Colors of Colombia

Greetings from Colombia,
Apologies for not keeping the blog up to date, but for the past month I've been taking a break from my computer and electronic gadgets. Instead, I've been traveling around Colombia, starting in Boyaca where its cold climate is ideal for vegetables and fruits, to the Cauca Valley where sugar cane abounds. Books and articles about the role of land tenure in Colombia's conflict have also kept me busy. And while there is plenty of work that needs to be done in ensuring Colombian farmers have access to adequate land, there are hopeful news coming from the current government and its policies: an agriculture minister with an excellent background and recognized by critics to be committed to the issue of land reform, and backpedaling some of the disastrous laws and policies enacted during the previous administrative. Couple with a public who understands that the underlying  problem behind Colombia's conflict is access to land, we hope to see real and significant policies to assist poor farmers.
Anyway, below are some pictures of my trip. Enjoy .

Land Grabs- a New Global Trend

An excellent article on the NYTimes about land grabs in Mali and other developing countries.

Climate Change Implication on Agriculture and CIAT's Work on it

Wknd Reading Oct 9th.

News, articles, and reports from on food security and agriculture

• The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) Launches Official Website: GAFSP has launched an official website housing information on the fund, its recipients and the proposal process. The fund is a multilateral mechanism to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the G8++ at L'Aquila in July 2009 and set up in response to a request from the G20 in Pittsburgh in September 2009. The fund is administered by the World Bank and assist the programs resulting from the implementation of CAADP.
• We Can End Hunger: 10 Ways to Feed the World. Excellent article on the Huffington Post byJosette Sheeran, the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme
• Ecoagriculture Partners announces CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURE, FOOD SECURITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
• Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa: News Brief: Week of October 4 2010
• Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) e-Newsletters  Issue 06 Tuesday, 5 October 2010. Check oped  by Agnes Kalibata and Joseph Sam Sesay on the need for international support to African's green revolution 
• World Bank: Improving Food Security and Livelihood in Ethiopia through Agricultural Growth
• Montana State University receives grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight wheat rust http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=8858
• Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog  A breakthrough in West Africa?
• Cowpea scientists promise to end African hunger
• U.S. Seeks Supporters for $1 Billion Global Food Security Fund, Lago Says
• USAID's Impact Blog: Food Security Month @ USAID: Linking Agriculture, Economic Growth, and Nutrition
• Planting Now, Agricultural Challenges and Opportunities for Haiti's Reconstruction, Oxfam
• NYTimes Raisins Give Hope to Afghan Farmers

This American Life on Hatian Devevlopment , Agriculture, and More

As as a big fan of This American Life, I was really pleased to hear a story about Haiti and the dificulties of making development work. Adam Davidson and Chana Joffe-Walt of Planet Money tell the story of a poor farmer with a couple of mango trees and enormous potential to get herself out poverty with a tiny bit of investment. As it turns out, this little investment requires navigating a complex set of culture dynamic, economic behavior, government red-tape, and NGO disincentives. This story showcases how NGOs can, sometimes, be the problem they are trying to solve; in Haiti, both the amount of non-profits and Haitians living in poverty continue to increase. This is another good story from National Public Radio  about the endless debate greed and charity.

Obama Presents his new Approch to Development

Yesterday at the U.N. Millennium Development Goals Summit,  President Obama gave a speech describing the fundamental changes to the way US delivers aid: the new US Global Development Policy. The "big-hearted and hard-headed" approach, seeks "creating the conditions where assistance is no longer needed." In his speech, the president outline the three pillars that will sustain this approach: 

• A policy focused on sustainable development outcomes that places a premium on broad-based economic growth, democratic governance, game-changing innovations, and sustainable systems for meeting basic human needs;
• A new operational model that positions the United States to be a more effective partner and to leverage our leadership; and 
• A modern architecture that elevates development and harnesses development capabilities spread across government in support of common objectives

Referring to the millions of people receiving food assistance from the WFP and others, President Obama said: "That's not development, that's dependence ... And it's a cycle we need to break. Instead of just managing poverty, we have to offer nations and people a path out of poverty." Then came a needed caveat: "the US has been and will remain the global leader in proving assistance. We will not abandon those that depend on us for life-saving aid."

