Obama to announce $6 billion in aid for African agriculture ahead of G-8 summit

[Geee]

TheHill:

President Barack Obama is expected to unveil a $6 billion international public-private partnership to extend the Green Revolution to Africa.

The initiative, which is linked to this weekend's G-8 summit, aims to lift 50 million people out of hunger and poverty within a decade by investing in modern agricultural methods and technologies. Rich countries are expected to commit to spending $3 billion – the U.S. share is around $850 million over three years – while three dozen international and African companies will make similar pledges.

“We're now putting together a fundamentally new approach to tackling hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Rajiv Shah, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Shah said the effort was a continuation of the Green Revolution of the 1970s and 80s, which saved countless lives in Latin American and Asian countries that were facing widespread starvation.

“The effort never made it to Africa, for a broad set of reasons,” Shah said. “Private companies never really invested in Africa in this sector. Public partners abandoned Africa in this sector. And African leaders themselves stopped thinking of agriculture as the solution. This really represents a change in that mindset.”

African heads of state from Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania and Benin will participate in the announcement, as well as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U2's Bono, U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and officials from the UN World Food Programme and other international organizations. Three dozen companies – including U.S. giants Cargill, DuPont and Monsanto – will make pledges to invest millions of dollars in fertilizer production, grain silos and new food products.

Such investments, Shah said, will provide long-term savings for donor nations.