FAO World Food Summit in the News

Nov 18th, 2009 10:01 AM EST
By Pooja Gupta

This week we’re tracking the World Food Summit, which is taking place in Rome. Check out the articles below to see what major news outlets are saying about the summit, including the link between food security and climate change and child health, as well as how the events are going in Rome. Let us know what you think and keep checking the ONE blog for updates on the Summit, which ends tomorrow.

At UN Food Summit, Ban Ki-Moon Warns of Rise in Child Hunger Deaths (Christian Science Monitor)
To open the World Food Summit in Rome yesterday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon underscored the plight of children suffering from starvation, saying that more than 17,000 children die of starvation every day—six million children each year. Many groups expressed outrage that malnutrition exists to such an extent despite surpluses in world food production. Many were discouraged by the lack of specific financial pledges from the Summit and the lackluster attendance by world leaders: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the only G8 leader present.

UN: Climate Change Deal Key to Fighting Hunger (Voice of America)
At the opening of the summit yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced that a global climate deal is essential to fight global hunger. There can be no food security without climate security, said Mr. Ban, calling the food crisis “a wake-up call.” By 2050, the world may need to grow 70 percent more food to feed an estimated 2 billion additional people, he said, but extreme and unpredictable weather caused by climate change will make it difficult to do so.

World Leaders at UN Summit Vow to Aid Farmers in Bid to Help Starving (The Times Online)
Yesterday, world leaders agreed on a strategy to help the world’s one billion starving people by increasing aid to farmers in developing countries, but failed to pledge the specific funds the UN had hoped for. The FAO had asked for a $44 billion a year commitment for agricultural aid and a 2050 deadline for eradicating world hunger altogether. Instead, summit delegates confirmed the current target of halving the number of chronically hungry people by 2015, a commitment first made nine years ago. The FAO emphasized that the way to help poor farmers is to empower them by supplying agricultural equipment, irrigation technology, fertilizers and better seeds, rather than food aid.

Economic Revival Carries ‘Food Price Surge Risk’ (Financial Times)
Yesterday, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the FAO warned that food prices may surge again as the global economy recovers. Diouf warned that many of the same structural problems that led to last year’s spike in food prices are present again, including lack of investment, high demand in Asia and the conversion of food commodities into biofuels, adding that “we have all the elements of a crisis.” He encouraged countries to consider investing in technology to raise farmer productivity while other global food companies urged policymakers to boost investment in infrastructure spending.

Some Nations Successful in Global Hunger Fight: FAO (AFP)
Today, the FAO announced that some countries have made significant progress in the fight against hunger. According to the FAO, sixteen countries have already reached the goal of reducing hunger levels by 50 percent by 2015, an accomplishment which FAO chief Jacques Diouf lauded as evidence of “an unflagging commitment on the part of governments of developing countries themselves and energetic support by the international community.” Moving forward, the FAO emphasized the importance of a favorable economic environment, targeted investment, and sensible planning to be successful in the fight against hunger.

What do we want from Copenhagen?

Nov 9th, 2009 11:03 AM EST
By Joseph Powell

As policy makers prepare to meet to negotiate a global climate deal next month in Copenhagen everyone at ONE will be doing their upmost to ensure the best possible deal for the world’s poorest communities, especially in Africa.

In advance of the meeting ONE has released a new policy paper ‘Africa and the Global Climate Deal’ that outlines the key elements of ‘good’ deal for Africa.

We believe that the developed world need to commit to deep and binding emissions cuts of at least 20% of 1990 CO2 levels by 2020 in order to mitigate against a rise in global average temperature of over 20C (the amount above which climate scientists agree will cause lasting, irreversible damage to the planet).

On helping developing countries cope with the effects of climate change, we agree that at least the World Bank estimate that between $75-100 billion will be needed annually. This should come from a mixture of private and public finance sources, with contributing countries ensuring that the money is truly additional to pledges that have already been made on development assistance.