Anticipating criticizing from foes about the US foreign aid agenda in times of economic pain and budget cuts, President Obama said "Let's put to rest the old myth that development is mere charity that does not serve our interests", and "reject the cynicism that certain countries are condemn to perpetual poverty." He went on to list examples of unprecedented development progress in the past 50 years and linked the development goals to domestic interest:  "In our global economy, progress in even the poorest countries can advance the prosperity and security of people far beyond their borders, including my fellow Americans."

This focus on long-term development is already evident on initiatives such as Feed the Future and Global Health. See the full speech on the video below:

Wknd Reading Sept 19: Sunday Edititon

A short list for this wknd reading:

• Sylvia Mathews Burwell,  President of the Global Development Program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes about A Green Revolution Growing in West Africa
• For DC area resident, see list of different events on food security and agriculture happening in the next couple weeks.
• Why Stunting Matter? A very good technical brief from Alive and Thrive
• News Brief: Week of September 13 2010 from Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa

Oxfam International: Halving Hunger, Still Possible?

In their latest Briefing Paper, Oxfam argues that reducing hunger by 2015 is still possible:

"While time is running out, the global crises push the MDGs desperately off course. The only chance of avoiding failure is a rescue plan for all MDGs that includes the necessary measures, both political and financial. Halving hunger is still  possible if developing countries take the lead with the right policies and investments, donor countries increase dramatically their aid to agriculture, food security and social protection under nationally and regionally-driven plans, and the global issues affecting food security are collectively addressed".

Funding Feed the Future Initiative:

www.feedthefuture.gov.

Funding for the Feed the Future Initiative has been cut by the folks in the hill.  The following excerpt comes from an excellent summary put together by U.S Global Leadership Coalition:

"Both House and Senate bills cut the $1.65 billion request for Feed the Future, but in different ways and in different amounts.  The Senate provides $1.3 billion, with $250 million channeled through a World Bank managed multi-country fund for which the Administration had proposed $408 million.  The House measure reduces this further to $1.15 billion, providing a direct appropriation to the multilateral fund of $150 million, with authority to transfer another $100 million from bilateral resources, at the President’s discretion".

After its formal announcement at the G-20 summit in which the Obama administration proposed 1.4 billion for Agricultural Development, funding for the initiative had been uncertain, specially under the current political climate.  Although FTF counted with bipartisan support, it seems that the program couldn't be isolated from other major cuts taking place across the federal board.

However, the important message continues laud and clear: this administration remains committed to international agriculture and food security programs. It's really up to other G-8 countries to fulfill their promises to provide $20 billion over the next three years towards agricultural development in impoverished countries. Most of that money is nowhere to be seen.

FAO: 925 Million in Chronic Hunger Worldwide

Today, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization announced that there are 925 million individuals enduring chronic hunger worldwide, a significant reduction from the 1 billion, 23 million hungry estimated at the peak of the food crisis of 2007 and 2009. Many news wires broadcast the press released as an important milestone: "World Hunger to Fall for First Time in 15 Years on Growth" says Bloomberg.

According to FAO, the reasons behind this reduction are twofold: 1) the reduction of food prices in developing countries from their peak levels in 2008 and 2) the projected economic growth in the developing countries for 2010. These have allowed poor people to buy more food. Although the developing world is faring this economic down-turn much better that developed countries, is hard to predict if lower prices and growth in the developing world will continue robustly. Instead, the trend has been quite the opposite, i.e since the mid- 1990s hunger has been increasing. Today, 16% of the world population remains hungry, six points away from the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015.

