New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was announced on the occasion of the 3rd Annual Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, a May 2012 event hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs at which President Barack Obama gave a keynote address.

Corporations and Commitments
Global corporations:
 * Agco Corp: Commitment to "invest $100 million over the next three years to implement model farms and training centers aimed at improving productivity for 25,000 smallholder farmers ranging from Ethiopia to Mozambique."
 * Armajaro
 * Cargill:
 * Diageo: Commitment to a $1.5 million barley farming project in Sebeta, Ethiopia and a $2 million "scalable sorghum value chain project" in Mogoro, Tanzania.
 * DuPont: Commitments to "invest more than $3 million over the next three years to help smallholder farmers in Ethiopia to achieve food security" and to sponsor "an innovative Global Food Security Index being developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to measure the drivers of food security across 105 countries."
 * Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd: Commitment to spend $375 million in Nigeria, Kenya, and Rwanda.
 * Monsanto: Commitment for $50 million "over the next ten years to support sustained Africa agricultural development and growth." The funding will go, in part, to Tanzania's Kilimo Kwanza (Agriculture First) initiative.
 * Netafim
 * Rabobank
 * SABMiller
 * Swiss Re
 * Syngenta: Commitment to make "seed product packs tailored to African farmers" and to "to build a $1 billion business in Africa over the next 10 years."
 * Unilever
 * United Phosphorus Limited
 * Vodafone: Commitment for "improved telecommunications access."
 * Yara International: Commitment to "build Africa's first major fertilizer production facility."

African corporations:
 * ACT
 * Agrica/KPL
 * Agriserv
 * Agro
 * Bank
 * Ecobank
 * Finatrade
 * Ghana Nuts
 * Guts Agro Industries
 * Hilina Enriched Foods
 * Mullege
 * Omega Farms (Ethiopia)
 * Premium Foods
 * Selous Farming
 * SFMC
 * Shambani
 * TAHA
 * Tanseed: Commitment to "purchase improved seeds from contract growers and package them in small packaging so they can market them specifically to small-scale farmers"
 * TASTA
 * Tatepa
 * Zemen Bank

Global Company Value Chain Initiatives:

Africa Cashew Initiative: World Cocoa Foundaiton:
 * Kraft
 * Intersnack
 * Olam
 * Oltremare SRL
 * SAP
 * Trade and Development Group
 * Armajaro
 * Kraft
 * Hershey’s
 * Mars

Competitive African Cotton Initiative
 * Cargill
 * Dunavant
 * Industrial Promotion Services – West Africa
 * Plexus Cotton Limited

Private Sector Entities Signing the Private Sector Statement of Support:
 * Admas Farmers Cooperative Union
 * African Export‐Import Bank
 * AGCO
 * Agricultural Council of Tanzania
 * AgriServ Ltd
 * AICO Africa Ltd
 * Archer Daniels Midland Company
 * Armajaro Trading Ltd
 * Asset Management Group Limited
 * BASF SE
 * Bayer CropScience AG
 * Becho‐Weliso Farmers Cooperative Union
 * Brainchild Tanzania
 * Bunge Limited
 * Cargill, Incorporated
 * Diageo plc
 * Dunavant SA
 * DuPont Company
 * Ecobank Group
 * Equity Bank Ltd
 * Export Trading Group (ETG)
 * Finatrade Group
 * Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen
 * Ghana Nuts Ltd
 * Guts Agro Industry PLC
 * Hakan Agro DMCC
 * Heineken N.V.
 * Hilina Enriched Foods PLC
 * Kafoi Estates Limited
 * Kraft Foods
 * L.T. Foods Ltd.
 * Lonrho Plc
 * Monsanto
 * Mullege PLC
 * Netafim Ltd.
 * Novozymes A/S
 * Oltremare SRL
 * Omega Farms, PLC
 * Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union
 * Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana
 * PepsiCo
 * Plexus Cotton Limited
 * Premium Foods Ltd
 * Private Enterprise Foundation/Federation of Assocations of Ghanaian Exporters
 * Rabobank Group
 * SABMiller
 * Savanna Farmers Marketing Co.
 * Sea‐Freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana
 * Selous Farming Ltd
 * Shambani Graduates Enterprises Ltd
 * Syngenta
 * TaherInvest Group
 * TAK Agro
 * Tanseed International Ltd
 * Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA)
 * Tanzania Seed Trade Association (TASTA)
 * TATEPA
 * Unilever
 * Vital Capital Fund
 * Vodafone
 * Yara International ASA
 * Zemen Bank

Monsanto's Commitment

 * "Plans include improved access to financial services through a partnership with Opportunity International, continued work with Tanzanian scientists through the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project to introduce new maize hybrids suitable for Tanzania and available royalty free to seed companies, support of a new depot in the agricultural corridor and strengthening of agro-dealer networks to provide more choice to farmers, support of a new initiative led by the Earth Institute of Columbia University focused on soil health to encourage best management practices, and creation of opportunities that provide farmers with improved access to markets.


