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Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa Research-Based Advocacy for African Agricultural Development Overview of U.S. Initiatives on Global Agricultural Development and Food Security Dr. Julie Howard Executive Director Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa “Linking the Region to the Global Agricultural and Economic Recovery Agenda” 2009 FANRPAN Regional Policy Dialogue Maputo, Mozambique September 3, 2009 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Introduction …and what is “the Partnership”? Trends in US Assistance for African Agriculture Interaction of US Public Sector and Civil Society in Shaping the Evolving US Response to the Food Crisis of 2008 When will African Leaders Speak Out on Agriculture? Beyond the Maputo Declaration and 10% Commitment 1. Introduction The Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa Independent US-African coalition Founded 2001 by Presidents Chissano, Konaré, former USAID Administrator Peter McPherson, Cong. Lee Hamilton, Sen. Bob Dole, David Beckmann Research-based advocacy to increase U.S. investment in African agriculture and rural development, improve the effectiveness of related US policies and programs Focus areas: US policy related to food security and agricultural development; food aid reform; agricultural markets and trade; infrastructure; capacity-building, especially for science and technology Promotes economic development in Africa that is Agriculture-based (supported by increased yields and value-adding industry) Market-based Responsive to African needs and initiatives ….as the best way to cut hunger and poverty How does the Partnership work? The Partnership improves donor, civil society and private sector response to rural Africa by: Conducting focused research and synthesizing existing studies to inform policy Convening US and African experts from public and private sector organizations to identify practical ways to address problems and opportunities in rural Africa Advocating for these ideas to be implemented by US and global decision-makers Working with African leaders to align donor and African national policies and practices We invite all FANRPAN organizations and individuals to join the Partnership 2. Trends in US Assistance for African Agriculture • • • 2005 report: US assistance for African agriculture flat 2000-2004 ($460-$514 million), documented impact of earmarks, fragmentation of US assistance across agencies 2005-2007: significant increase due to MCC and African requests for agricultural infrastructure ($677$840 million) 2008: Global Food Price Crisis motivates increase ($1.1 billion) More change is coming April 2009: President Obama pledges to double U.S. agricultural development assistance at the G20,subsequently submits a proposed 2010 budget making good on his pledge. US Congress is considering legislation calling for a comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy for tackling food security with sustainable agricultural development at the heart. Authorizes add-on appropriations reaching $2.5 billion by 2014. US Administration expected to release a strategy to support country-defined priorities for agricultural development as determined by a CAADP Compact or similar process. Strategy is expected to emphasize the development of country-owned monitoring and evaluation tools to track the impact of investments. 3. Role of Civil Society in Shaping the US Response to the 2008 Food Crisis Fall 2007. Release of 2008 WDR on Agriculture, after extensive consultation with civil society and private sector world-wide. Summer 2008. Global Hunger Task Force Report released. Convened by Center for Strategic and International Studies, co-chaired by Senators Lugar and Casey, and included leading civil society, private and public sector leaders. Calls for significant increase in agricultural assistance as an alternative to growing reliance on emergency humanitarian assistance. Summer-Fall 2008. Lugar and Casey draft legislation, meeting with representatives from NGOs, private sector, university leaders in the US and Africa. Creates new program for increasing higher education capacity for agricultural development. US civil society, African ambassadors urge support for legislation, bill passes committee unanimously Spring 2009. Fall 2008. US NGOs urge Obama transition team to place a high priority on food security and agricultural development. Fall-Winter 2008. Roadmap to End Hunger coalition of 30 NGOs formed, drafts report calling for comprehensive food security approach integrating emergency assistance and long-term agricultural support. Civil Society and Food Security February 2009. Chicago Council on Global Affairs releases report of a highlevel panel of experts on “Renewing American Leadership in the Fight Against Global Hunger and Poverty.” February 2009. Partnership convenes US-Africa conference on food security and the financial crisis. Partnership recommendations on “demand-driven” country-responsive support for food security released June 2009. Spring 2009. NGOs urge support for food security/budget increases proposed by Pres. Obama and attention to food security at the G8. Spring 2009. Congressional representatives McGovern, Emerson, McCollum introduce food security legislation. Throughout winter,spring and summer, Congress convenes briefings on food security, agriculture, and foreign assistance in collaboration with civil society and private sector. Spring-Summer 2009. US Administration representatives meet frequently with NGO and private sector leaders as food security strategy is drafted. Civil society, former public officials publish op-eds, letters to the editor and policy articles regarding food security. What is different this time? Food Price Crisis trigger Large, loose coalition of civil society organizations activates advocacy teams in Washington and grassroots supporters New involvement of respected foreign policy think tanks New reports provide basis for consultation with the public, Congress and Administration Involvement of foundations provides resources for report development and outreach/education 4. When Will African Leaders Speak Out on Agriculture? We need to hear directly from African leaders about their commitment to agriculture and food security. What are the priorities for investment, and what are emerging successes in individual countries? UN General Assembly? G-20 Meetings in Pittsburgh? World Food Day celebrations? November World Food Summit in Rome? Op-eds, articles and letters to international newspapers and magazines? What is the role of African civil society in assuring that African leaders speak out on agriculture and food security? Beyond the Maputo Declaration and 10% Commitment The 10% indicator is a blunt instrument What would “country-owned or region-owned” monitoring and evaluation of agricultural investments look like? Most of the available int’l indexes are descriptive indexes. E.g., FAO State of Food and Agriculture, UN Human Development Index, IFPRI Global Hunger Index, and World Bank World Development Indicators all measure success or failure of countries in satisfying the food and income needs. Few indexes explicitly identify and measure the causal factors that contribute to agricultural success. They focus instead on outcome measure like yield/ha, total food supply, sector income, health status. These compare relative performance in important areas but don’t help inform the process of public decision-making that underlies the long-term pattern of agricultural growth. An “action-oriented index” on food and agriculture? Constructing an action-oriented index, encompassing the breadth of potential factors contributing to agricultural growth and permitting discrimination of relative levels of performance could be a good first step in searching for those factors that govern most countries’ agricultural performance. Such an index might be based on scores for composite variables regarding performance in: sector governance; agricultural science and technical research; production, storage, transportation and communications infrastructure; input and output market structure and function; education and training; extension and outreach; and farm and agribusiness enterprises’ access to financial services. To promote maximum impact of the index among policymakers, the values of indicators making up the composite variables would also be available. Possible role of FANRPAN in developing and applying an AgIndex? Thank you!