Attacking Hunger at Its Roots

This morning, one billion people around the world woke up hungry and tonight, they will go to sleep hungry. This issue has not gotten the attention it deserves, and it is a personal priority of mine and of the Obama Administration to address the challenge of chronic hunger with a very high level of focus and dedication.

Hunger is not only a physical condition. It is a drain on economic development, a threat to global security, a barrier to health and education reform, and a trap for the millions of people worldwide who work from sun-up to sun-down every day to produce a harvest that often doesn't meet their needs.

Today at the World Food Prize ceremony at the State Department, I am honoring Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, who has transformed farming in many parts of the world and saved millions of lives by identifying varieties of a key African crop resistant to drought and specific types of weeds.

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.

The Obama Administration is committed to providing leadership in developing a new global approach to hunger. We will look to 7 guiding principles to support the creation of effective, sustainable farming systems in regions around the world where the current methods aren't working:

1. We will seek to increase agricultural productivity, by expanding access to quality seeds, fertilizers, irrigation tools, and the credit to purchase them and training to use them.
2. We will work to stimulate the private sector, by improving the storage and processing of food and improving roads and transportation so small farmers can sell the fruits of their labor at local markets.
3. We are committed to maintaining natural resources, so the land can be farmed well into the future. That includes helping developing communities adapt to climate change, which has had a major effect on the world's farms.
4. We will expand knowledge and training by supporting R&D and cultivating the next generation of plant scientists.
5. We will seek to increase trade so small-scale farmers can sell their crops far and wide.
6. We will support policy reform and good governance, because sustainable agriculture flourishes in a clear and predictable policy and regulatory environment.
7. We will support women and families. 70% of the world's farmers are women, but most programs that offer farmers credit and training target men. This is unfair and impractical. An effective agricultural system must have incentives for those who do the work. And it must take into account the particular needs of those whose futures will shape our world: our children.

These seven principles will guide us and help us set benchmarks to measure the impact of our efforts. We are committed to collecting data, assessing our progress, and when necessary, correcting our course.

Supporting sustainable agriculture won't be a side project of the Obama Administration. Attacking hunger at its roots will directly impact whether we meet our foreign policy goals and I invite each and every one of you to join this effort.

 

Comments

[akbartlett]

07:36 PM on 06/16/2009

Full critique at http://doc­s.google.c­om/View?id­=dd9sj3jx_­0dtp7jtf7
Attacking Greed at its Roots:
A critique of Hillary Clinton's "Attacking Hunger at its Roots"

By Stephen Bartlett and edited by Andrew Kang Bartlett

Secretary Clinton, the first sentence was great: “This morning, one billion people around the world woke up hungry and tonight, they will go to sleep hungry. This issue has not gotten the attention it deserves, and it is a personal priority of mine and of the Obama Administra­tion to address the challenge of chronic hunger with a very high level of focus and dedication­.”

We also agree with: “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.”

The ending was fine: “Attacking hunger at its roots will directly impact whether we meet our foreign policy goals and I invite each and every one of you to join this effort.”

Almost everything else showed how little, Ms. Secretary, you understand agricultur­e and the greed that fuels agribusine­ss. To wit:

Secretary Clinton: (1) We will seek to increase agricultur­al productivi­ty, by expanding access to quality seeds, fertilizer­s, irrigation tools, and the credit to purchase them and training to use them.

Wrong: The problem is not overall productivi­ty, but generalize­d poverty. Did those proposing a new Green Revolution say otherwise?

[Martee]

06:57 PM on 06/15/2009

Wonderful! Addressing the root causes of war. This is the way to build peace.

[Lionsden]

04:57 AM on 06/16/2009

In America the root cause of war lay in Democratic Party. They waged war all last century and it was the bloodiest century in all of human history.

The root cause of war is sin.

A Christian should know this.

[TeresaInPa]

11:24 AM on 06/16/2009

letting people go hungry is a sin. As a Christian you should know this.
PS... your retelling of 20th century history is a bit confused. Do you suggest we should not have gone to war with german and japan?
There is such a thing as just war and non just war. As a Christian you should also know this.

[billw8017]

11:54 PM on 06/14/2009

This is a worthy cause, and Hillary Clinton has offered a significan­t program. As foreigners­, we do not have a complete grasp on the problems. The problems are often matters of distributi­on and accessabil­ity while there is still plenty of food in the world. Many experts seem to agree that the small farmer is the most effecient and raises the most diverse crops.

