Global Food for Thought

Today's Agriculture and Food Security News

April 11
By Sung Lee

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

African Business Leader Appointed New President of AGRA, AllAfrica, April 11
Kofi Annan, Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, announced the appointment of a renowned African business leader from Kenya, Ms Jane Karuku, as the new president of the organization. Ms Karuku's career has spanned over 20 years, most of which has been spent in the agricultural sector. She joins AGRA from Telkom Kenya a subsidiary of France Telecom-Orange where she has been Deputy Chief Executive. She takes over from Dr Namanga Ngongi who is retiring after five years as the first president of AGRA.

Biotech Can Safeguard Africa's Breadbasket, Opinion, Filbert Arap Bor, Wall Street Journal, April 10
There is no simple solution to Africa's problems, and the root causes involve everything from political instability to unrelenting poverty. Genetically modified crops will guard against one of the most significant threats to farming in Africa: crop failure. Pest outbreaks can turn an excellent harvest into a rotten one almost overnight. Biotechnology offers seeds that will grow into healthy plants that naturally fight off insect predators.

"It Takes A Village" And More To Change Lives In Uganda, Opinion, Helene D. Gayle, Huffington Post, April 10
Nongovernmental organizations, community groups, governments and the private sector need to continue to work together as partners to create strong programs. Together, we can create integrated programs that will enable more women to stand on their own and contribute to the wellbeing of their families.

UN agencies warn of ‘dramatic’ crisis brewing in Africa’s Sahel region, Washington Post, April 10
The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said the situation in the 3,400-mile zone that stretches from the Atlantic to the Red Sea is suffering from lack of attention because of the conflict in Syria. The region, which includes countries such as Mali, Chad and Niger has been hit hard by political instability and three droughts in less than 10 years. A U.N. appeal in December for $724 million to fund aid operations in the Sahel has elicited only half that amount so far, Guterres said.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security Headlines

April 10
By Sung Lee

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

US and Brazil Partner to Improve Food Security in the Americas, USAID, April 9
The partnership builds upon the U.S. government’s Feed the Future initiative to help nearly 567,000 vulnerable Haitian women, children, and family members escape hunger and poverty and to provide 176,000 children with services to improve their nutrition and prevent stunting and child mortality.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Presidential Candidate, Says She Would Focus on Job Creation, Washington Post, April 9
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that she would focus on an issue that affects both developed and developing nations: Job creation. Okonjo-Iweala stressed how her vision for the bank would be shaped by personal experience. Okonjo-Iweala also said she would push the bank to help countries better fight climate change, deal with social and gender rules, and build better health systems.

Obama Candidate Sketches Vision for World Bank, New York Times, April 9
In a wide-ranging interview, Dr. Kim sketched out a vision for the World Bank that would make it more focused on results and would do more to heed the views of the poorer countries that receive its financing. He also responded to some of the criticism that has greeted his nomination, including concerns about a decade-old book in which he critiqued the bank’s development philosophy and questions about whether he has enough experience to manage the bank’s global portfolio.

Journalists Speak about How to Meet the World’s Food Production Needs, Nourishing the Planet, April 9
Alan Bjerga and Roger Thurow stressed food production will need to double by the year 2050. Both journalists stressed that for smallholder farmers to be able to increase their yields, they need access to inputs and training. Inputs, including seed, fertilizer, storage, financing, crop insurance, and education can all make a dramatic difference in crop production and farmer livelihoods.

A Call for Equal Rights for Women Farmers, VOA News, April 9
The report, "Empowering Women in Agriculture," says equal access to agricultural resources would help increase food security and economic growth. The report says in most countries, women working in rural areas are more likely than men to hold seasonal, part-time and low-wage jobs. They also receive less pay for the same work.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security News

April 9
By Sung Lee

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

Africa: 'Govts' Apathy's Threatening Agricultural Development Financing', AllAfrica.com, April 9
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has said that the indifference exhibited by some African governments towards agricultural development could discourage philanthropic organization’s from giving grants to their agricultural sectors. Stressing the need for governments' obligation to invest in agriculture, Regina Kapinga said their interest in any agricultural project tends to underscore the importance of that project in the development and wellbeing of the people.

Food security must remain a top priority for African governments, Opinion, Karim Sadek, Daily Monitor, April 9
The challenge of achieving long-term food security in Africa is real and the need is urgent. We believe large-scale farming using global best practices is the most efficient, scalable and sustainable way to achieve food security while ensuring that smallholders and pastoralist migrants have access to land and resources as well as employment opportunities.

