G8 08 Interaction Policy Statement Agriculture

Agriculture Policy Statement 2008 G 8 Summit December 21, 2007 The U.S. government has traditionally been one of the leaders in addressing global agriculture and food security issues, and the President’s Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA), announced in August 2002, continues in this tradition. The IEHA seeks to reduce hunger in Africa by half by 2015, in keeping with the Millennium Development Goals. IEHA's key principles include building alliances and broad-based political and financial commitment among public and private development partners in Africa and elsewhere; and focusing investments on core activities designed to eliminate hunger in Africa. However, the resources – from this country and others – have not been forthcoming to the degree needed. It is imperative that the G8 significantly increase its support for agricultural development in the developing world, and Africa in particular, in the interest of global welfare and poverty alleviation. Interaction’s G8 NGO Coordination Group respectfully asks that agriculture be included on the G-8 Summit agenda and that the G8 communiqué include the following: 1. Support for a doubling of funding, over the next five years, for agriculture-related science and technology development and rural infrastructure. 2. Recommit to the Gleneagles trade and aid-for-trade commitments:  Redouble efforts to achieve a successful conclusion across the whole of the Doha Development Agenda; and  Open markets more widely to trade in agricultural goods, reduce trade distorting domestic agricultural subsidies, and eliminate export subsidies with a credible end date. 3. Recommit to the 2004 Sea Island G8 agreement to raise agricultural productivity in food insecure countries and promoting rural development, with special focus on Africa, specifically with the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) Background The imperative for increased support for agriculture is based on the following considerations: 1. The effects of climate change on agriculture and rural poverty: Climate change is unquestionably affecting agriculture and cropping patterns. According to the IPCC, “in the Sahelian region of Africa, warmer and drier conditions have led to a reduced length of growing season with detrimental effects on crops.” The effects of climate change are likely to be seriously unfavorable to all developing countries, with the most severe negative impact occurring in tropical regions of Africa, Latin America and India -- home to the vast majority of the world’s poor, who will suffer the consequences of the actions of others. Thus, there is a major equity challenge for world leaders to address. Adaptation efforts must focus on and give priority to the rural poor of developing countries, while also recognizing that poor rural people manage vast areas of land and forest and can be important players in mitigating climate change given the proper incentives. 2. Rising food costs: According to the latest FAO Food Outlook, already high global cereal prices are expected to remain at high levels for the coming year. Many countries will pay more to import

cereals from world markets than they did in previous years, even though the volume of imports will likely decline. While food prices are rising everywhere, the impact of high food prices will be felt disproportionately by poor people, the majority of whom are net food purchasers. Poor developing countries will be forced to cut food consumption and risk a rise in malnutrition as a result. The higher prices are driven by increasing demand for food, feed and bio-fuels combined with poor weather conditions in some parts of the world and rising oil prices and shipping costs. 3. Agriculture and poverty alleviation: The 2008 World Development Report, Agriculture for Development, convincingly argues that agriculture is the best means of realizing broad-based economic growth. Agriculture can be the lead sector for overall growth in agriculture-based countries (those where the agricultural sector accounts for the bulk of poor people and also contributes significantly to growth), and in lagging, agriculture-based regions of larger countries. Most importantly, in such countries agricultural investment will be the most pro-poor and, if guided by awareness of gender roles in agriculture, will also benefit women disproportionately, since women produce up to 80 percent of basic foodstuffs both for household consumption and for sale in Sub-Saharan Africa, and1 account for the vast preponderance of labor for rice cultivation In Southeast Asia.2 Studies have shown that GDP growth originating in agriculture is at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as GDP growth originating outside agriculture. 4. Agriculture and malnutrition: Hunger and malnutrition are the underlying cause of almost half of all child deaths, killing almost six million children each year. According to the FAO, analysis of recent trends confirms that child mortality has fallen fastest in those countries making the most rapid progress in reducing hunger.3 Revitalized agriculture and increasing food production are key factors in reducing malnutrition. 5. Declines in funding: According to a 2004 DFID study, ODA for agriculture, expressed in constant (2002) dollars, declined from $6.2 to $2.3 billion between 1980 and 2002, and currently accounts for only 3.7 percent of total ODA – down from 18 percent in 1982. Developing country support for agriculture has not begun to compensate for this drastic decline and, in fact, has generally decreased as well. The net effect has been an overall decline in agricultural technology development and dissemination capacity and rural infrastructure and increased food insecurity, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In other words, agriculture plays a key role in development, both in terms of welfare and as an engine of broad-based growth, but has been critically short-changed in recent years. Some movement to redress this glaring gap is already evident: The Gates and Rockefeller Foundations are significantly stepping up their support for agriculture, and Gates Foundation has already contributed $200 million in support of AGRA (The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa). African countries themselves, through NEPAD and CAADP (the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program) are taking increased responsibility for instituting sound agricultural investments, policies and programs. Recommendations 1. The G 8 needs to encourage and support these and other efforts through a doubling of funding, over the next five years, for agriculture-related science and technology development 1

FAO: Gender and Food Security: Agriculture; www.fao.org/GENDER/en/agri-e.htm Ibid 3 FAO: State of Food Insecurity, 2005; ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/a0200e/a0199e.pdf. 2

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and rural infrastructure. The 2006 DAC Development Cooperation Report notes that since 1990, aid to production, including agriculture, has halved and now only constitutes 6 percent of ODA. It’s time to reverse this trend. 2. The G 8 should also revisit and recommit to previous trade and aid-for-trade commitments that would have the effect of supporting agricultural development. At Gleneagles, the G 8 committed to:  Redouble efforts to achieve a successful conclusion across the whole of the Doha Development Agenda, given its potential to drive growth, reduce poverty and boost incomes across the world; and  Open markets more widely to trade in agricultural goods and to reduce trade distorting domestic agricultural subsidies and eliminate export subsidies by a credible end date. 3. Recommit to the 2004 Sea Island G8 agreement to raise agricultural productivity in food insecure countries and promoting rural development, with special focus on Africa. The G 8 should continue its support for African agriculture and, specifically, CAADP, in conjunction with African governments’ efforts to raise the profile of agriculture in their budgets. Specifically, the G 8 should endorse the new multi-donor trust fund that has been established under the aegis of the World Bank as a key instrument to secure donor commitment and coordination in expanding support for African agriculture for the next two years. Expanding and replenishing this fund will be vitally important over the coming months. December 21, 2007 The following organizations contributed the agriculture policy statement Bread for the World Catholic Relief Services International Center for Research on Women International Fund for Agricultural Development Oxfam America ONE Campaign / DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) For questions or feedback please contact: John Ruthrauff Senior Manager of Member Advocacy InterAction 1400 16th Street NW, Suite 210 Washington DC 20036 [email protected] 202-552-6523 InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental originations. With more than 165 members operating in every developing country, we work to overcome poverty, exclusion, and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.

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