Det drejer sig om penge til en ny særfond for u-landenes jordbrug, der skal sikre mad på bordet til millioner, men som mangler midler – nu udfordrer Washington andre bistandsgivere til at komme på banen og Bill Gates er allerede på vej.
TOKYO, October 12, 2012: At a Ministerial meeting on the margins of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings Friday, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner challenged the international development community to commit new financial resources to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) – a multidonor trust fund established in 2010 to improve food security in the world’s poorest countries.
Se også http://www.gafspfund.org/gafsp
Timothy Geithner stated that the United States is prepared to contribute an additional one US dollar to GAFSP for every two dollar contributed by other donors, up to a total US contribution of 475 million dollar.
Japan and South Korea responded immediately, each pledging an additional 30 million dollar, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation indicated its intent to double its commitment.
The US will also include the pledges (tilsagn) made earlier this year – from Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom – in this challenge, bringing total financial commitments to GAFSP to date to 1,3 billion dollar.
“By investing in GAFSP, we will mobilize funding from a diverse range of sources and set into motion innovative programs that will help communities become more self-sufficient, farmers increase their productivity, and families climb out of poverty,” Geithner said.
Fødevarekrisernes barske virkelighed
International food prices have spiked (toppet) three times in the last five years. Even before the major food price volatility (voldsomme udsving) that began in late 2007, hundreds of millions of people suffered from chronic hunger and malnutrition.
“The real tragedy of volatile food prices is that short-term price spikes have damaging long-term consequences for the world’s poor and most vulnerable,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, adding:
“A mother should not have to choose between feeding her children and sending them to school. Lasting solutions require sustained commitment, coordination and vigilance from the international community. These new commitments are critical to our efforts to end hunger.”
In response to high and volatile food prices, donors and developing countries are working together to increase agricultural productivity, improve food and nutrition security, and better connect farmers to markets so that they can sell their crops and increase their incomes.
“GAFSP is working in partnership with Liberia, and many other countries, to help us achieve our aspirations of a vibrant agricultural sector, healthier, better-fed children, and a dramatic decrease in poverty and hunger,” said President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia.
Landbrugsstøtte kaldes udviklingslokomotiv i særklasse
GAFSP has untill now allocated 658 million dollar to 18 countries and is expected to directly benefit at least 8,2 million people by increasing agricultural productivity, raising rural incomes, and connecting farmers to markets.
Already, some beneficiaries have seen their cereal yields quadruple (firedoblet deres kornudbytte) and have almost doubled their net sales from the project areas.
“The global community must focus on making long-term investments to help small farmers,” said Mr. Geoff Lamb, President of Global Policy & Advocacy at the Gates Foundation, noting:
“Agricultural development is two to four times more effective at reducing hunger and poverty than any other sector, and is a key part of our strategy to combat food insecurity.”
Launched at the request of G20 leaders meeting in 2009, GAFSP represents a global effort to aid vulnerable populations afflicted by hunger and poverty. The program provides funding through two channels, one for the public sector and one for private sector operations.
GAFSP’s public sector window provides grant financing to the governments of low-income countries that have developed comprehensive strategies to improve their own food security.
Demand for GAFSP’s grant resources has far outstripped supply to date and many countries with strong proposals have been turned away due to a lack of financing.
Recognizing the important role that the private sector plays in agriculture, GAFSP’s private sector window invests in small and medium-sized agribusiness companies as well as financial institutions that work with smallholder farmers.
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GAFSP mitigates (lindrer/modvirker) the perceived risks that dissuade some private sector investors from working in the agricultural sector of low-income countries in the past
Meeting participants agreed to reconvene in 2013 to assess progress against the US challenge and to review the status of GAFSP programs.
Donors underscored the commitment to the successful fund, but noted that GAFSP needs additional resources if it is to continue making an impact in developing countries.
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