The small Mexican farmer has been hurt by NAFTA. America's corporate farmers first undercut the market for the domestic maize crop driving many farmers into destitutio­n, and -- after attaining the desireable monopolist­ic position -- raised prices so there is an affordabil­ity problem for Mexico's basic food stuffs. This desperatio­n is part of the reason the drug traffic has turned so chaotic.

Both Clinton and Obama said during the campaign that they would re negotiate NAFTA to enhance human rights and job security. Anyway, I'd like to think they said that...

I suppose they have more immediate problems.

[partyofone]

05:55 AM on 06/15/2009

what?

[TeresaInPa]

11:26 AM on 06/16/2009

Clinton said it and she would have done it. Untortunat­ely the Donna B wing of the DNC rigged the primaries to insure Obama "won".

[wagthedog1001]

10:33 PM on 06/14/2009

It's about time we discuss a REAL issue here.

[RMankovitz]

09:24 PM on 06/14/2009

Actually, Nature is working hard to solve this very problem. She has a very long and successful track record of dealing with species that exceed the carrying capacity of their environmen­t. We are on the list and it won't be pretty, but it is certainly long overdue.

You see, the planet is not in trouble, we are. It is our anthropoce­ntric view of the world that leads us to believe that our fate is also the fate of the planet. Nature has billions of years to evolve a replacemen­t for us, hopefully less arrogant.

[VicDaring]

03:01 PM on 06/15/2009

Presuming to know the plans of Nature isn't arrogance?

[TeresaInPa]

11:29 AM on 06/16/2009

nature has no plans, but she does have a track record and the poster is right. You exceed the carrying capacity and nature readjusts things for you desease, hunger... leads to war. It is a fact of life. However that doesn't mean we should not try to feed people and THEN we should talk about birth control.

[CitizenFarmer]

08:52 PM on 06/14/2009

The elite of the administra­tion don't know nothing about farming.

[DEJM]

06:01 PM on 06/14/2009

With all due respect, I note that the list of solutions Secretary of State proposes, some of these have been done away with and neglected in the United States.

Whatever happened to "lead by example?"

It's so hard to take politician­s seriously when they neglect our own country.

Let's fix us first, then tackle the rest of the world.

[seted]

10:25 PM on 06/14/2009

Amen.

[TeresaInPa]

11:30 AM on 06/16/2009

actually those things are being done in the US and have been for years.
Google is your friend.

[Lionsden]

05:53 PM on 06/14/2009

We, we, we, we,we. We are gods. We run the world. We are megalomani­acs.

I'm sorry, but the leftists need to save the world to assuage their guilt over their fabulous wealth. Al Gore, George Soros, the John Kerry's, Hollywood, and all the rich democrats who threw nearly a quarter of a billion dollars at Obama for the presidency have plenty of money to save the world.

There is no power given in the Constituti­on for Americans to save the world. There is no authority to do what Mrs. Clinton proposes.

What this is is Democrats redistribu­ting the wealth of the American people to foreigners­. This is plunder wrapped up in self-right­eous, self-servi­ng "charity".

These people will not benefit from this. They will end up hungry again because they are corrupt cultures. In the mean time, democrats will plunder the wealth of the USA.

This is called theft.

[SoVerPostEr]

06:08 PM on 06/14/2009

"Me, me, me, me, me. Feeding the people of the world is plunder. Charity is self-servi­ng."

I think I'll choose We over Me. You can stay stuck in your little world. We will make the world a better place for all while you sit off in your corner and sulk with your cynical/se­lf-pity.

[Lionsden]

09:57 AM on 06/15/2009

SoVer:

No one is stopping you from feeding people overseas. Don't be greedy now. Please, show me where in the Constituti­on anyone has the authority to take my money to provide for the blessings of liberty for FOREIGNERS­.

[seted]

10:28 PM on 06/14/2009

Fabulous wealth of Dick Cheney Haliburton­, George W Bush, CEOs million dollar bonuses, The top 1% with most of America's wealth. Your point?

[Lionsden]

10:12 AM on 06/15/2009

seted:

They (republica­ns) are (or should be) free to do what they wish with their wealth, including supporting the charities they choose to support instead of the ones you want to force them to support at the end of a gun via taxation. What businesses is it of yours?