Food Prices Push Rate of Inflation Up in China, New York Times, April 9
In China, where millions struggle to make ends meet and where food makes up a large chunk of household spending, inflation is a particularly sensitive topic. Sharp rises in the prices of consumer goods and housing last year catapulted inflation to the top of Beijing’s list of economic worries and prompted the authorities to announce a series of steps designed to reduce growth and the inflation that accompanied it.

How to Fix the World Bank, Opinion, Thomas J. Bollyky, New York Times, April 8
Regardless of whether Dr. Kim is the right choice — and I happen to believe he is an inspired choice — his candidacy and the bank will suffer unless the United States takes the high ground and uses this controversy to reform how the institution is governed. Only by embracing a competitive election process can the United States ensure that Dr. Kim will have the mandate to revitalize an institution long resistant to change.

World Food Prices Remain Unchanged according to the FAO

April 5
By Sung Lee

According to the latest UN FAO’s Food Price Index (FFPI), global food prices remain unchanged from their February levels.  The Index averaged 216 points in March 2012, up 1 point from February.  The FAO Oils/Fat Price Index increased 6 points (or 2.5 percent) while Dairy Price Index declined 5 points (2.5 percent) from February.  The FAO also estimates world cereal production will reach a record 2,343 million tons this year.

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

My pitch to build a brave new World Bank, Opinon, José Antonio Ocampo, Financial Times, April 5
The Bank’s core mandate must remain that of reducing poverty. This relates primarily to the poorest countries, but also to middle-income countries, where most of the world’s poor live.” He continued, “To this end, the Bank should strengthen support for small-scale agriculture and feeder roads for rural producers; develop a minimum level of social protection; and make gender equality central to all its activities.”

Fla. hospital says former S. Dakota Sen. George McGovern in good condition, undergoing tests, Washington Post, April 5
Hospital officials said the elder McGovern is in stable condition. McGovern splits his time between Florida and South Dakota, where he was a South Dakota congressman from 1957 to 1961 and a U.S. senator from 1963 to 1981. He and former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, a Republican, were honored in 2008 with the World Food Prize, a distinction some observers have called the Nobel Prize for hunger.

US suspends $13 million in aid to Mali, Reuters, April 5
The US is suspending at least $13 million of its roughly $140 million in annual aid to Mali following last month's coup in the West African nation, the State Department said. The suspension affects U.S. assistance for Mali's ministry of health, public school construction and the government's efforts to boost agricultural production.

World food prices rise further, raising fears of unrest, Reuters, April 5
The FAO index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 215.9 points in March, up from a revised 215.4 points in February. The cost of food has risen again this year after coming down from a Feb. 2011 record peak. Higher food prices mean higher import bills for the poorest countries, which do not produce enough food domestically.

The crisis in Europe took a big bite out of foreign aid, Washington Post, April 4
A new report from the OECD finds that the euro debt crisis took its toll. Among wealthy countries, foreign assistance dropped 2.7 percent in 2011. The United States, meanwhile, saw its developmental aid drop 0.9 percent last year. But that headline number obscures some shifts, as the country refocuses its resources. U.S. bilateral aid to Africa rose 17.4 percent in 2011, and aid to the least developed countries rose 16.9 percent.

Ertharin Cousin Will Lead the United Nations World Food Program

April 4
By Sung Lee

Ertharin Cousin will become the executive director of the U.N.’s World Food Program, one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world with an annual budget of about $4.5 billion a year.  Last year, the world food program delivered more than 3.7 million tons of food and reached 90 million beneficiaries in 73 countries.  Ambassador Cousin previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Feed America.  During the Clinton Administration, she served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Democratic National Committee and White House Liaison at the State Department.

Josette Sheeran will become the Vice Chairman of the World Economic Forum.  In her farewell post, she thanked the world food program's 10,000 employees and thousands of supporters around the world for taking a stand in the fight against hunger.  “I have long believed that solving hunger and helping countries achieve food security is the work of our time. What has struck me during my tenure with WFP is just how many people like you share this vision. Working together, we are a beacon of hope for the world’s hungry who look to us to help break the cycle of hunger and malnutrition,” said Ms. Sheeran.

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

From Lawndale to Rome, Bangladesh and beyond, Chicago Tribune, April 3
Ertharin Cousin, who grew up in Chicago's Lawndale neighborhood, is a U.S. ambassador with a residence in Rome, round-the-clock bodyguards and a dog-eared passport. Since 2009, she's been the U.S. representative to the United Nations agencies for food and agriculture, a role that has taken her to 23 countries to combat hunger and malnutrition. President Barack Obama, long an acquaintance, nominated her to the post.