This welcomed news must not hid the fact that nations need to address the underlying problems of hunger in other to empower people to either buy or produce enough food to meet their diet requirements. Essentially, African and South-Asian governments need to commit to a set of policies focusing on small farmers, helping them produce and market their products better. The Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) and the government's Feed the Future Initiative are two steps in the right direction. However, in the former, few countries have reached the goal of spending 10% of their government expending on Agriculture, and in the later, the actual program implementation hasn't reach the field yet. Let's hope that African countries will strengthen their commitment to food security and agriculture, and that bi-lateral and multilateral support continue increasing agricultural spending. As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "We have the resources to give every person in the world the tools they need to feed themselves and their children. So the question is not whether we can end hunger. It's whether we will."

Wknd Reading Sept 13th: Monday Edition

Agdes starts this week of with a fresher look. I also fixed some broken links and got rid of some outdated content (Thanks Joe). As always, email me if you have relevant material to share.
Here is your reading list for the week(end):

• The new addition to our list of relevant reports: Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? This long report offers an analysis of the rush to secure food supply, triggered by the 2007-08 Food Crisis. 
• Don't starve thy neighbor, The Economist
• Book: Toward Sustainable Agricultural Systems in the 21st Century. "This book assesses the scientific evidence for the strengths and weaknesses of different production, marketing, and policy approaches for improving and reducing the costs and unintended consequences of agricultural production. It discusses the principles underlying farming systems and practices that could improve the sustainability. serves as a valuable resource for policy makers, farmers, experts in food production and agribusiness, and federal regulatory agencies".
• NYTimes: Food Crisis Worsens in West Africa
• The first issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) is now online 
• Christian Science Monitor: Mozambique bread riots may be warning sign on African food security
• Financial Times: Time is ripe for a global food plan

Hidden Hunger: the Impact of Chronic Malnutrition and Tools to Tackle it

Hidden Hunger from Bob Caputo on Vimeo.

The Rockefeller Foundation Continued Support for Agricultural Development

Throughout the years, philanthropy has played a vital role in agricultural development. Many individuals and families were instrumental in providing the resources needed for important agricultural innovations that brought prosperity to poor areas of the world. Chief among the examples of foundations supporting Ag development was the Rockefeller Foundation's commitment to the work of Dr. Norman Borlaug and what later became the Green Revolution. With the foundation's funding, the Mexican Agricultural Program was established in 1943. This institution later became CIMMYT, where most of the high-yileld wheat varieties were developed.

As agriculture makes its come back to the development agenda, foundations continue to play a very important role, especially in cash strapped countries where these type of investments are critical to many subsistence farmers.  Although the commendable work of the Gates and Melinda Foundation on agricultural development in Africa is more visible  and gets more newswires, the Rockefeller Foundation deserves a lot of credit for their recent work in the continent. Between September 2-4 of this year, the foundation was one of the supporter of the Africa Green Revolution Forum. This needed platform gave voice to many experts from different African countries and elsewhere in the world to drive "agricultural productivity and income growth for African farmers in an environmentally sustainable way". During the conference, innovative ideas on food security and ag  development were showcase and debated.

I'm glad that the foundation continues to follow its historical legacy and commitment to agricultural development. Maybe one of these experts will become the the next Dr. Norman Borlaug, only this time the grain and the continent will be different.

Enjoy this informative video the Rockefeller Foundation put together about the forum and their work in Africa.

Weekend Reading (WR) Aug 13

For this week's list of a ag and food security weekend reading, don't miss Natures's articles and the paper on international food security. As always, send me an email to agdesblog@gmail.com with any suggestions next Friday. enjoy.

• Can Science Feed the World? Nature, August 2010: Excellent compilation of articles and agriculture research
  
• Gates Foundation inform us about their progress on Ag grants
  
• The Political Economy of Trade and Food Security. A good paper on global food security and what's needed to feed the one billion hungry and the many to come..the picture is quite bleak. One of the authors, M. Ann Tutwiler from USDA, plays a leadership role at Feed the Future Initiative
• Virginia's senator Jim Webb criticizes Millennium Challenge Account for a recent award given to a Chinese state-owned company to build an airport in Mali. Read why Webb's ideas are misguided and expensive
  
• An opinion piece by Gordon Conway on the Financial Time about the importance to honor the L'Aquila commitment and support ag-lead development
  
• Remarks from Jim Miller, USDA's Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services at the International Food Aid and Development Conference in Kansas City  
• IFPRI asks "Do Health Investments Improve Agricultural Productivity?" The answer, we don't know yet 

Picture of my garden to come soon!

