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Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "The Return of the Budget Slashers"

THE RETURN OF THE BUDGET SLASHERS

Here we go again.

No sooner, it seems, did agriculture development spending fairly well survive the budget slashing for 2011 and 2012 then it is under attack again in the 2013 deliberations.  The House yesterday, working along party lines, passed a budget plan which nakedly proposes to kill the Obama administration’s Feed the Future initiative.

The plan, crafted by the House budget committee chaired by Paul Ryan, includes a paragraph titled “Eliminate Feed the Future.”  It says:

“Initiated by the Obama administration in 2009, Feed the Future aims to end global food insecurity through investments in nutrition and agriculture abroad.  While addressing the issues of poverty and malnutrition around the globe is important, the U.S. Government’s fiscal condition does not permit the expansion of U.S. foreign assistance initiatives, especially ones that overlap with existing programs.  The United States currently has two other major food aid programs: Food for Peace (the primary food aid account) and the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.  Both of these aid programs address global food insecurity in the world’s poorest countries, including through agricultural development efforts.  This budget reflects a need to consolidate our food air programs in order to eliminate associated costs with mission redundancy.”

This is wrong on so many levels, factually, logically, morally.

World Bank Candidate Shares His Vision

March 29
By Sung Lee

Jim Yong Kim, the U.S. nominee for the presidency of the World Bank, outlined his vision in the Op-Ed, "My call for an open, inclusive World Bank."  Dr. Kim said, “My own life and work have led me to believe that inclusive development – investing in human beings – is an economic and moral imperative.”  He has embarked on a two-week trip to cities including Addis Ababa, New Delhi, Brasilia, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, and Mexico city to seek advice and to garner support for his candidacy.  Other candidates are Jose Antonion Ocampo, a former Colombian finance minister and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a current Nigerian finance minister.

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.

My call for an open, inclusive World Bank, Opinion, Jim Yong Kim, Financial Times, March 28
My message is simple: an era of extraordinary opportunity requires an extraordinary global institution. I want to hear from developing countries, as well as those that provide a big share of the resources to development, about how we can together build a more inclusive, responsive and open World Bank. A more inclusive World Bank will have the resources to advance its core mission of poverty reduction.

World Bank Candidate Hails Emerging Countries, Wall Street Journal, March 28
Mr. Ocampo, a former finance minister now working as a professor at New York's Columbia University, has engaged in a campaign for a job that will almost certainly go to the U.S. candidate, Jim Yong Kim, a South Korea-born American physician serving as Dartmouth College President. Mr. Ocampo criticized the seven-decade old tradition in which the top job at the bank has always been assigned to an American.

Ocampo hopes to open World Bank leadership to all, Reuters, March 29
Former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonion Ocampo knows he faces a tough battle to head the World Bank but he hopes his bid will pave the way for developing countries to one day lead the global development institution. Ocampo said the developing world was now better organized.

Leading scientists launch action plan on food security, SciDev, March 29
The Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change outlined seven recommendations designed to be carried out simultaneously by different parties such as consumers, governments, international institutions, investors and researchers. The commission called for changes to agriculture, development aid, diet choices, finance, food waste and policy, as well as revitalized investment in the knowledge systems to support these changes.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security Headlines

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.
March 28
By Sung Lee

Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, IPCC, March 28
Extreme weather and climate events, interacting with exposed and vulnerable human and natural systems, can lead to disasters. This Special Report explores the social as well as physical dimensions of weather- and climate-related disasters, considering opportunities for managing risks at local to international scales.

African agriculture: Dirt poor, Opinion, Natasha Gilbert, Nature, March 28
Fertilizers make such a profound difference here because the rusty red soil, as in many parts of Africa, is deficient in organic matter and in key nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. By farming intensively without replenishing soil nutrients, farmers across sub-Saharan Africa have lost an average of 22 kilograms of nitrogen, 2.5 kilograms of phosphorus, and 15 kilograms of potassium per hectare annually over the past 30 years. Agricultural experts worry that Africa's soil problems are heading towards a crisis.

Kenya to host sub-Saharan Africa's largest windfarm, Guardian, March 28
The ambitious project, which is backed by the African Development Bank, marks the largest single private investment in Kenya's history, and should allow the country to diversify from hydroelectric power, which provides around 60% of its electricity needs but is prone to drought and irregular rainfall, leading to blackouts and shortages that dampen economic growth.

