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The United States invests in research to develop improved crop varieties. (USDA)
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02 June 2008
U.S. Officials to Urge Increased Agriculture Development Aid, June 2, 2008(U.N. conference to focus on solutions for world food crisis)
By Kathryn McConnell
Staff Writer
Washington -- Top U.S. officials attending a United Nations conference addressing the global food crisis will call for more agricultural development assistance to countries most able to increase food production rapidly. The United States also will call for increased research in agricultural technologies, said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, who will lead the U.S. delegation.
More than 40 heads of state are expected to attend the meeting June 3-5 in Rome.
The United States also will call for an immediate and expanded international response to aid countries most vulnerable to hunger, Schaffer said in a May 29 briefing with reporters.
Other members of the U.S. delegation include U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Henrietta Fore and Agriculture Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Mark Keenum.
The conference called by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization aims "to help countries devise sustainable solutions to rising food prices and the new challenges of climate change and energy security," Schafer said in a press release.
SIDE EVENTS
Schafer and Fore also will participate in three conference side events, Fore told America.gov.
One event, hosted by the United States, will showcase developing countries that have used biotechnology to increase farm production.
A second event, hosted by Brazil, will focus on food aid to Haiti. U.S. shipments of emergency food aid to the strife-stricken country recently resumed, including food for school and work feeding programs. Fore said May 23 that the United States had increased to $45 million its 2008 contribution for food aid to Haiti.
The third event will highlight U.S. government partnerships with companies and private foundations to pay for and implement food aid and agricultural development programs.
Schafer said increasing the use of scientifically advanced crops, including those produced through biotechnology, and removing trade barriers and export restrictions will speed progress toward reducing world hunger and stabilizing food markets.
He said other developed nations "have an obligation to provide food efficiently, without obstructing access to it or limiting safe technologies to produce it." A "successful conclusion" of negotiations within the World Trade Organization would result in a reduction or elimination of barriers and market-distorting agricultural subsidies, he said.
Pointing to some of the benefits of crops produced through biotechnology, Schafer cited higher yields, the need for less fertilizer and water and better adaptation to varying soil and climate conditions.
He said U.S. officials also will encourage countries to adopt policies that encourage more investment in other innovations such as water management, improved post-harvest management and agricultural credit.
Schafer will speak at the conference about the international need to move away from dependence on fossil fuels by increasing production in biofuels. He said the International Energy Agency reports that, since 2005, biofuel production has reduced consumption of crude oil by 1 billion barrels a day.
Rising energy costs, which contribute to rising food costs, he said, can be lessened by biofuel production in major grain-producing countries. But others disagree. (See "Multiple Factors Drive up Global Food Prices.")
The United States contributes more than half of the world's food assistance and is on track to provide a total of nearly $5 billion in food aid in 2008 and 2009, Fore said.
