The United States, Canada, Spain, South Korea
and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have agreed to make small holder farmers, especially women, a major thrust of a new multilateral agriculture and food security programme.
They have agreed to pool resources to undertake the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which would focus on increasing agricultural productivity and linking farmers to markets. The Gates Foundation will contribute $30 million.
A release from the Accra Office of the World Bank on Saturday said a special feature of GAFSP was its focus on country ownership that put
countries in the drivers' seat.
The programme was created in response to a call from G20 Leaders last year for the World Bank to work with interested donors to set up a
multi-donor trust fund to implement some of the $22 billion in pledges made by the G8 Leaders at L'Aquila, Italy.
US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, a lifelong farmers' advocate, reminded the substantial press corps and colleagues that just one lifetime ago the US was a country of subsistence farmers.
He welcomed the programme's focus on innovation and research and argued that, there were no better innovators than those who farmed the land.
Timothy Geithner, Secretary, US Department of the Treasury, announced a $475 million U.S. contribution and reiterated his country's commitment to working with other countries and the World Bank to leverage interest in
international development and mobilise additional resources for agriculture and food security.
As James Flaherty, Canada's Minister of Finance, announced Canada's $230 million contribution to the fund, which he described it as one more promise kept and urged other donors to follow Canada's lead.
Elena Salgado, Second Vice President and Minister of Finance of Spain, highlighted the fact that Spain had not only promised but had already disbursed its initial contribution of $95 million, and indicated there would be more to follow.
South Korea's Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun recalled that South Koreans remembered their own hardship of regular spring hunger seasons and had heartfelt empathy for those still suffering the challenges of poverty and hunger.
He said Korea was inspired to join the GAFSP because of the programme's commitment to helping countries to build up their own capacity to escape from poverty. Korea would contribute $50 million.
On behalf of the potential recipients of the programme, Finance Minister Abdul Maal Abdul Muhith of Bangladesh welcomed renewed attention to agriculture and food and noted that the 2007 and 2008 food price crisis demonstrated that food security must never be out of focus.
Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, welcomed the effort to deliver and argued that the multilateral approach would make the delivery more effective. He highlighted the need to maintain focus on food security.
He said "for those of us who have been working on agriculture and food issues for years it was a moment of unusual attention, extraordinary promise and a powerful reminder of expectations and need on the ground".