Weekend Reading (WR)

Links to articles, events, reports, and sites. Have any suggestion? Send me an email and I'll add it to next's Friday round of GWR 

• President Obama's announcement at the G8 Summit of "A New Approach to Global Development," outlining a more significant role for global development. See also the administration new initiative Feed the Future
  
• Events and Activities on agriculture and food security taking place in the Washington Area
  
• Two weeks away from the USDA & USAID 2010 International Food Aid & Development Conference in Kansas City MI . This blogger will be there 
• Notes from IYCN's presentation on Maximizing Nutritional Benefits from Agricultural Interventions
• Informative blog on M&E in Development Project: Rick on the Road 
• In grad school and wanting to do ag-related field research? Check A Guide to Effective and Relevant Graduate Research in Africa definitely of one the best resources I've seen 
• Sign up for Global Food for Thought Listserv from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. They send weekly emails with a plethora of reports, events, policy discussion, research and much more on international food security. Highly recommended
  

President Obama Outlines New Approach to Development

Check out this press release from the White House listing the administration's major initiatives and outlining Obama's new approach to development:
 
A New Approach to Advancing Development

At the Muskoka G8 Summit, President Obama outlined his views on a new approach to development.  In his recently released National Security Strategy, development is recognized as a moral, strategic, and economic imperative for the United States and our partners.  Development, diplomacy, and defense are components of a comprehensive, integrated approach to the challenges we face today.  Countries that achieve sustained development gains make more capable partners, can engage in and contribute to the global economy, and provide citizens with the opportunity, means and freedom to improve their lives.

President Obama launched a study of U.S. development policy in September 2009 and will be issuing a new policy directive in the near future.  The new U.S. development policy builds on two signature initiatives launched by the Obama Administration in 2009 to focus on results-based, strategic investments aimed at promoting meaningful and lasting results: 

• Feed the Future:  At the London G20 Summit in 2009, President Obama announced a global food security initiative that has the support of the world's major and emerging donor nations, includes strong roles for our multilateral institutions, and is led by partner countries that are ready and willing to develop comprehensive plans and commit their own resources to agricultural and market development.  Secretary Clinton launched the comprehensive U.S. strategy – "Feed the Future" – to implement this groundbreaking effort in May 2010.   To date, the United States has led international efforts to review nine comprehensive country strategies, commit new resources in support of those strategies, collaborate in the establishment and initial capitalization of the World Bank-led Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, and launch a new research and development program.

• Global Health Initiative:  In May 2009, President Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), which builds on the progress and success of PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Program on AIDS Relief) and also expands our global health effort and impact by including investments to strengthen health systems, improve maternal child health, address neglected tropical diseases, and foster increased research and development.  The GHI will integrate our health programs in order to reduce inefficiencies and expand impact, and is designed to save lives and achieve sustainable outcomes.  This new, integrated approach will be fast-tracked in eight countries.

President Obama's new development policy will:

• Foster the Next Generation of Emerging Markets:  The U.S. will intensify efforts to promote sustainable economic development and support good governance by making targeted investments in countries and/or regions where the conditions are right for progress. 

• Invest in Game-Changing Innovations:  By leveraging the power of research and development, the U.S. will work to create and scale-up technologies for health, green energy, agriculture, and other development applications.

• Meet Basic Human Needs in a Sustainable Fashion:  The U.S. will continue to be a global leader in the meeting of basic human needs, but will place increasing emphasis on building sustainable public sector capacity to provide basic services over the long-term.

• Tailor Development Strategies:  The U.S. will tailor development strategies in countries in or recovering from conflict to reflect the unique conditions on the ground, and will join efforts to promote stabilization and achieve security with those designed to promote our long-term sustainable development goals. 

• Hold all Aid Recipients Accountable:  The U.S. will seek sustained development progress in all countries receiving U.S. economic assistance by placing a greater focus on policy reforms key to development.

