Bread for the World Welcomes G8 Hunger Initiative

WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Bread for the World welcomes the statement issued today by G8 member nations at their meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, on reducing world hunger by increasing agricultural support and development in the world’s poorest countries.

According to Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, the agreement by G8 leaders to contribute $15 billion over three years to a new initiative to combat global hunger is a sign of hope for tens of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“The global economic collapse has been especially hard on poor people. An additional 150 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty and more than a billion people are struggling to feed themselves and their families,” he said. “We hope and pray that today’s promise translates into a durable commitment to support the efforts of hungry and poor people to lift themselves out of poverty.”

The additional resources would go both toward rebuilding international capacity to address agricultural issues, and toward directly assisting farmers through improved access to higher-yielding seeds, fertilizer, credit and marketing. “This would be the most ambitious international effort in many years to help millions of the world’s poorest farmers to significantly increase their crop yields to the benefit of their families and communities,” said Rev. Beckmann.

Rev. Beckmann added that the G8 initiative highlights a major change that is occurring in our nation’s current hunger-fighting methods. “We’ve been very generous as a country in providing emergency food aid. But we’ve been way too stingy when it comes to supporting farmers in the developing world to grow their own food,” he said. “Almost anyone will tell you that it’s better to teach a person to fish than simply to give her a fish. But our approach to fighting hunger hasn’t reflected that wisdom until now.”

The president has requested $1.4 billion in the FY2010 budget reflecting his commitment to boosting smallholder agriculture in the developing countries. “Congress needs to support the president’s request,” urged Rev. Beckmann.

Bread for the World (www.bread.org) is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.

SOURCE Bread for the World