G8 Promises A $20-Billion Chance To Beat Odds On Hunger

Last week’s promise by the world’s wealthiest nations to spend $20 billion on impoverished farmers represents a chance to tackle chronic hunger, but leaders face daunting odds to make the pledge count. The back-to-basics three-year commitment by G8 governments to aid small farmers in Africa and parts of Asia – sparked in part by riots

Financing secure for UN small farm aid

Financing to help some 500 million small farms around the world is secure for the time being despite the global credit crunch and rising commodity prices, a UN agency told Reuters Sept. 22. The Internat ional Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, wants to raise US$3.5 billion in its


World Bank sees tougher times in developing nations

“What we’re now moving into is the phase where one has to look more broadly at the danger of developing country growth and there it depends on policies they take and the support we and others can give them.” With world attention trained on resolving a financial crisis in western economies, World Bank president Robert

Developing world leaders urge action on food

Developing world leaders said Sept. 23 that escalating food costs were exacting a heavy toll on the poor and called for global action to reverse the trend, which threatens to undermine economic growth. The impact of higher global food prices was raised by leaders in speeches to the annual United Nations General Assembly gathering, where