In short, climate change is not a crisis of Africa’s making, yet it is Africans, especially the poorest, who will suffer the first and the worst. Not only does it add yet another challenge for those struggling to combat extreme poverty and disease by exacerbating the conditions of poverty, but it threatens to erode the gains that have been made in recent years.

We need the negotiators at Copenhagen to simply know that they cannot afford to fail.

A starting position from the EU

Oct 30th, 2009 5:54 PM EST
By Jessica Gomez-Duran

The European Council has just wrapped up this afternoon. One of the aims of this European Council was to firmly establish the EU’s position ahead of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December and the conclusions from the meeting have now been published.

At a time when some of the press coverage around the potential of a global deal being struck in Copenhagen has been a bit negative, momentum can now roll on from this meeting through to the finance ministers in Scotland next week and onwards to Barcelona and a pre meeting of negotiators, and finally (in theory) to Copenhagen itself .

There are some really important messages coming out of the European Council, with strong language on all aspects of climate change and also a conditional offer from the European Union to do more if other countries/blocs step up to the plate.

Here are a few highlights and extracts from the Presidential conclusions:

- The European Council emphasise the need for a legally binding agreement for the period starting 1 January 2013 based on the Kyoto protocol and includes all of its essential features

- They call upon all Parties to embrace the 2°C objective and to agree to global emission reductions of at least 50%, and aggregate developed country emission reductions of at least 80-95%, as part of such global emission reductions, by 2050 compared to 1990 levels

- They also agree that by 2020, the mitigation and adaptation costs to developing countries could be around 100 billion Euro a year and that this should be met though a mixture of private and public finance. The EU Member States are ready to contribute its fair share of these costs

- All international parties should commit that climate financing would not undermine or jeopardize progress towards the Millennium Development Goals

This means the EU will be heading to the December summit with a strong negotiation position. African and other developing country negotiators in Copenhagen will be looking for more, but some participants in Copenhagen coming from other industrialised major emitting nations may be looking to do less. And so the negotiations on financing finally begin in earnest. The European Council taking place on 10 – 11 December (half way through the UN climate summit) will be able to review the early stages of Copenhagen in order to make any necessary decisions. Keep checking back for further updates.

G7 could do more for world’s poorest

Oct 29th, 2009 12:45 PM EST
By Pooja Gupta

Last Thursday, the Center for Global Development (CGD) released the 2009 Commitment to Development Index (CDI), their annual ranking of rich countries based on their policies to help the developing world. CGD has published the CDI since 2003 in an effort to move beyond looking at just aid and evaluate whether rich nations are living up to their policy commitments in all areas of development. The CDI ranks 22 rich nations for their policies and actions to support poor nations to achieve greater prosperity, good government and security. Namely, these nations are scored in seven major policy areas: quantity and quality of aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security and technology.

Sweden topped the 2009 CDI rankings while none of the Group of 7 (G7) nations, the world’s most industrialized nations, were scored in the top 10. Among the G7, Canada scored the best, coming in at 11th, followed by France, Germany and the UK, all tied for 12th. The United States was ranked 17th, scoring highest in trade and lowest in overall aid. Collectively, the G7 did best in the investment and trade policy areas and worst in the aid and migration components. Rankings for Canada, US, Japan and Germany remained largely the same as in 2008, but the UK dropped from sixth to 12th, mostly due to falling scores on the aid and security components. France improved from 16th to 12th and Italy moved up from 20th to 18th. South Korea, only its second year included in the CDI, remained in last place.

According to the CDI, the G7 is not using their full potential to attack global poverty: “It is the United States, Germany, France, Japan and the other economies that have multiple linkages and potential in absolute terms to make a difference for poor countries,” said CGD president Nancy Birdsall, “their failure to use it to the fullest is a blow to the cause of truly shared global prosperity.”

Global Fund announces largest single malaria initiative in history

Oct 26th, 2009 1:33 PM EST
By Pooja Gupta

Today, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria announced the largest single malaria initiative ever signed by the Global Fund, which will provide the resources for 30 million bed-nets in Nigeria. Each year, there are approximately 57 million cases of malaria in Nigeria, causing an estimated 225,000 deaths annually.

