Kumi Naidoo, CO-chair, Global call to action against poverty. Following are comments from aid experts on the G8 summit’s global food security initiative, which pledged $20 billion over three years to spur agricultural investment in poorer countries to fight hunger.
"The G8’s response…is like rearranging deck-chairs to stop the Titanic from sinking. The $20 trillion of support for corporate bailouts in the past year is more than total spending on poverty eradication in the last 50 years. We can only hope that the small promise of support for the food crises will not fall victim to the fate of previous commitments, which remain mostly undelivered. The inability of G8 countries to meet historical promises is a complete failure of moral leadership. We must also be wary of statements that simply repackage previous commitments. As the world continues to tremble in growing crises, the G8 has proved immovable and outdated."
SARAH GILLAM, ACTIONAID "The final pledge doesn’t change much. It is a welcome step in the right direction to get food on table for the 1 billion hungry but it’s not enough to feed them all. "Aid for food must reach at least $23 billion a year by 2020 to reach the millennium development goal of halving hunger by 2050. This takes the G8 much closer but there is still a way to go. Also, is this all additional money? Given the G8 record on delivery, this is still very much a work in progress."
Source: AHU – David A-O