In addition, in pursuing these objectives, the U.S. will pursue a new approach to development that:

• Is More Selective:  The U.S. will seek a division of labor with other donors and focus its efforts on select countries, regions, and sectors - while ensuring critical development needs are met.

• Leverages other Donors, Philanthropy, Diaspora and the Private Sector:  The U.S. will seek a division of labor with other donors and make a concerted effort to partner with other actors to leverage U.S. investments.

• Underscores Country Ownership and Mutual Accountability: The U.S. will place a premium on partnering with countries that are well governed and will work to strengthen their institutions and support their development strategies.

• Strengthens Multilateral Capabilities:  The U.S. will support multilateral development capabilities and support key reforms and the creation of new capabilities, where required. 

• Drives Policy with Analysis:  The U.S. will adopt metrics and set in place rigorous standards for monitoring and evaluation, and use data and analysis to drive decision-making.
 

Fellowship Opportunity for Early Career Professionals Working in African Agriculture.

Find below a funding opportunity for young professionals working on agricultural and policy research in Africa. Link to the announcement can be found here.

Stay tuned for more news on the unprecedented Feed the Future Initiative
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The Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. Founded in 2005, the Consortium is a partnership between leading research-based organisations in Africa and the UK, with work focusing on Ethiopia, Kenya and Malawi, as well as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Through stakeholder-led policy dialogues on future scenarios for agriculture, informed by in-depth field research, FAC aims to elaborate the practical and policy challenges of establishing and sustaining pro-poor agricultural growth in Africa. To date, the Consortium's research has concentrated on four core themes: agricultural commercialisations; growth and social protection; policy processes; and science technology and innovation. In 2010, Future Agricultures launched research in four new areas: climate change and agriculture; land and tenure, pastoralism; and youth and agriculture.

FAC recently received funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to support a three-year capacity building programme that will be available to early career professionals working in Africa and the UK. Both full-time and part-time appointments are available. All fellowships will require attachment to a senior FAC member and affiliation with a FAC partner institution. The awards are designed to support original field-based and policy-oriented research on African agricultural policy that builds on previous work and contributes directly to a specific FAC theme.

Source Link: http://www.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/future-agricultures-call-for-applications/#ixzz0p42EWtAJ
Copyright©FUNDSFORNGOS.ORG. Do not remove this link.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

Press Release: MacArthur Awards $5.6 Million to Support New Master's Programs...

The MDP network keeps expanding! below find today's press release from the MacArthur Fd listing 10 additional universities that will be offering the Masters in Development Practice. Notice how the agricultural component of the network keeps getting stronger with the addition of CATIE in Costa Rica and UC Davis in California.
Cheers,

****
Chicago, IL, May 4, 2010 –  The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced grants totaling $5.6 million to ten universities in eight countries to establish new Master's in Development Practice (MDP) programs.  The programs combine training in the natural sciences, social sciences, health sciences, and management to help practitioners address global challenges such as sustainable development, climate change, and extreme poverty.  The universities were selected through a competitive process that included reviews by experts outside the Foundation.  

MDP programs are designed to offer graduate students training beyond the typical focus on classroom study of economics and management found in most development studies programs.  The degree will provide students with substantive knowledge required to analyze and diagnose multi-dimensional problems such as malnutrition, extreme poverty, climate change, and infectious disease control by integrating the core disciplines of health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and management.  At the same time, the programs help develop practical skills through extended periods of field training to provide hands on, problem solving experience for students in a developing country.

"Today's global development challenges – from human rights to extreme poverty and climate change – are interconnected," said Barry Lowenkron, MacArthur's Vice President for Global Security and Sustainability.  "So the next generation of sustainable development leaders must be able to draw on our best knowledge across multiple fields such as agronomy, health, and the environment."  

These grants complete a $16 million MacArthur investment to seed the creation of new Master's programs in sustainable development practice at universities worldwide over three years.  The first awards were made last year to ten universities in seven countries.  Together, the universities are expected to produce 400 graduates by 2013, with a total of 800 students enrolled each year.