As part of its efforts to eliminate malaria, Nigeria aims to place two bed nets in every household in the country by distributing 62 million bed nets by December 2010. Global Fund grants will provide half of this total. Other contributors include: the World Bank, DFiD, USAID, UNITAID, UNICEF and the Nigerian government.

“I am extremely pleased that our partnership with Nigeria continues to grow: it shows Nigeria’s strong commitment to fight malaria, and strengthens our relationship since Nigeria is also a Global Fund donor,” said Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Nigeria is showing why reaching global targets for malaria is no longer fanciful but something that can actually be achieved,” he said.

The malaria grants signed today amount to US$ 285 million over two years. The Global Fund used a flexible approach by signing, in July 2009, an interim agreement to allow for the timely distribution of 3.4 millions bed nets, which have just arrived in country in time for the mass distribution campaign planned for December this year. Two other grants were also signed, one for tuberculosis for US$40 million and one for Health Systems Strengthening for US$55 million.

No clear winner

Oct 23rd, 2009 4:21 PM EST
By Beth Adler

On Monday, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced that they would not award their $5 million prize for excellence in African leadership this year. The Foundation, created by Sudanese telecommunications mogul Mo Ibrahim, has awarded the prize for the past two years to encourage responsible, democratic leadership across Africa. The prize, given last year to former president of Botswana, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, is awarded to a former African leader who has demonstrated excellence in leadership, served their term in office within the limits set by the country’s constitution, and has left office in the last three years. The guidelines for the prize, however, stipulate that if there is no exceptional candidate in a given year, then the prize will not be awarded.

The prize is only one part of the Foundation’s larger effort to promote good governance and highlight leadership on the African continent; it acts as an effective complement to the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. The Index, the third iteration of which was released recently, is a comprehensive ranking of African governments. In the 2009 Index, each country is measured by 84 indicators grouped into four categories: Safety and Security, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human Development.

Overall, Southern Africa was the best performing region with Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho all included in the top 10. Southern African country Mauritius claimed the top spot in the rankings, coming in first in all four categories, followed by Cape Verde, Seychelles and Botswana. North Africa was the second-best overall performer, followed by West Africa and East Africa. According to the index, Central Africa was the worst-performing region on the continent with all seven of its countries scoring outside the top 20. Somalia ranked as the worst-governed nation in Africa, behind Zimbabwe and Chad. Rwanda was ranked surprisingly poorly in this year’s index: the country dropped to 32 from its place at 18 last year.

This year’s index includes data from both 2007 and 2008, making it one of the most current measurements of African governance. It also includes new indicators as well as a new framework for assessing governance comprehensively on the continent. For the first time, rather than focusing only on sub-Saharan Africa, the 2009 index includes measurements for North Africa. The index now measures all 53 African countries, allowing for a look at governance in Africa as a whole. Paul Collier, author of the Bottom Billion and Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford praised the Ibrahim index, lauding its comprehensive and unbiased nature as well as the fact that “it is an exclusively African undertaking.”

In an op-ed released on Monday, Ibrahim discussed the importance of African governance, saying: “Ultimately, both the index and the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the $5m prize we award to former African leaders, are about improving the lives of Africans through better governance and excellence in leadership.” The work of the Mo Ibrahim foundation, both through the prize and the Index on governance, is extremely important in highlighting the crucial issue of good governance in Africa. According to the 2009 Index about half of African countries did improve this year. However, having no clear winner for the prize indicates how much more work there is to do.

Canada announces food security initiative

Oct 20th, 2009 12:54 PM EST
By Beth Adler

On Friday Canada’s Minister of International Cooperation, Beverly Oda, unveiled the Canadian International Development Agency’s (CIDA) Food Security Strategy in an important step towards actualizing Canada’s pledge from the 2009 G8 summit. Canada has made global food security one of its key priorities. The outlined strategy is intended to address the residual impact of the food crisis, as well as the effects of the current economic crisis and climate change on developing countries, through sustainable and effective initiatives.