How to Eradicate Hunger: Economically Empowering Rural Women, Forbes, March 27
Prior to joining FAO, Tutwiler served as Coordinator of Global Food Security in the Office of the US Secretary of Agriculture. Previously, she served as Senior Advisor for the Africa Bureau of the US Agency for International Development and prior to that, from 2006 to 2009, was the Managing Director for Agricultural Markets at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Secretary Geithner Testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations

March 27
By Sung Lee

Secretary Geithner testified this morning before the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs on the President’s FY2013 International Programs Budget Request. Treasury’s FY 2013 request is $2.9 billion, which is $463 million below last year’s request.  Secretary Geithner said that the multilateral development banks: 1) directly support U.S. business growth abroad and strengthen U.S. national security; and 2) provide the most effective means to maximize the impact of taxpayers’ dollars.  He said, “with just a 5 percent share of the 150 account, Treasury’s international funding will unleash nearly $80 billion in MDB commitments in FY 2013 alone.” On Food Security, the U.S. committed over $300 million to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).  According to the Secretary, this funding will continue to increase the incomes and food security of 7.5 million poor farmers and help them build the capacity to withstand against future shocks.  Secretary Geithner’s testimony is available here.

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.

What it takes to keep U.S. safe today, Opinion, Gen. Michael W. Hagee and Adm. James M. Loy, Politico, March 27
The development and diplomacy programs are a critical part of our national security. Even as our policy leaders work to put our fiscal house in order, we cannot leave this vital investment out in the cold. At slightly more than 1 percent of the federal budget, these programs are effective and efficient ways to confront the multifaceted threats we face today. Not just in terms of dollars, but more important, in lives saved.

Investing in agriculture most effective way to eradicate poverty in Africa, UN News Center, March 26
“Increasing investment in agriculture is essential to achieving the MDGs,” said the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Kanayo F. Nwanze. “Investments in agriculture are more effective in lifting people out of poverty than investments in any other sector – they not only drive economic growth and set the stage for long-term sustainable development, they pay high dividends in terms of quality of life and dignity for poor rural people.”

The importance of international aid, Opinion, Daniel W. Christman, Post Gazette, March 26
Today our leadership is needed in the world as never before, and we have to leverage all of our tools of foreign policy to protect our interests, create jobs here at home and keep our families safe. One of the best ways we can do this is through our International Affairs Budget, which provides essential funding for our development and diplomatic operations, alongside defense, to protect our national security and keep our economy growing.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security News

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.

March 26
By Sung Lee

BRICS boost foreign aid spending on health, Reuters, March 26
Some of the so-called BRICS countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, have traditionally received aid, but fast economic growth over the past decade is turning them into new donors to the world's poor. China and Brazil are leading the pack, increasing aid spending by more than 20 percent from 2005 to 2010.

UN moves to curb farmland grabs, Financial Times, March 25
The new voluntary guidelines won the consensus of nearly 100 countries this month after three years of negotiations and are now set to be ratified in May at a special session in Rome of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Farmland has become a hotspot not only for countries, agricultural groups and commodities trading houses, but also for institutional investors.

Canada, Japan launch free-trade talks, Globe and Mail, March 25
Two-way trade between the countries stood at $22.6-billion in 2010, and Mr. Harper said a new treaty could boost Canada’s exports there by 60 per cent. Canada now ships mainly agricultural products and natural resources to the Asian economic giant, though there is a substantial manufacturing component.

Jim Kim to the World Bank, Editorial, Wall Street Journal, March 25
Jim Yong Kim's surprise nomination for World Bank president is bad for both the bank and Dartmouth College. The latter will lose an excellent leader and as for the former, well, Dr. Kim is better than an institution that ought to be wound down really deserves. President Obama passed over the usual roster of Wall Street retreads and ex-politicians angling for a sinecure in favor of the medical doctor and Dartmouth president, and he's an inspired pick.

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

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Roger Thurow - Outrage and Inspire - "Developments at the Development Bank"

DEVELOPMENTS AT THE DEVELOPMENT BANK

I’m surprised that “surprise” is a word being used to describe President Obama’s nomination of Jim Yong Kim to head the World Bank.  Surprise, perhaps, over the specific name, because Dr. Kim hadn’t figured prominently in the speculation of who would replace current World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

But there should be no surprise over the intention of the nomination: to select someone who has been deeply and passionately immersed in development and poverty reduction efforts to run the world’s largest poverty-reduction institution.  In fact, it makes all the sense in the world.