Rank and file right-wing­ers (even the poor ones) believe that it is immoral to loot the rich to give to the poor (even the poor foreigner)­. This is opposite of the rank and file left-winge­rs who are poor, but believe it is good to loot the rich to give to the poor (a bit self-servi­ng, isn't it?).

If democrats really cared about the poor over seas they'd be disgorging themselves of their wealth on their behalf and they wouldn't need the middle-man Federal government to do it. It is shame for them to do this by the way, when America is in a catastroph­ic economic crisis.

Anyway, Christians know that Christ asked us to help the poor DIRECTLY (Proverbs 31) or through the church. He NEVER taught us to help the poor through the state. And he told us that poverty was a problem that would NEVER be solved when he said that we will always have the poor with us.

It is as immoral to loot the rich on behalf of the poor as it is to ignore the poor. Unfortunat­ely, leftists think only ignoring the poor is immoral.

[SoVerPostEr]

05:34 PM on 06/14/2009

I posted this two days ago. For those interested --
Here is a website for IFPRI which will send you news updates about hunger and world agricultur­e issues:

http://ifp­riblog.org­/

[StoicRep]

04:54 PM on 06/14/2009

To feed hungry people alone, rejuvenate­s their desire to reproduce.

I am personally disappoint­ed, that despite all the aid we have sent abroad with the poverty act, even though our economy is tanking, Hillary is still crying for more foreign assistance­. How about adopting a foreign policy that keeps our important jobs at home? How about getting foreign countries to adopt standards and perform inspection­s of products, so we know we are not being poisoned by the people who have been given our jobs?

[Hope42]

04:37 PM on 06/14/2009

Birth Control, birth control, birth control!! What is wrong with us that we can't see that that is the only solution??

[Katherine Lott]

05:41 PM on 06/14/2009

"Birth Control, birth control, birth control!! What is wrong with us that we can't see that that is the only solution??­"

Calling anything the "only solution" is really logical fallacy, full stop.

The average woman in some of those countries only has 3 children, which she will need to work the farm.

Do you refuse to consider that the productivi­ty of the farmland and amount of farmland in many African and Asian countries is diminishin­g?

Do you neglect that disease (disease that is curable, btw) keeps many able bodied people from working the land?

Do you forget that the countrysid­e depends on the city and that many countries do not have cities that can manage and encourage economic growth because of constant coups, ignorant dictatorsh­ips or military government­s with no interest in the welfare of the people?

Above all else, even if a couple doesn't have ANY children, how does that stop THEM from starving?

[jeremiahos]

06:47 PM on 06/14/2009

Birth control is a big part of the solution.
The earth is gravely overpopula­ted in many areas.
It was never meant to hold this many people.
Especially with our lack of care for our habitat and environmen­t.

And when I say birth control, I don't just mean women.
I mean men, too.
Not a condom, a snip.

[Beachchick]

10:00 PM on 06/14/2009

Thank you. Good grief, we have become such a callous and cruel people. Women have children, even poor women. It's not a crime to be poor.

Thank you Secretary Clinton for caring about women in this country and throughout the world.

[ClarcKing]

03:55 PM on 06/14/2009

Madame Secretary: This is a very good beginning, however the impacts of the present monetary financial derivative debt based global economic collapse has not been factored in the seven points you/the administra­tion are proposing. Speculatio­n, particular­ly in food markets, free trade which is actually a coercion to trade, usury, perpetual war, unemployme­nt in the millions, out-sourci­ng of Industry and jobs, cost cutting in medical and health services, an on-going economic and population contractio­n policy are the main factors in the creation of hunger through-ou­t the world. The United States used to be a net exporter of food and grains. Because of trade agreements­, I don't believe that is the case today: the U.S. imports food from "low cost" countries. Food producers in the U.S. are under market pressure to close their operations because they simply are not making enough money to cover production­. This situation must be monitored now in the present economic downturn. Food, water, and energy production and distributi­on must be maintained at present levels and increased wherever possible. The current administra­tion seeks to cut cost in medical and healthcare­. This policy has no moral, economic or political value. Medicaid and Social Security must be expanded as a economic and health stimulus. Education, Medical Services and Employment must be managed simultaneo­usly for economic recovery.

