Ghanaian women working in a field: “There is no reason why Africa cannot be self-sufficient when it comes to food,” President Barack Obama said while explaining the G8 Summit’s new commitment on food security.
Nations represented at the G8 Summit of the world’s major industrial powers have promised to raise U.S. $20 billion to promote sustainable agricultural development in developing countries.
A statement issued at the end of the summit, endorsed by the G8 as well as countries including Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Nigeria and South Africa, said countries represented had made commitments "towards a goal of mobilizing $20 billion over three years."
The money would be used both to implement "a coordinated, comprehensive strategy focused on sustainable agriculture development" and to provide emergency food aid.
Indications from the summit were that United States President Barack Obama had played a major role in raising the target to $20 billion – reports before and during the summit suggested the figure would be $15 billion.
Source: our correspondent-AHU