As President Obama said today as he nominated Dr. Kim, “The leader of the World Bank should have a deep understanding of both the role that development plays in the world and the importance of creating conditions where assistance is no longer needed.  It’s time for a development professional to lead the world’s largest development agency.”

Past leaders of the World Bank have been economists and trade specialists and defense experts and diplomats. Now comes Dr. Kim (traditionally, Washington selects the president of the World Bank, while the Europeans name the head of the International Monetary Fund).  A Korean-American, he is a global health expert who co-founded Partners in Health, a nonprofit that provides health care for the poor in some of the most wretched places on earth.  Most recently the president of Dartmouth College, Dr. Kim is also a former director of the department of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organization.

President Obama Nominates Dr. Jim Yong Kim to Lead World Bank

March 23
By Sung Lee

Today, President Obama nominated Dr. Jim Yong Kim to lead the World Bank. President Obama said, “The World Bank is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty and raise standards of living around the globe, and Jim’s personal experience and years of service make him an ideal candidate for this job.” The White House's official statement is available here.

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.

Dartmouth President Is Obama’s Pick for World Bank, New York Times, March 23
Dr. Kim, highly respected among aid experts, is an anthropologist and a physician who co-founded Partners in Health, a nonprofit that provides health care for the poor, and a former director of the Department of H.I.V./AIDS at the World Health Organization. Dr. Kim, who was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2003, was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1959 and moved with his family to the United States when he was five.

US Warns of Global Water Insecurity, VOA News, March 22
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said access to water is critical for the health and growth of society, while a new U.S. intelligence report warns of the risks of instability resulting from water challenges over the next decade. "Reliable access to water is essential for feeding the family, running the industries that promote jobs, generating the energy that fuels national growth, and certainly it is central when we think about how climate change will affect future generations," said Clinton.

Global Hunger: Let’s Talk Game Change, Opinion, Paul Weisenfeld, USAID, March 22
Through Feed the Future, we're addressing the root causes of hunger and undernutrition by working with countries to help them develop their own resilient agricultural sectors so they can feed themselves over the long-term. Our efforts recognize the importance of providing critical humanitarian assistance to save lives and protect livelihoods in times of need, but ultimately, our hope and goal is to create the conditions where our assistance is no longer necessary.

Uganda: Water Is Key to Food Security, AllAfrica, March 23
Producing food crops for livestock, slaughtering and processing meat, milk and other dairy products require large amounts of water. This makes the water foot print of animal products particularly high. The water footprint is the way of measuring direct and indirect water use. The water footprint is the total volume of water that is used to produce goods and services consumed by an individual, a community or a business.

 

Today's Agriculture and Food Security Headlines

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.

March 22
By Sung Lee

FAO Statistical Yearbook 2012, FAO, March 2012
Through employing data from global statistical providers, including FAO, the publication presents a visual synthesis of the major trends and factors shaping the global food and agricultural landscape and their interplay with broader environmental, social and economic dimensions. In doing so, it strives to serve as a unique reference point on the state of world food and agriculture for policy-makers, donor agencies, researchers and analysts as well as the general public.

Growth with Resilience: Opportunities in African Agriculture, Montpellier Panel, Imperial College, March 2012
Resilient agricultural growth doesn’t happen by itself - it needs pro-active policy design and investment. The challenge is to generate agricultural growth that produces enough food, ensures it is accessible to all, is inclusive of the most vulnerable and is resilient, and hence able to withstand the increasing multiple stresses and shocks that afflict the world.

Growth With Resilience: An Opportunity for African Agriculture, Opinion, Sir Gordon Conway, Huffington Post, March 21
Economic growth in low income countries has been, in part, driven by faster agricultural growth. Agricultural development is the best route to achieving economic growth that reaches the rural poor and most vulnerable. As is evident from the experience of recent years, failure to ensure universal food security not only threatens political stability, social welfare and economic growth but hampers global trade and global security.

The Water-Energy-Food Security Challenge: America As The Global Savior?, Opinion, Upmarnu Lall, Huffington Post, March 22
The US led the Green Revolution in the 20th century. It is time to do it again, but for the global good. The stakes are higher. The global water crisis is upon us, and it is time that the US played a direct role in the sustainable development of the world's water and food. It would help not just the global poor and freshwater ecology. It would strengthen the backbone of the US economy, and provide an avenue for our youth to be global emissaries with a sense of purpose.