As financial institutions shudder and the Big Three automakers await their fate, food prices have begun to drop, but hunger continues to pervade the developing world. This week the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) projected a rise in malnutrition in developing countries over the next decade, which could result in 16 million more undernourished youth by 2020. “The financial crunch has also decreased the availability of capital at a time when accelerated investment in agriculture is urgently needed. The food and financial crises have strong and long-lasting effects on emerging economies and poor people,” stated Joachim von Braun, Director General of IFPRI. The financial and food crises, though not of the same cause, have proven to be mutually reinforcing. Rising food prices throughout 2007 and 2008 drove inflation up while the financial crunch has recently caused demand for agricultural commodities to fall, thus lowering prices once again. This volatility and constriction of monetary funds has distracted the focus from stabilizing developing agricultural systems which has resulted in “a double blow to the poor,” as IFPRI summarized. The present, meager aid and investment in agriculture has only heightened the tension felt throughout the global food system. Though 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries, only 4 percent of development aid is dedicated to agriculture. In order to repair the situation and counteract the predicted increase in hunger, IFPRI’s report recommended three policy actions: (1) promote pro-poor agricultural growth, (2) reduce market volatility, and (3) expand social protection and child nutrition action. One organization has begun to invest in the first of these policies, launching a new project in the wake of IFPRI’s announcement. Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is a partnership throughout the African continent that aids small-scale farmers in increasing farm production sustainably while raising incomes and alleviating local hunger. This week Mr. Ernest Debrah, Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture announced the inauguration of AGRA-led initiative Ghana Agro-Dealer Development (GADD). Slated to aid 850,000 small, rural farms this $2.5 million program will assist 2,200 agro-dealers (local retailers who sell farm products) in updating agricultural products. These modern inputs, as well as agro-dealer training, are expected to aid in seed and fertilizer availability, thus enabling increased farmer productivity. “Nothing is more urgent than ensuring that farmers have access to the inputs they need to increase farm productivity. Agro-dealers have a major role to play to make this possible,” Dr. Namanga Ngongi, President of AGRA said. Tackling agro-dealer and farmer cooperation are only half the battle. Without access to proper credit and financial institutions progress is little more than a pipe dream. Just this week cocoa farmers in the Wassa Atobiase of Western Ghana, pleaded with the government for accessibility to credit facilities after it promised to aid future increases in cocoa production. Addressing these concerns, the GADD initiative promises trade support with established institutions to provide agro-dealers with the necessary investments in agricultural development. Market volatility is difficult to address on the microeconomic level, and until the financial crisis has leveled, this change will be slowly affected. However, microfinance may play a part in IFPRI’s third policy recommendation to increase social protection and safeguard children from hunger. Programs like Mercy Action Corps’ partnership with Green Hand in the Aceh Province of Indonesia train women in organic farming techniques. This instruction prepares them to cultivate produce for their children and families while earning profits for additional harvest. Microfinance doubles as an educational opportunity from mothers to their daughters. Female farmers produce between 60 and 80 percent of food commodities in developing countries. Catherine Ann Bertini, former agricultural director of the UN’s World Food Programme and current agricultural advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, asserts the most effective way to combat the hunger epidemic is to invest in female farmers. “For decades, policies and investments in agriculture in the developing world have paid little or no attention to the gender aspects of farming. Who are the farmers in most of the world? Predominately women. Unless policy makers and donors [listen] to the voices of the people doing the work, they are destined [to] never achieve significant change. Listen to the voices of women,” Ms. Bertini told MediaGlobal. Women are more likely to invest in food and education, but much less apt to control household income, which may be squandered on alcohol and brothels. Empowering females with microfinance ventures allows them greater opportunity to hold sway in monetary decisions positioning them to better provide for their children. If IFPRI’s recommendations are to be enacted, greater focus must be given to the root of hunger, rather than the side effects. Just as a solution to the financial crisis cannot be gauged with approved bailouts, IFPRI confirms the answer to the food crisis cannot be measured simply by food price reductions. Rather, we must look to a healthy, sustainable food system with the proper agricultural investments to feed 840 million undernourished. This will be the indicator of success. Source: MEDIAGLOBAL MEDIAGLOBAL is the global news agency, based in the United Nations Secretariat, creating awareness in the media for the countries of the global South, with a strong focus on South-South Cooperation. The media company is one of the leading providers of information on global development issues facing vulnerable countries. MediaGlobal's news stories are read by leaders of developed countries, the global media, policymakers in donor countries, non-governmental organizations and key personnel in the United Nations Secretariat, its agencies and managers in the field worldwide. Please contact us at: UNITED NATIONS, Room 301, UN Secretariat, New York, NY 10017. Telephone: 212.963.9878. Mobile: 609.529.6129. Email: media@mediaglobal.org. Website: www.mediaglobal.org