for development that is happening in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East, at the end of November. We’ll keep you updated on both.

-Jamie Drummond

New Bipartisan Legislation for the Food Crisis

There’s a huge amount of attention this week on Capitol Hill focused on the economy – and rightly so. The economics dominating the news affects all of us. It’s important to note that the current financial crisis could also adversely impact poor countries already suffering from both high food and fuel prices. Understandably, most of the responses to the food crisis to date have been short-term, immediate aid. Governments and aid organizations have been working to get help to the people who are suffering, and that must not be delayed. But short-term responses only treat the symptoms. We need a long-term strategy to prevent future crises from occurring.

This week in the Senate, bipartisan legislation was introduced by Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democratic Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania to begin to target the root causes of the food crisis. This bill, the “Global Food Security Act” (S. 3529), is a smart step forward in what must be a comprehensive and global response to the situation facing millions of people.

According to the Senators’ offices, the bill would authorize $10 billion over 5 years for agricultural productivity and rural development. Drawing on the experience and expertise of U.S. land grant colleges and universities, the bill would create a new program to strengthen institutions of higher education in the areas of agriculture sciences, research, and extension programs. Investments in human capital and institutional capacity are important to developing a robust agricultural sector. It calls for increasing collaborative research on the full range of biotechnological advances including genetically modified technologies. The legislation also would improve the U.S. emergency response to food crises by creating a separate Emergency Food Assistance Fund that can make local and regional purchases of food, where appropriate. The legislation would provide USAID with the flexibility to respond to emergencies more quickly, without supplanting other food programs.

That last point is particularly important in emergency response. Too often, when a food crisis hits a region, current U.S. law limits the American response. This proposal, if enacted, would allow U.S. funds to purchase food supplies in regions much closer to the crisis zone. Instead of waiting for the first shipments of food to arrive from the United States, which can take many days if not weeks, local officials would be able to purchase food from that region’s suppliers, speeding help to the people who are starving.

ONE also believes that we have to address the root of the problem: building the capacity for people in Africa and elsewhere to grow enough food to feed their families while increasing support for long-term rural development efforts. Put simply, the United States should help to provide people with the tools that they need to fend for themselves. When we take those steps, we begin to address the core of the food crisis.

The Lugar-Casey bill is a good approach, and ONE looks forward to working with the Senators to see it approved by Congress.

-Sara Rogge, Senior Trade Policy Advisor

Take Action: Hunger Crisis

Right now, 30 countries are in immediate need of emergency food assistance and essential seeds and fertilizer.

As world leaders meet in NYC this week to discuss the Millennium Development Goals at the UN Summit, ONE members are signing a petition to the G8 leaders asking them to commit critical funding to address the world food crisis. Without addressing this crisis now - all other poverty-fighting efforts will be blunted.

If you haven’t already, please sign today. And if you have, please forward this on to your friends.

Petition text:

Please provide life-saving food and essential seeds and fertilizer to the 30 countries that need it most by filling the 2008 food and agriculture funding gap of $1 billion without delay.

-Virginia Simmons

Take Action: Hunger Crisis

On September 25th, world leaders will convene in NYC for a United Nation summit to renew commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

While all aspects of the MDGs are critical to our work, the reality is that if world leaders don’t immediately address the ongoing devastating world hunger crisis, all other poverty-fighting victories will be blunted.

There are 30 countries in immediate need of emergency food assistance and essential seeds and fertilizer.  These countries have created specific plans to feed the hungry and prevent future crises by enabling people to provide for themselves. Meeting these emergency needs requires $1 billion in funding by the end of this year.

Please click here right away to sign our petition to world leaders.

Petition text:

Please provide life-saving food and essential seeds and fertilizer to the 30 countries that need it most by filling the 2008 food and agriculture funding gap of $1 billion without delay.

As world leaders gather at the UN Summit on the 25th, let’s close the book on the world hunger crisis.

-Virginia Simmons

USAID Expedites Emergency Food Aid

I just wanted to drop a quick update about USAID’s efforts to provide immediate relief to the ongoing food crisis in Ethiopia. As you may know, Ethiopia and other countries in the Horn of Africa have been hit especially hard by the rise in food and fuel prices and drought. In July, the UN warned that more than 14 million people in the region are in need of emergency food aid, with 10.3 million in Ethiopia alone. This new U.S. shipment is an important step in meeting Ethiopia’s urgent food needs and should be accompanied by new investments in agricultural productivity to target long-term food security and help Ethiopia become self-sufficient.

Excerpt below, full piece here.

The shipment includes 9,390 MT of split yellow peas, 6,150 MT of vegetable oil, 6,320 MT of corn soy blend, and 1,400 MT of wheat flour, the agency said in a statement.

“This is only one of multiple strategies USAID is implementing to alleviate impacts of the world food crisis in that region and elsewhere around the world”, it said.

Accordingly, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace plans to provide over 1 million MT of food, valued at more than $857 million, to Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti in fiscal year 2008 in response to the drought emergency affecting the Horn of Africa.

-Chris Scott

Gates to Give

Yesterday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will donate $17.6 million to ease the impact of the continuing global food crisis on the world’s poor.

From the Chronicles of Philanthropy

The largest grant, $10-million, will help the U.N. World Food Program feed young children and mothers in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.

The additional money will be split among Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam America to provide food, jobs, and assistance to farmers in poor countries.

“The current global food crisis requires immediate action to feed people most at risk,” said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program, in a statement.

“In the longer term,” she said, “since agriculture and the needs of small-scale farmers in the developing world have been increasingly neglected in recent decades, we need a significant reinvestment in agricultural development from donors and developing countries that focuses on helping small farmers boost their yields and increase their incomes.”

Food To Fight AIDS

An opinion piece in the Guardian Weekly argues that it’s time Western donors regard food and nutrition as equally important elements to fighting AIDS and other illnesses as the drugs themselves.  

Some excerpts below, the full piece is here.

I wish that all the Aids experts and politicians who gathered in Mexico City last week could have been with me two years ago when I met a young man in a nameless, dusty village in Malawi. It was easily the most memorable encounter of my life – royalty, heads of state, and celebrities included. The man was in his mid-30s and badly emaciated. His eyes were pink at the edges and I remember thinking they were somehow on fire with rage.

But there was really no anger in him – just exhaustion, anguish, confusion. After gently pushing ahead of the others in the crowd, he asked: “Why are you keeping me alive? Why give me these Aids medicines? I am too hungry and weak to work and care for my family. Why torture me this way?”

Tens of billions of dollars have been pledged to combat the disease, yet donor countries have largely overlooked the role of nutrition, somehow managing to ignore both the scientists and the beneficiaries. The donors have been asked for help often enough and there are UN and NGO projects out there to fund, but they are not getting the cash they need to provide good, nutritious food to increasingly desperate people like the man I met in Malawi.

As food prices soar worldwide, poor families are already substituting less nutritious foods for higher-priced meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. For people who are already sick this can have drastic health consequences. The poorest families are being forced to choose between food and medicine for loved ones.

If we do not do a better job of helping poor HIV-affected families today, what chance will the next generation have for health and prosperity? It is time to change the way we help. Drugs alone are not a solution for Aids or TB. What doctor would admit patients to a hospital, give them the most advanced medications – and then leave them to starve