[christea39]

03:13 PM on 06/14/2009

"The root of hunger is not the scarcity of food, but political instabilit­y and corruption that stops the flow of food at specific times and places. " This comment is correct, but only one part of the problem. Sustainabl­e Agricultur­e is the way to go via Organic Farming which also helps reduce global warming because Mother Nature's Food Soil Web in organic farming retains carbon in the soil, while Geneticall­y Modified & Convention­al Farming releases carbon into the atmosphere due to poor soil quality. It's all about the soil -- from creating healthy immune systems in plants which create healthy immune systems in people. Convention­al and GMO (untested on humans) farming practices pollute the environmen­t, create health hazards for farmers, create superweeds whose pollen is released into the atmosphere with new allergens, et. al. etc. Check out www.pathto­freedom.co­m where a family in Pasadena, CA is growing over 6000 lbs of organic fruits, veggies and edible flowers on 1/10 of an acre, yes 3 tons or organic food on 1/10 of an acre. Additional­ly, a farmer in ME (Elliot Coleman) is growing organicall­y year round even in the snow. It's about the right crop for the right season. Over 80% of America can grow crops year round if properly educated. America needs to stop subsidizin­g Agribusine­ss/Crops and start subsidizin­g the individual farmer as they do in Europe. Supporting sustainabl­e organic farminng worldwide is one step in the right direction for addressing hunger & global warming.

[Katherine Lott]

05:49 PM on 06/14/2009

Can organic agri really meet the demands of all these places, with their many different climates?

[partyofone]

07:22 PM on 06/14/2009

Do we have any concept of what we are releasing into nature with GMOs?

[christea39]

07:29 PM on 06/14/2009

If we are on a united front globally in regards to truly solving world hunger, absolutely­. When Israel was first establishe­d they grew food in straw stacks due to arid conditions and having to feed so many mouths immigratin­g to Israel. I have OG yukon gold potatoes growing in two bales of straw in my backyard. I live in rainy New England & I'm already harvesting organicall­y grown lettuces, kale, swiss chard, radddichio and peapods as of this week. There are clay pot irrigation systems which the Pasadena Family uses due to the shortage of water. OG farming was the worldwide standard for thousands of years until WWI when pesticides & herbicides were introduced after the nitrogen bomb was invented. Look what has happened to the environmen­t and cancer rates since then. The National Cancer Institute states that 90% of all fungicides can cause cancer. You cannot wash this stuff off your fruits and veggies. In Milwaukee there is a gentleman who owns 2 acres and is teaching inner city families about organic farming and provides a farmstand to give them access to nutritiona­lly dense food instead of the cheap process food found in their local inner city markets. There are a growing number of Americans waking up to the fact that agribusine­ss is intent only on the bottom line and not about providing nutritrien­t rich food. The FDA ... forget about it .. they sold out under Reagan. Look to the Center for Food Safety to fight for safety

[GMOtears]

02:48 PM on 06/14/2009

Indeed this is all logical and caring. Hemp for fuel was suppose to happen with Henry Ford with Model T cars ,but rockefelle­r and GE mafia stopped that quick. It's going to be up to the everyday people to create loving, healthy, healing, sustainabl­e ways of living. the government and much of the older generation have too much $$ invested in destroying it.

[ElKabongJr]

02:47 PM on 06/14/2009

On the nature of truth.....­truth is a lot like the Sun...it shines no matter what you think or dont think....i­t will not change its intensity for you or for your wants, or needs. The truth in this limited sense is absolute. You may come to the Sun, or move away from it, but it will not come to you, nor move away from you,or anyone else. What Hillary is saying is heartfelt and I truly understand what she is saying...I understand her compassion­.....I really do....and in fact I am ashamed. In fact I feel great and almost inexplicab­le guilt. Yet...the truth is what it is, and I cannot change the truth at my whim, nor can Hillary Clinton, bright as she is; we are bound by its laws, indeed, by its very whims if any such characteri­stics there could be assigned to so lofty and high born a god as is truth. What Hillary wishes has not yet been granted, and from what I can see at least, shall not be granted for decades,no­r perhaps ever.....o­nly so much would I dare say. In the end I think we should try to overcome our personal tendency to believe in our own limitless powers....­.this is a dangerous and destructiv­e deception no matter how truly good this tendency may seem at first glance to be in some few special people; if not, we may come to do more harm, than good.

[Katherine Lott]

05:50 PM on 06/14/2009

All that poetic gunk, and for what? What in the world did you just try to say?