World leaders agreed today to a new plan to fight global hunger by helping poor countries feed themselves, but refused to say how much they were willing to give.
Countries at the UN food summit pledged to substantially increase aid to agriculture in developing nations, so that the world’s one billion hungry can become more self-sufficient.
In effect, the 192 countries were essentially endorsing the strategy adopted by the world’s wealthiest nations at the Group of Eight summit this summer in L’Aquila, Italy.
With the world's hungry topping one billion for the first time in history, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had called the summit, hoping that leaders would commit to raising the share of official aid spent on agriculture to 17 per cent of the total - its 1980 level - from 5 per cent now. That would amount to $44 billion a year, up from $7.9 billion now.
But the final declaration includes only a general promise to pour more money into agricultural aid, with no target or time frame for action.
Shortly after the delegates rejected the funding appeal, Pope Benedict spoke to them to decry “opulence and waste” in a world where the “tragedy” of hunger has been steadily worsening.
The pope, lending his moral authority as head of the world’s Catholics, also called for access to international markets for products coming from the poorest countries, which he said are often relegated to the sidelines.
He urged delegates to keep the “fundamental rights of the individual” in mind when shaping new agricultural strategy. People are entitled to “sufficient, health and nutritious food” as well as water, he said.
The UN agency, which is hosting the three-day summit at its headquarters near Rome, had also hoped countries would adopt 2025 as a deadline to eradicate hunger. But the declaration instead focused on a pledge set nine years ago to halve the number of hungry people by 2015.
Shortly before delegates approved the declaration, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urged rich and powerful countries to tackle “unacceptable” global hunger. “The world has more than enough food,” he told delegates. “Yet, today, more than one billion people are hungry. This is unacceptable.”
So far, helping the world’s hungry has largely entailed wealthy nations sending food assistance rather than technology, irrigation help, fertiliser or high-yield seed that could assist local farmers, livestock herders and fishermen. Much of this food assistance is purchased from the wealthy countries’ own farmers.
But the FAO argues the best way to stop hunger is to help the needy help themselves, and the final declaration agreed to do that. This approach “lies at the core of food security,” Mr Ban said. “Our job is not just to feed the hungry, but to empower the hungry to feed themselves.”
Last year's rise in the price of food staples such as rice and wheat sparked riots in 60 countries, hoarding and a scramble by rich food importers to buy foreign farmland, pushing food shortages and hunger up the political agenda. Food prices have fallen back since, but they remain high in poor countries.
A G8 summit in July pledged $20 billion over the next three years to boost agricultural development, in a big policy shift towards long-term strategies and away from emergency food aid.
Other than Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, G8 leaders skipped the food summit. Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Libya's Muammar Gadafy were among those in attendance.
UN officials said those dismissing the summit because G8 leaders are not taking part were wrong, arguing the aim was to get poorer countries on board in the fight against hunger.
Reuters