The universities receiving grants to establish MDP programs are:

BRAC University (Dhaka, Bangladesh) ($200,000) will establish an MDP program within the BRAC Development Institute.  The University will partner with its sister organization, BRAC, one of the largest non-government development organizations in the world, which manages sustainable development projects in over 69,000 villages throughout Bangladesh.  For their field training, MDP students will participate in some of BRAC's projects, addressing issues such as poverty, microfinance, rural health care, and non-formal education.

The Institute of Political Sciences (Sciences Po) (Paris, France) ($800,000) will serve as a regional francophone MDP hub and focus on sustainable development in the Maghreb and West Africa. Students will be able to choose from among four field training opportunities in Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (Turrialba, Costa Rica) ($800,000) is a leading research and graduate training institute with expertise in tropical agriculture, natural resource management, and sustainable development.  The Center's MDP program will have several partner organizations including the University of Minnesota, which will expand the Center's focus to include health sciences. 

Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia) ($800,000) will build on its Master's in Environmental Management within the School of Management to focus on climate change and conservation for the Andean-Amazon region, in addition to offering a curriculum in the MDP core competencies of the social, natural, and health sciences.

Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) ($800,000) will offer courses and field training on the biodiversity of the Atlantic Rainforest and the Amazon Region, as well as the challenges posed by the country's urbanization.  The program will collaborate with one university in Mozambique and three in Brazil and, serving as the MDP hub for Portuguese-speaking Latin America and Africa. 

University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, California) ($800,000) will house its MDP program in the College of Natural Resources but draw from faculty across the University, including engineering, business, and public policy.  The program will also offer an open source curriculum that will be available to other universities in the MDP network.  The University will partner with the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (Costa Rica), the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study in Agriculture (the Philippines), and St. Petersburg State University (Russia), among others.

University of California, Davis (Davis, California) ($200,000) will offer an MDP program within its College of Agriculture and Environmental Science.  The program will serve as an agriculture hub for the MDP network, and will offer field training in the Central Valley of California and at the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, where students will focus on sustainable tropical agriculture.

University of Peradeniya (Peradeniya, Sri Lanka) ($200,000) will offer an MDP program with a focus on sustainable development challenges in South Asia, emphasizing tropical coastal areas and small islands.  The University will collaborate with the International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University, University of California, Davis, and the Foundation for Environment, Climate and Technology, among others.  Field training will take place in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) ($200,000) will build on its existing, inter-disciplinary undergraduate degree in environmental and international development to create an MDP program housed within the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development.  Field training will consist of two, three-month postings focused on South Africa, organized through partnerships with Rhodes University and the University of the Western Cape

University of Winnipeg (Winnipeg, Canada) ($800,000) will offer an MDP program with a focus on indigenous peoples and sustainable development.  Winnipeg will partner with the University of Ottawa and Pontifica Universidad Católica del Peru, which will serve as the primary link between the program and indigenous communities throughout Canada and Latin America.


Universities were selected based on five criteria, including support from top university leadership, excellent infrastructure and academic programs, and the ability to serve as regional hub; geographic representation among students and exceptional faculty across the four core competencies of the natural, health, and social sciences and management; and a timeline and business plan for financial sustainability when funding ends in three years. 

A Global Master's in Development Practice Secretariat, supported by MacArthur and based at Columbia University's Earth Institute, will help manage the MDP network of universities, develop an open-source repository for the MDP curriculum and other teaching materials, and offer an online global classroom on sustainable development for students worldwide.

The creation of the Master's in Development Practice Program was a key recommendation of the International Commission on Education for Sustainable Development Practice, whose report was released in October 2008.  The MacArthur-supported Commission was co-chaired by John McArthur, Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Promise, and Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and comprised of 20 top thinkers in the field of sustainable development from around the world. 

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world.  In addition to the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is changing children and society.  More information is available at www.macfound.org. 