 * "Monsanto will also partner with additional organizations on the ground in Tanzania, including Farm Input Promotion Services on farmer education programs and Muunganisho Ujasiriamali Vijijini (MUVI) on the formation of farmer cooperatives that enable farmers to collectively negotiate and market their harvest."

Syngenta's Commitment
In May 2012, Syngenta announced a commitment to "invest over $500 million over 10 years in Africa." A year later, they publicized a new Memorandum of Understanding with USAID "to support agriculture and food security activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America."


 * "Under this MOU, USAID and Syngenta will further collaborate in research and development and smallholder capacity building, working with key agriculture and food security partners including scientists, entrepreneurs, policy makers and other donors...


 * "Under the MOU, Syngenta and USAID together will build the capacity of smallholder farmers to adopt and safely use technologies that increase their yields through training, demonstrations and other approaches. With USAID, Syngenta will work in specific New Alliance countries and explore ways to increase growers’ use of technologies in crops such as potatoes and will expand smallholder access to tools such as crop insurance and seed treatment."

Critique
Jill Richardson wrote that "The G8 scheme does nothing to address the problems that are at the core of hunger and malnutrition but will serve only to further poverty and inequality." She went on to tell stories of African peasant farmers who made more money by switching to organic farming than by using synthetic fertilizer.

Eric Holt Gimenez of Food First also criticized the New Alliance in an article titled "Nothing New About Ignoring Africa's Farmers." He wrote:


 * "There's a good reason why the 45 members of the New Alliance don't want to hear from the people actually growing the food in Africa... farmers would say that Africa is actually a rich continent and it is the continued extraction of wealth by foreign corporations that causes poverty and hunger -- that the first Green Revolution did not "bypass" Africa; it failed. A new one spearheaded by the same institutions presently spreading GMOs and land grabbing throughout the continent will do more harm than good."

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy was even more harsh, calling the New Alliance a "sad excuse of an aid program." They wrote:


 * "How bad is this idea? Money is money, right? Wrong! The private sector is not just like government, only a little different. It is ENTIRELY different. Corporations are accountable to their shareholders, obliged to make a profit. They are not charities. They are bound by law, but not by the public interest... Corporations are not parties to the human rights covenants that oblige most governments to realize the universal human right to food."

Oxfam International was also critical the new effort with a release titled "G8 Food Security Alliance Answers Question Hungry People Have Not Asked." They say that the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition "focuses too heavily on the role of the private sector to tackle the complex challenges of food insecurity in the developing world." Instead, they called on G8 leaders to "keep the promises they have already made to help developing countries invest in sustainable solutions to hunger and poverty." They add that "While there is a positive role for the private sector in the fight against global hunger, the plan's top down approach does not reflect what many people in poor countries say they want or need" and that this new effort is "passing the buck on global hunger."

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Second Green Revolution
 * Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
 * Gates Foundation Global Agriculture Grants
 * Rockefeller Foundation
 * U.S. Agency for International Development
 * World Bank
 * Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
 * Chicago Council on Global Affairs
 * Using Hunger to Promote Genetic Engineering
 * Monsanto's Use of Humanitarian Projects to Open Global Markets to GMOs

External Resources

 * "Critiques of the G8 New Alliance on Food Security and Nutrition," ActionAid.
 * Key Facts: The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, USAID, May 18, 2012.
 * Fact Sheet: G-8 Action on Food Security and Nutrition, White House, May 18, 2012.
 * AfDB Participates in Launch of The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, May 18, 2012.
 * World Vision responds to U.S. President Obama's announcement at the G8 Summit of the creation of New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, May 18, 2012.

External Articles

 * Tom Philpott, "On Aid, Obama Sells Out Poor Countries to Big Ag," Mother Jones, May 25, 2012.
 * Jill Richardson, "How the US Sold Africa to Multinationals Like Monsanto, Cargill, DuPont, PepsiCo and Others," Alternet, May 23, 2012.
 * Eric Holt Gimenez, "The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition: Nothing New About Ignoring Africa's Farmers," Huffington Post, May 23, 2012.
 * "G-8 punts on food security … to the private sector," Think Forward, May 22, 2012.
 * "Aid for Africa," Washington Post editorial, May 18, 2012.
 * International Fund for Agricultural Development, "Food and Agriculture; Scaling up the Fight Against Poverty and Hunger in Africa," Africa News, May 18, 2012.
 * Stephanie Strom, "White House Enlists 45 Companies to Invest in Food Production for the World's Poor," The New York Times, May 18, 2012.
 * Andrew Quinn, Obama to unveil plan for helping African farmers, Christian Science Monitor, May 18, 2012.