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
2
Ibid
3
FAO: State of Food Insecurity, 2005; ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/008/a0200e/a0199e.pdf.

2
 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
jruthrauff@interAction.org
202-552-6523

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