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

[HerCabinBoy]

I didn't even need to read the whole article for this one. The world's population, in terms of the world's current organization and technological status, is too excessive for everyone to be fed. In order to sustainably feed all 6.7 billion, the entire planet will have to be restructured. Even if that were possible, what to do when the Earth's population hits 10 billion or more, as it is estimated to do in 40 years or so?

To stop population growth and NOT feed every soul on Earth is the reality, but people like Hillary aren't yet prepared to align themselves.

[Katherine Lott]

What does the WORLD population have to do with an inability to feed a particular country in the middle of, say, Africa, that doesn't have productive farmland and has a military government ignorant of their needs?

[GMOtears]

Hillary supports world soil and health destroyer GMO Monsanto. there slogan "feed the world" hmm NWO!

Hillary knows NOTHING about sustainably healthy living that needs to happen for this planet to make it.

[TJCole]

Madame Secretary; if you can about feeding hungry people in any sincere way....including Americans and lowering food prices rising once again out of control, due to our corrupt futures and commodities market and it's criminal manipulation our president has chosen not to address...

Then grow Industrial Hemp for Fuel...it renews every 4 months, can be grown in every state is considered the number one bio mass plant on earth is non invasive and need not be grown in rows so each acre can be packed with it in abundance...

This would allow corn to be used as food or fed for livestock once again, and end this use of corn as a fuel which is a sin..!

We can get Cellulose ethanol from it's 12-14 foot stalks and bio diesel from it seeds..!

It doesn't get anyone high and it's being banned is a complete absurdity..!

We can also stop killing the earth by using King Coal which use has increased these past years as well replacing it incrementally with Hemp Charcoal which burns much cleaner than Killer Coal...

Hemp 4 Fuel...

http://hemp4fuel.com/

Grow Here Grow Now..!

[GMOtears]

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 people to create loving, healthy, healing, sustainable ways of living. the government and and much of older generation have too much $$ invested in destroying it.

[ElKabongJr]

REally....marijuana......how much combustible fuel does it really contain? I know its a weed, and you are right, it will grow almost anywhere, but I dont know if it needs a lot of water..... But it certainly is a good idea if in fact it turned out to be efficient as a fuel......still can you imagine the pollution? Imagine a great marijuana cloud of smoke over all the world......can you imagine this? Wow those would be high times...indeed.

[ElKabongJr]

one more note about this...cause I am always looking for new alternatives for fuel...no matter how far fetched they may at first appear.....but if Hemp is such a good fuel why are not Mexico and Brazil and Argentina and Turkey and Iran and so many other nations known to produce a lot of the stuff doing this? Marijuana is legal in Mexico, you would think that they would have a great opportunity so why isnt it happening? Frankly something is wrong with your claim even if I am looking at it from the surface. Besides, there are lots and lots of weeds in the world....I cant believe that of all these "Grass" is the best.....maybe youre just doing a little wishful thinking......besides.....here is a big question for you...LETS SAY WE LEGALIZE THE STUFF WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES ON OUR SOCIETY? Oh yeah at first its fine a few people get high , we get the taxes, etc, but what happens when you get an epidemic of people getting high? What are the consequences of this?

[shamaniceconomist]

I am sure the secretary of state is sincere, but the program does not live up to the promise of getting at the root of the problem. 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. Hunger in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, for example, is caused by the Taliban army and its determination to wipe out the culture of agriculture. It does no good to give farmers there new tools to grow crops if an army is going to come along and burn down every food crop field it finds.

[goodforme]

dig a little deeper.

[Directmale]

If the government was really interested in making sure there was enough food to go around they would start by getting out of the way. Irrigation in Northern California has been shut off because of the health of a 1"-2" minnow. Over 30,000 people have been put out of work, costs of vegetables and fruit will go up and the economy in the area will be devastated. Perfectly safe pesticides used by farmers are banned by the US government, the farmers can't raise the crops and compete with produce from other countries so we import products that are demonstrably less safe than the ones grown by American farmers that were put out of the market. Remember Alar? It is a safe product that was lied about by radical environmental groups using false science. The outcome was that a lot of apple growers went into bankruptcy, the domestic apple market decreased and imports of apples increased. The apples grown out of the US are less safe than those grown in US. We need some common sense in government but I am afraid that is a commodity that is in very short supply.

