Seven years ago, at the G-8 Summit in l’Aquila, Italy, President Barack Obama pledged the United States to a $3.5 billion investment in agriculture-led economic growth to combat hunger. This commitment helped garner more than $16 billion from other donors to support this new approach to advance agricultural development and reduce hunger around the world.
President Obama’s pledge gave rise to the Feed the Future Initiative, a global program to fight hunger and poverty. In a recently-issued report entitled A Food-Secure 2030, Feed the Future notes that L’Aquila marked a turning point in the fight against global hunger and poverty, because it was able to garner the political will and resources necessary for such a trans-national food security and anti-poverty program to succeed.
And succeed it did. Working with both government and private partners all over the world, Feed the Future has helped countries raise their agricultural output and improve nutrition for those in need. So for example, last year alone, nine million farmers and producers who worked with Feed the Future markedly improved their yields and efficiency, collectively boosting their incomes by more than $800 million.
In the Report, Feed the Future calls for governments of developing countries to lead the fight against hunger and poverty by mobilizing the resources, partnerships, and policies that are required for success; for donors to renew and increase their monetary commitments; for the private sector to raise their engagement and investment levels; and for civil society to pressure and support these actors to translate commitments into action.
If this can be achieved, the world will be a different place by the year 2030. It will be a world free from hunger, malnutrition and poverty, where thriving local economies generate increased income for all people; where people consume balanced and nutritious diets and children grow up healthy and reach their full potential; and where resilience helps to reduce vulnerability.
For the first time ever, humanity is within reach of the elimination of hunger, undernutrition and extreme poverty. To achieve this milestone, the United States calls on the global community to unite around our shared vision by the year 2030.
