Global News Post: Food Aid

Obama Announces Food Initiative for Africa

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<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 25.5pt; margin-bottom: 9.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></h1><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Kent Klein <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Barack Obama has announced a plan aimed at lifting 50 million Africans out of poverty in the next 10 years. Private companies from around the world have pledged more than $3 billion toward the effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With the leaders of several African countries watching, the president said Friday that governments, private industries and organizations will work together to improve Africa's food security.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"Today, I can announce a new global effort we are calling a 'New Alliance' for food security and nutrition. And, to get the job done, we are bringing together all the key players around a shared commitment," said Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At a food security forum in Washington, the president said ending hunger by making African farms more productive is a moral imperative.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"Because of smart investments in nutrition and agriculture and safety nets, millions of people in Kenya and Ethiopia did not need emergency aid in the recent drought. But when tens of thousands of children die from the agony of starvation, as in Somalia, that sends us a message that we have still got a lot of work to do. It is unacceptable. It is an outrage. It is an affront to who we are," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The president spoke as he prepared to host the annual economic summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations at the Camp David presidential retreat outside Washington.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To emphasize the importance of food security, Obama invited the leaders of four African nations to attend the G8 summit and discuss the issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The president of Ghana, John Mills, said making food more plentiful would make societies more secure.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"When you talk about food security, nutritional security, you are at the same time talking about health security, economic stability, political stability. And without these elements you will struggle with democracy," said Mills.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Although some of the G8 countries are dealing with economic austerity, Obama said the "New Alliance" initiative would help ease the burden on some governments.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"That is what I mean by a new approach that challenges more nations, more organizations, more companies, more NGO’s [non-governmental organizations], challenges individuals - some of the young people who are here - to step up and play a role, because government cannot and should not do this alone. This has to be 'all hands on deck,'" said Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Obama said private contributions cannot take the place of a government commitment. He said the United States will continue to make what he called "historic investments" in development.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said government contributions are absolutely necessary for African development.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"The role of the private sector can only be to supplement the small-scale farmers. There is the issue of rural roads, water supply systems, irrigation infrastructure - all of these require public investment," said Zenawi.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: kashida; text-kashida: 0%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The new food initiative is intended to build on a 2009 food security effort that brought $22 billion in pledges.---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Obama Announces Food Initiative for Africa

By Kent Klein WHITE HOUSE - U.S. President Barack Obama has announced a plan aimed at lifting 50 million Africans out of poverty in the ...

All for one aim: Multi-pronged approach to fight hunger

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CychirrRYaW_15MiW7jgOhA2Fw7qYEvAqy-3ohX8mn66nikRz_7Xa5O8623yD_ldGMLjep86Bnahyvk9p9QZHBZp6Qpmot3R9l-jJmnGoA1cF1Yxtq0nbe_-hgQmEqxAFojP6c-8Xxw/s1600/hunger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1CychirrRYaW_15MiW7jgOhA2Fw7qYEvAqy-3ohX8mn66nikRz_7Xa5O8623yD_ldGMLjep86Bnahyvk9p9QZHBZp6Qpmot3R9l-jJmnGoA1cF1Yxtq0nbe_-hgQmEqxAFojP6c-8Xxw/s1600/hunger.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Photo credit: Julie Carney, Gardens for Health International</span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><i>Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet project</i><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.0pt;">By <a href="http://www.groundreport.com/NourishingthePlanet"><span style="text-decoration: none;">NourishingthePlanet</span></a>   <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The volatility of food prices, in particular price upswings, represents a major threat to food security in developing countries and typically affects poor populations the hardest. According to the World Bank, during 2010–11 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people worldwide into extreme poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">World Food Day is a global event designed to increase awareness and understanding and to create year-round action to alleviate hunger. Since 1981, the event has been observed on October 16 in recognition of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency that was established in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Quebec City</st1:city>,  <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>, in 1945. This year’s World Food Day theme is “Food prices – crisis to stability,” with the purpose of shedding some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Since the inception of World Food Day, organizations have taken advantage of the occasion to inform the public about what they can do to help end world hunger. Although the number of undernourished people worldwide has decreased since 2009, to nearly 1 billion, it is still unacceptably high. According to a recent FAO report, in <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place> alone, nearly one-third of the population is undernourished and one child dies every six seconds because of the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On October 16 of this year, countries, organizations, and communities are organizing events to educate and raise awareness, with the aim of addressing widespread problems in food supply and distribution systems. These events are raising money to support projects that focus on initiatives such as measures to ease population growth, boost incomes, and prepare farmers to protect their harvests against the negative effects of climate change, among others.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Throughout the world, organizations and governments are developing and implementing various plans to stabilize food prices and ensure that there is food on every table. Here are just a few examples:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">India</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">. The government is in the process of      enacting a food security act that would provide food for nearly 70 percent      of the population, specifically targeting the poor, who are often not      counted in state surveys and who are denied many benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Armenia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">. The government is enacting a      sustainable development program that invests in infrastructure improvements,      makes financial services and credit available to farmers, encourages the      environmentally sustainable use of natural resources, and ensures food      safety by improving food standards.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Telefood.      Launched in 1997 by the FAO, Telefood funds micro projects that help      small-scale farmers at the grassroots level. The projects aim to help      farmers be more productive and to improve both local communities' access      to food and farmers' access to cash income. Telefood is involved in 130      countries worldwide.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">World Food      Programme. The WFP operates in 74 countries and is the world’s largest      humanitarian agency fighting hunger. Currently, the Horn of Africa is      suffering from the worst drought in 60 years, and 4 million people are in      crisis in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Somalia</st1:place></st1:country-region>,      with 750,000 people at risk of death in the next four months. WFP is      providing food assistance to nearly 1 million people in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Somalia</st1:place></st1:country-region>      and will scale up its operations during the coming months to reach some      1.9 million people.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hunger Free      World. This Japanese NGO was formalized in 2000 with the goal of ending      hunger and poverty through education and awareness around the world. The      group supports local initiatives and young volunteers, organizes      information programs, and joins forces with national and international      networks to make these issues a priority for both citizens and      politicians.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Trussell      Trust. This charity works to empower local communities to combat poverty      and exclusion in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United Kingdom</st1:country-region>      and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bulgaria</st1:place></st1:country-region>.      Last year, the group’s <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.K.</st1:place></st1:country-region>      food bank network fed more than 60,000 hungry people.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p>  </o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">There is no single solution to end world hunger, and these are just a few of the organizations that are taking the multi-pronged approach that is necessary to address this global problem. World Food Day is the perfect occasion for researchers, policymakers, and NGOs to reflect on the existing efforts as well as potential future initiatives that can help fight global hunger and malnutrition. ---<a href="http://www.groundreport.com/World/All-for-one-aim-Multi-pronged-approach-to-fight-hu/2941975"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Ground Report</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

All for one aim: Multi-pronged approach to fight hunger

Photo credit: Julie Carney, Gardens for Health International Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet proj...