[kimleehan]

Republicans have a problem feeding the hungry in this country but don't mind sending billions in aid overseas, Food stamp allotment in the U.S.A. is less than $12.00 a week per family member earning $ 17.000 a year and the unemployment rate is rising. Think about how food stamps stimulate the economy, farmers who grow the food, truckdrivers who deliever the food to processing centers and stores, food processing plants, food stores, than the familys they feed, One thing I have to admit is food stamps have risen under the Democrats. Thanks

[Kassandra]

Poverty is a disease; let's cure it............Oh? too much trouble and change? Nevermind............

[goodforme]

does it help anyone to call everything bad "disease"?

just asking.

[THORYOU]

no water in calif. becouse of the fish and making farms drill to 1500 ft. for water . who will pay for it YOU at the store .there is hundreds of miles of NO crops growing this year . food is going up up up.

[mountainweb]

If you stop giving money to the UN you could take that money and put it to some "useful" purpose like sustainable agriculture!

[goodforme]

what does UN and sustainable ariculture have to do with each other?????

[goodforme]

here's a simple and REAL solution::

1) STOP STEALING other countries' recources by force or by threatening to use deadly forces military and economic.

2) LEAVE THEM ALONE so that they can develop in whatever mode they see fit for themselves.

[cinemaven]

All excellent points. I especially like the fact that the gov't will be extending credit.

As a family, we donated to feed the children and world vision for years but last year, we decided to go another route. We are now giving micro loans through kiva.org. ... watching the amazing successes of those we've supported so far and being able to take the same amount of money we normally donate but watching it be recyled through business after business is gratifying. We've been given our money back 6 times now and this year, we have double the money out there doing good. If someone defaults on the loan, we'll still have money circulating. The first business we loaned to just came back to kiva asking for money to hire 5 employees which means 5 households making money and feeding their children. It's gratifying and the low default rates would make any North American banker jealous

I think any plan to attack hunger should include availability of free birth control where it's wanted.

[Kassandra]

UM HMMM. sorry, my mouth was full...................You're efforts are greatly appreciated. I wish I could donate to something like that. You're a good person.

[cinemaven]

Kassandra, most donors give only $25 because kiva likes each loan to be spread out among a lot of people. (most loans are $300 - $600 total) Also, when you donate, you normally get your loan money back (without interest) and can either keep it or re-invest in another business. :)

[Bardmess]

We seem to be looking always for ways to increase production, work harder, be more efficient, and squeeze more out of less. We'll do anything but redistribute the wealth and power that has congregated into a small group of people.

The cure for starvation is food. The cure for poverty is prosperity. Too much of the world is controlled by too few people. Twas always so, it just gets worse. There is really only one solution, but those in power would never give it up peacefully. So we'll have to do with the above 7 crumbs.

The optimistic tone of this article rings with false tones, but beggars mustn't be choosers.

[melponeme k]

Clinton, stop the IMF. That will cut off all the horrific inequities that cause government and rich elites to starve their own people to death.

What will happen when the IMF gets their claws on us?

But I doubt you will worry.

[Kassandra]

I think they already have their claws in US, That's why we had to pay them off thru the bank bailout......

Lets get VERY serious about stopping more $$$$ giveaways to them, even if Rahm wants it so. Ol' Rahm helped Bush get 4-5 freetrade agreements thru before Bush's fastrack authority ran out.
Now, the people in Peru are rioting against American "interests" down there.
Go here to keep up on defeating this: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/

Palast says it best:
http://www.gregpalast.com/oil-and-indians-dont-mix/#more-2549

Here's another:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8090548.stm
and we wonder why the world hates our government?

[consideration]

Educate and liberate women from making so many babies!

[goodforme]

a male-chauvinist throwback!

that's what we need, to stem hunger!

[Frank Glenn]

I see some "happy talk" here but no attention to three major problems as we saw them in the Philippines:

1. First are genetically-modified "super seeds" that give you one good crop but you have to buy the seeds from the predominantly US agribusiness companies each year instead of saving some of one crop to be the "seed crop" of next season's effort because they are bred so they can't have but one crop. This is a long way from the altruistic "green revolution" of Norman Borlaug (Nobel Prize) who gave his improved seeds to the farmers of the world which could and did reproduce themselves crop after crop.

2. Second, better irrigation is fine but the supply of both potable water and water for irrigation is greatly diminished or inaccessible in many parts of the world. (Unintended consequence of overpopulation arising from medical and nutrition advances in child-birthing and early childhood???)

3. Third, there is only so much arable land on planet earth and most of it is already being farmed at capacity. We are literally breeding and eating ourselves out of house, home, and a future.

Frank

[Kassandra]

YUP. But no birth control.....we're supposed to "be fruitful and multiply". I read that somewhere...............