Global Food for Thought

Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "Yin and Yang of Foreign Aid"

YIN AND YANG OF FOREIGN AID

Here is the Yin and the Yang of development aid spending: In the U.S., it is on the chopping block, threatened by budget cutters sharpening their knives; in China it is on an expansion course, favored by a government seeking to accumulate influence and riches in the developing world, particularly Africa.

Last week, China’s Information Office of the State Council issued a white paper on foreign aid while in the U.S. government forces were massing for the 2012 budget battle.  China said its foreign aid has “increased rapidly,” growing by nearly 30% a year since 2004, and indicated its intention to “strengthen foreign aid in the fields of agriculture, infrastructure, education, healthcare, human resources and clean energy.”  In the U.S., proponents of foreign aid are fighting to hold back cuts, hoping to at best keep spending levels steady.

Invitation to Congressional Briefing on May 5th in D.C.

You are invited to attend a Congressional Breakfast Briefing on the importance of sustaining America’s commitment to food security, taking place on Thursday, May 5 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in B369 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington D.C.

Ms. Caterheine Bertini and Mr. Dan Glickman, cochairs of The Chicago Council’s Global Agricultural Development Initiative, recently traveled to Tanzania and Mozambique to assess food security projects funded by U.S. Agency for International Development, U.N. World Food Program, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.  The co-chairs will share fresh insights into how U.S. tax dollars are being spent on food security projects in Africa and USAID’s Feed the Future program’s progress to date.  With rising food prices contributing to global poverty, hunger, and even political instability, it is critical that we understand the impact that U.S. investments in global agricultural development have around the world.

We hope that you will join us on May 5^th to learn more about this important issue.  To R.S.V.P., please contact The Chicago Council on Global Affairs at 312.821.7553 or email slee@thechicagocouncil.org. Details can also be found here.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "A Measuring Glass"

A MEASURING GLASS

Is the glass one-quarter full or three-quarters empty?

That’s the question after the budget battles for fiscal year 2011 provided $100 million of President Obama’s $408 million request for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).  To those involved in the trench warfare seeking full funding for programs to attack hunger through agriculture development, that even $100 million survived is reason for an ounce of optimism.  For them, the glass is one-quarter full.  As the budget rhetoric heated up, with loud calls to slash all foreign aid, gloom spread that food and agriculture development would be entirely cut.  As it turns out, $100 million is indeed better than zero.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "Building a Movement"

BUILDING A MOVEMENT

To recharge your idealism, there’s nothing better than a trip to a university campus.  I got a double dose last week at Purdue and Northwestern.  I journeyed to both Big Ten campuses to raise the clamor about ending hunger through agriculture development, only to find plenty of clamor already reverberating among students and faculty.

At Purdue, World Food Prize laureate Gebisa Ejeta was cranking up the new Center for Global Food Security.  It brings together students and faculty from many academic disciplines to discover new ways to combat global hunger.  Gebisa, a distinguished professor of agronomy and path-breaking sorghum breeder, believes greater investment in research is needed to meet the “food, feed and fuel needs of humanity” as the world’s crop supply comes under greater pressure from increasing population, changing eating patterns and the push for more ethanol fuel for vehicles.

“We cannot provide for all with the knowledge and resources we have today,” Gebisa says.  “Our food and natural resources problems are getting more complicated.  New science, technology and innovations will be needed.  Furthermore, single-discipline solutions are not going to get it done.  We need more integrated and holistic approaches to research.”

I met a legion of Purdue students eager to enlist in this effort.  These students are focusing on a great range of studies, from soil science and climate change to engineering and journalism, which can all contribute to the fight against hunger.  They are inspired and mentored by a host of professors who have long been working in the farm fields of the developing world.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "A Quiet Clamor"

A QUIET CLAMOR

There’s been a lot of quiet clamor-raising going on recently.

In a church basement in Indiana earlier this week, I watched a letter-writing campaign stir to life.  Letter-writing is a solitary pursuit: sitting alone with pen and paper, or alone with a computer and a printer – and a pen to affix a signature.  It is a lost art in these days of emailing and texting and instant messaging.

But as old-fashioned as it may be – and as silent as it may seem – writing letters to people with political power is still one of the most effective ways to raise a clamor.  Petitions with pages of signatures might impress by sheer volume, but the recipient might wonder how much thought was behind those scribbled names.  And email blasts might quickly fill inboxes, but the click of a mouse button doesn’t capture the passion of an argument.

This Week's Edition of the Global Food for Thought News Brief

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