L’Aquila – The G8’s US$20bn agreement to provide support for the world’s poorest farmers was welcomed today by advocacy group ONE. The deal was expected to amount to US$15bn over three years, but at the last minute the communiqué announced the figure had risen to US$20bn. The deal also includes significant steps to make progress on the effectiveness of aid for agriculture.
ONE called on all G8 nations to clarify what their contribution would be to the initiative – and for progress on a global mechanism to channel the funds by the time of the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in September.
ONE Co-founder Bono said:
“Of all the enemies of civilisation, hunger is the dumbest, the most mocking of all we hold true. We are delighted President Obama has returned to this, the most fundamental of rights, with a stimulus package for the agricultural sector that is smart and innovative. In the last minute of extra time, it looks like a surprise goal was scored for the world’s farmers and the world’s hungry. If there is real new money here backing these serious ideas then it is a great start to be built on in Pittsburgh.”

ONE’s Europe Director Oliver Buston said:
“All governments should now come forward and prove the amounts they pledged here are new. They need to make clear what they will do, by when. Some countries have done this; others have not.”
“There is an important focus on making aid for agriculture more effective in this communiqué. It’s also positive that the US$20bn appears to be additional to emergency food aid, aimed at longer term investments to help poor farmers.”
ONE calculates sub-Saharan Africa alone needs US$25bn over three years to support agriculture.