Press contact:   Andy Solomon, MacArthur Foundation, (312) 917-0313, asolomon@macfound.org

 

International Women's Day 2010 and women on Ag

A great short clip from IFPRI via HarvestPlus on the role on women in agriculture, enjoy

So many good films, not enough time to watch them all

DCist and others who happen to be here this week, tomorrow is beginning of DC’s Environmental Film Festival. They wil be screening about 150 movies, documentaries and shorts. Of those, 32 are listed un the Food and Agriculture Category. Below are the links to some that look interesting:

FRESH; TERRA MADRE (I already bought tickets for this one) SOIL IN GOOD HEART; HOMEGROWN; SEED HUNTER; POTATO HEADS; HARVEST OF SHAME; GARAPA

And many more. To see the full list follow THIS link

The Economist on Contract Farming in India

Another good article about recent developments on India's agricultural sector. THIS piece argues that contract farming -where farmers commit to grow a commodity for a particular buyer- is growing rapidly in response to the severe problems faced in the sector. A combination of poor agronomic techniques, such as flooding irrigation and animal traction, combined with government policies that create incentives for over-fertilization (see WSJ article) and  use public money to get votes (see other Economist Article), have encouraged farmers to look elsewhere for a better future. That elsewhere is McDonald who, after five years of trying, now buys its potatos directly from Indian farmers.

These are good news for farmers in developing countries. They have traditionally been marginalized by better-off urban consumers who tend to preferred imports over local produce. A similar example is what Wall-Mart is doing in some Central American countries: through NGOs and other partners, Wall-mart equips farmers with the technical information (extension services), credit, and tools and inputs necessary to produce shelf-worthy products that meet the standards of the demanding urban consumer.

These types of relationships can be mutually-beneficial as they: a) make good local politics for the foreign-own corporation; b) can reduce the price of raw materials, especially now that transport cost is skyrocketing; and c) provide farmers with the markets they need to leave subsistence agriculture. However, it may be to early to name contract farming as the panacea for poor farmers. What it's clear, though, is that the McDonald and Wall-Mart examples show that the private sector can play a very positive role in helping farmers break their cycle of poverty. This, unfortunately, is often absent in the donor-driven agenda of agricultural development.

Have you ever thought about....

From: Health vs. Pork: Congress Debates the Farm Bill

WSJ: Green Revolution in India Wilts as Subsidies Backfire

An excellent report from WSJ about the overuse of urea in the state of Punjab, India. This is a textbook example of government policies that incentive the exhaustion of resources for short-term gain and constituency appeasement. A lesson that must be taken into account as we explore a new green revolution for Africa, that hopefully won't rely as much on finite inputs.  Article LINK

Event: Are the International Commitments to Ending Hunger and Increasing Global Food Security Real?

The year 2008 was the year of global food crisis; 2009 was the year of global promises to end food crises.  Will 2010 be the year in which action happens?

The US Government has provided critically important leadership over the past year and the President pledged $3 billion for global food security at the G8 Summit in l'Aquila.   The Administration has been developing and consulting on a whole-of-government food security initiative, with an implementation plan expected in the near future.  The arrival of a new USAID Administrator with a strong recent background in agriculture and food security is expected to help accelerate implementation at USAID and in other agencies.  The UN community - FAO, IFAD, and WFP - and the World Bank have already increased funding for agriculture and food security and are putting new mechanisms for additional into place.  And the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) is getting some traction at national and regional levels while gaining recognition from the donor community as a useful framework for coordinating actions in Africa.

SID-Washington will host a panel of experts to consider the questions, helping participants to assess whether or not we can expect that the results in 2010 will match the rhetoric of 2009.

Panelists:
Christopher Delgado, Strategy and Policy Adviser, Agriculture and Rural Development, World Bank
Brian Greenberg, Director, Sustainable Development, InterAction
Allan Jury, Director, US Relations Office, World Food Programme
Michael Yates, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade, USAID

Moderator:
Emmy Simmons, Independent Consultant, former USAID Assistant Administrator for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade

To RSVP, please click here.

When: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
(2:30-3:00 p.m.: Following the event there will be a SID-Washington Young Professionals "members-only" Q & A discussion with the panelists)
Where: Chemonics Auditorium, 1717 H St. NW, Washington, DC