UNICEF aims to raise awareness of children at risk in Africa's Sahel region, CNN, April 4
UNICEF set in motion a worldwide social media campaign Tuesday to raise awareness about children in the Sahel region in northern Africa who are in urgent need of food aid. Called #SahelNOW, the campaign asks users on Facebook, Twitter and other social media to post messages through the day to spread word of the problem and raise funds for the estimated 1 million children in danger.

Value of OECD aid drops for first time in 15 years, Guardian, April 4
Aid from the world's richest countries was worth 3% less last year compared with 2010, as inflation ate away at what their currencies could buy. Disregarding years of exceptional debt relief, this was the first drop since 1997, taking inflation into account, according to figures from the OECD club of rich countries. In 2011, aid from the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD came to $133.5bn, or 0.31% of their combined gross national income.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security Headlines

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.
April 3
By Sung Lee

2012 Trade Policy Agenda and Annual Report, United States Trade Representative, April 2012
The President’s Trade Policy Agenda for 2012 outlines an ambitious scope of work to meet these goals. Across the global stage, we will advance market-opening negotiations with our trading partners and bolster existing ties. We will continue to actively enforce U.S. rights under our trade agreements. We will conduct these efforts based on high standards that reflect American values on labor and on the environment, and on public engagement and transparency.

World Bank: An exercise of influence, Financial Times, April 3
While the US has continued to provide its president, the institution plays a diminishing role in extending American influence. Last year, Congress even planned to cut its contribution to the bank before relenting. The bank has increased its technical capacity and sought to assist in policy making – for example flinging open its vast collection of economic, health and other data to free public use.

Bill Gates Foundation gives $12m for IITA project to boost yam production in Ghana, Nigeria, Ghana Business News, April 3
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and some partners have announced a $12 million initiative to improve yam production in Ghana and Nigeria. The funding is provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project is expected to double the incomes of three million yam farmers in West Africa.

Seven steps to prevent the collapse of west Africa's fishing grounds, Guardian, April 2
Why do African countries sign these agreements if they are so damaging? The simple answer is that, while they understand fully that environmental damage and the depletion of native fish stocks far outweigh the short-term financial gains they can make, they have no choice. Most desperately need hard foreign currency to pay external debts – often to EU countries – and stimulate economic growth.

Today's Agriculture and Food Security News

Today's top stories on global agricultural development and food security issues.
April 2
By Sung Lee

Technology makes the desert bloom, Financial Times, April 2
With domestic production still providing just a fraction of overall needs, most Gulf governments have looked overseas to secure food supplies, investing tens of billions of dollars buying farming property in what is described by many as a land grab. Analysts warn that much of the land acquired is not being worked, meaning it has little impact on food security. Jeffrey Culpepper, chairman of Agrisecura, a company that focuses on investing in farms overseas, says there is a simple solution to that.

At UN conference, Latin American countries reaffirm commitment to eradicate hunger, UN News Center, April 2
“This initiative belongs to the countries and should be embraced by all: governments, parliaments, civil society and the private and academic sectors, because fighting hunger cannot just be the commitment of a single government. It must be a decision made by an entire society,” said the Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Jose Graziano da Silva. At the conference, States renewed their commitment to the Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger 2025 Initiative, an effort that aims to ensure that no child, man or woman in the region endures hunger.

Look who's saving the world – not Canada, Opinion, Nahlah Ayed, CBC, April 1
As a group, the BRICS still give far less than the wealthy traditional Western donors, the report states. But it goes on to note that "as the U.S. and Europe have slowed donor spending, the BRICS' assistance programs have become much more prominent." About time, you might say. Traditionally, the more prosperous — and similarly influence-hungry — West has been the primary source of foreign assistance over the last many decades. But, in recent years, the West hasn't been as prosperous as it once was.

Moving Food Faster to Those Who Need it Most in the Sahel, Opinion, Dina Esposito, USAID Impact Blog, March 30
The food we are shipping this week should arrive by late April, just four to five weeks from now. USAID’s speedy contribution complements efforts of the UN World Food Program and other agencies to procure food for the hungry regionally. Because markets in the Sahel are currently stretched to meet the demand for food, internationally sourced assistance is vital to ensure that food prices don’t rise even higher.

Challengers for World Bank leadership ask for ‘a fair chance’, Howard Schneider, Washington Post, March 30
In interviews, Okonjo-Iweala and Ocampo acknowledged that Kim has unquestioned expertise in public health. But they said public health is a narrow slice of what the World Bank does and an issue that many other global organizations address. Ocampo, who has also been a senior U.N. official and prolific academic, says he would put emphasis on helping poor and middle-income countries manage the effects of climate change. He says he would also represent a bridge between the World Bank’s practical focus and the new ideas brewing in academia.

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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.