Minister Oda announced that “CIDA will follow three paths: food aid including nutrition, agriculture, and research toward helping developing countries become more food self-sufficient, an essential base for all long-term development…” The strategy includes measures for short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives designed to assist the poorest—like the developing world’s smallholder farmers—in weathering external shock like food shortages, and addressing obstacles to economic growth like constraints on market access and agricultural productivity.

On Friday the Minister also announced a new Canadian International Food Security (CIFS) Research Fund. This $62-million fund, a joint venture between CIDA and the International Development Research Centre, will support research partnerships between Canadian and developing-country organizations to conduct research activities that will help address food insecurity.

The Food Security Strategy builds on Canada’s commitment at the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila to more than double its investment in funding for food security and agriculture (including food aid) with an additional $600 million in funding over three years. It is essential that these commitments, when operationalized, work in close partnership with developing countries. Activities must take into account the needs of poor, smallholder farmers, and work to harness the potential for smallholder farmers to increase agricultural productivity and contribute to food security in their communities and regions.

Canada will be hosting the 2010 G8 summit, and we are looking forward to seeing CIDA’s Food Security Initiative in action in the fight against hunger and poverty.

Does trade improve the quality of jobs in poor countries?

Oct 14th, 2009 4:50 PM EST
By Mikiko Imai

Apparently not, according to the new report from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The surge in global trade over the last two decades has failed to improve working conditions and living standards in many developing countries. Although trade has contributed to growth and development worldwide, many of the jobs created in developing countries have appeared in the informal sector. Informal sector jobs tend to be the most vulnerable, characterised by less job security, lower incomes and an absence of access to social benefits. Yet, in many African and South Asian countries, as much as 60 percent of the country’s labour force is employed by this sector. In turn, these vulnerable labour market conditions have prevented developing countries from fully benefiting from globalisation. The report warns that this situation is likely to worsen as a result of the global financial crisis.

What can we do about this? The WTO’s chief Pascal Lamy encourages putting in place proper domestic policies to create good jobs in developing countries. The report recommends a number of ways to make trade policies more closely aligned with job issues in developing countries, including better coordination between trade and labour policies, and implementing policies to encourage formalisation of employment. Rich country governments also need to support poorer country governments in doing so, and enhanced trade capacity building assistance is one way to do this.

Read the report here

Investment in Africa expected to fall in ‘09

Oct 12th, 2009 3:49 PM EST
By Pooja Gupta

In case we needed further evidence of the tough times ahead for the world’s poorest countries, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released their 2009 World Investment Report last week demonstrating that foreign direct investment (FDI) around the world has been significantly affected by the global economic crisis. Global investment is essential for economic recovery and sustained growth, meaning the lack of foreign direct investment could indicate a slower and weaker economic turnaround and more obstacles for developing countries.

The report found that in the short run, global foreign direct investment is expected to be low. After peaking at $1.98 trillion in 2007, global FDI inflows having been falling since and preliminary data for the first quarter of 2009 shows that inflows fell by 44 percent compared to the same period last year. By the end of 2009, global inflows are expected to fall to below $1.2 billion. Medium-term prospects are slightly more optimistic and gradual recovery is predicted in 2010. However, growth will only significantly accelerate in 2011.

In sub-Saharan Africa, despite an increase in FDI inflows from $44.38 billion in 2007 to about $63.65 billion in 2008, initial data indicates that FDI inflows to every sub-Saharan region except Southern Africa will decrease in 2009, a significant change after five years of consistent growth.

Africa’s trade links (or the lack thereof) in pictures

Oct 9th, 2009 4:02 PM EST
By Mikiko Imai

Here at ONE, we often talk about the fact that Africa’s share of world trade, at around 3.5%, is the smallest of any region in the world. This is concerning because this means that African countries have not been able to reap the opportunities of global trade. Trade and investment could spur economic growth that could in turn help countries work their way out of poverty, but sub-Saharan African countries face some of the world’s greatest challenges in accessing local, regional, and global markets.

William Easterly, Professor of Economics at New York University, introduces a fascinating collection of graphics which illustrates just how scarce the trade links between Africa and the rest of the world is. You can read his blog here.