Hunger Crisis
April - July, 2008
As prices for staple foods essential to the world's poorest people soared to record highs in 2008, more than 140,000 ONE members signed our petition to President George W. Bush asking him to work to get the hunger crisis on the agenda at the 2008 G8 Summit, and to secure additional commitments for all types of food assistance and increased agricultural productivity in developing countries.
Overview
In just a few years prices for staple foods, needed to feed billions of people around the world, rose to record levels, with prices for wheat, corn and rice increasing more than 80%. The steady increase in prices culminated in food riots and other disturbances in at least 18 countries, threatening to destabilise poor regions, push millions more below the poverty line, and reverse years of ground gained in the fight against global poverty.
ONE members stepped up to meet this crisis. More than 140,000 members called on U.S. President George W. Bush and the G8 to take action by putting the food crisis on the agenda for the July 2008 G8 Summit, and by making commitments to increase funding for food aid and long-term agricultural programmes.
At the Summit, the G8 nations collectively announced more than $10 billion for both short and long term efforts to deal with the hunger crisis and its effects. They also released a communiqué outlining their intended mid to long term response to food and agriculture, which included reversing the decline in aid and investment to the agricultural sector, fully implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), achieving a 6.2% annual growth rate in agriculture productivity, supporting research and development, improving infrastructure and food security early warning systems, helping countries adapt to climate change, and ensuring compatibility between policies on sustainable bio-fuel production and food security.
Although there continues to be a great need for increased attention to agricultural development in the developing world, the focus of the G8 on this issue at a key moment helped to call attention to the decades-long decline in funding for agriculture.
Campaign Milestones
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Apr 16 2008
ONE Launches Petition
ONE launches a petition to President Bush asking him to make global poverty and the hunger crisis a priority at the 2008 G8 Summit and to work to secure emergency aid commitments to deal with this crisis threatening to push 100 million people deeper into poverty.
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Apr 20 2008
Ban Ki-Moon Sets Up UN Task Force
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon sets up a UN task force to address the hunger crisis.
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Apr 21 2008
Japanese Prime Minister Add Hunger Crisis to G8 Agenda
Japanese Prime Minister and 2008 G8 President Yasuo Fukuda adds the hunger crisis to the 2008 G8 Summit agenda, promising that it will be the subject of “in-depth discussions with a strong sense of urgency.”
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Apr 23 2008
Zoellick Calls for Global Action on the World Hunger Crisis
World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick calls for global action on the world hunger crisis, applauding Prime Minister Fukuda’s action and calling for “short, medium and long term” responses to the immediate crisis and its underlying causes.
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May 1 2008
ONE Members Deliver Petition to President Bush
Just hours after ONE members drop off our petition with more than 100,000 signatures to President Bush, he holds a press conference calling for $770 million in emergency food aid to combat the global hunger crisis.
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May 7 2008
David Lane Records Video Message
ONE President and CEO David Lane records a video message reflecting on the successes ONE members have had in the hunger crisis campaign, as well as the work ahead.
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May 29 2008
World Bank Offers $1.2 Billion
The World Bank offers $1.2 Billion in a rapid-response emergency funding facility that will provide short, medium, and long term funding to countries most in need.
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Jun 3 2008
Major Food Security Summit in Rome
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations holds a major summit on food security in Rome, bringing together world leaders to deal with this urgent issue.
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Jul 9 2008
2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan Wraps Up
The 2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan unveils a new plan to tackle the global hunger crisis. The G8 pledges to support a variety of agriculture- and food security-related initiatives, but does not make a specific monetary commitment that would bring them in line with the UN High Level Task Force’s Comprehensive Framework for Action (CFA) recommendation of $25-40 billion per year for global agricultural initiatives.
Quick Facts
83%
Prices of staple foods rose by as much as 83% between 2005 and 2008, with wheat and rice prices hitting 28- and 19-year peaks. According to the World Bank, crop prices are expected to remain well above 2004 levels until at least 2015. But international funding for agriculture has been at very low levels for the past 15 years -- the percentage of official development assistance going to agriculture fell from over 16% in 1980 to under 4% by 2004.
More than 140,000
More than 140,000 ONE members signed the hunger crisis petition to President George W. Bush.
On the agenda
One of the top issues discussed at the 2008 G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, was the hunger crisis, resulting in new commitments to reverse the decline in agriculture funding.
Impact
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Hunger Crisis
The G8, led by Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, made the hunger crisis a top priority at their 2008 Summit.
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