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The Global Agricultural and Food Security Program (GAFSP): An Innovative Fund to Fight Hunger

Friday, March 18th, 2011

Today’s post is the third in a Feed the Future/Reform blog series that MFAN has been coordinating with key members of the community. To read the first post by Bread for the World, click here. To read the second post by the World Food Program USA, click here. To see what ActionAid USA’s Director of Policy and Campaigns has to say about GAFSP and its alignment with foreign assistance reform principles, read below. You will see many aspects of country ownership reflected in the post – be sure to comment or share your thoughts!

A Guest Post by Neil Watkins

Director of Policy and Campaigns at ActionAid USA

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in 50 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. Watkins currently serves as the Northern CSO representative on the Steering Committee of the GAFSP.

A critical, but less well known component of the USG’s Feed the Future Initiative is the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). Launched in April 2010, the fund embodies many of the principles of aid effectiveness, including country ownership, a strong monitoring and evaluation element, and provisions to ensure transparency and civil society participation.

The GAFSP was established in April 2010 following commitments made by leaders at the G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy in 2009 to support global food security. The fund, with a small secretariat at the World Bank, has received nearly $1 billion in pledges from 6 donors including the United States, Spain, Korea, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada and Australia. Unfortunately, the US has only delivered $67 million of its pledge to date; the remainder is currently caught up in the debate around the FY2011 budget. Congress needs to act with urgency to meet our pledge.

One of the innovations of the GAFSP is its governance structure. It is governed by a Steering Committee that includes 12 voting members (the aforementioned 6 donors, along with 6 developing country governments), as well as 11 non-voting but fully participating members. Non-voting members include three civil society representatives (including a farmers organization leader from Africa and Asia); three representatives from the United Nations system; and representatives from the five development banks which serve as the supervising entities for GAFSP projects. As the fund has evolved, in practice there is little difference between voting and non-voting members: all discussions and decisions are taken with all members present.

In June 2010, the GAFSP Steering Committee approved five grants totaling US$224 million for Bangladesh, Haiti, Sierra Leone, Togo and Rwanda. In November 2010, more than $100 million in grants were approved for Mongolia, Ethiopia, and Niger. The successful country proposals demonstrated a high level of need, an effective agricultural investment plan, and a coherent project proposal.

The GAFSP has adopted the Rome Principles — agreed to by 193 nations at the World Food Security summit in November 2009 — into its governance structure, planning, and implementation procedures. All GAFSP funds support country-led agricultural development strategies. In Africa, the fund specifically supports countries that have advanced through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program CAADP process. The CAADP process, launched at a summit of African heads of state in Maputo in 2003, commits African governments to spend at least 10% of their budgets on agriculture and includes a peer and technical review process to ensure development effectiveness.

Moreover, official contributions and pledges to the Fund have been able to leverage additional commitments including from non-traditional donors (Korea) and the philanthropic sector (Gates Foundation). The Fund also operates with a high level of transparency, with all Board documents posted to its website within one week of approval, and detailed information and financed projects publicly available.

From the outset, the GAFSP has placed a strong emphasis on civil society participation, recognizing the vital role civil society organizations (CSOs) play in ensuring that its programs have the greatest impact for the most vulnerable. ActionAid has been encouraged by the inclusion of CSOs in the governance structure of the Fund and the responsiveness by the Fund to CSO input provided to date.

The following are some concrete examples of the successes that CSOs have achieved by serving on the GAFSP Board:

Instructions are now sent along with grant notices to countries that receive awards from GAFSP directing the countries to ensure meaningful stakeholder participation in the finalization of their proposals;
The project financed by GAFSP in Togo involved farmers organizations and civil society organizations in the drafting, finalization, and now implementation of the project;
We also successfully pushed the Private Sector Window, a smaller lending window of the GAFSP which specifically supports the private sector, to commit that Environmental and social safeguards apply to financial intermediaries involved in the Private Sector Window; and that the development indicators the IFC uses to evaluate development impact of PSW projects will be shared with the steering committee.

ActionAid is also working with farmer’s organizations and other CSOs to press the GAFSP to further empower civil society and farmers organizations:

At the request of the full steering committee, we are developing detailed benchmarks and guidelines for effective civil society participation at the country level to ensure much deeper engagement and participation of producers’ organizations especially;
Pushing the GAFSP to clearly identify and support projects that favor innovative models of agricultural development that are likely to have the most beneficial impact on poor smallholders, especially women;
Pressing the Private Sector Window to operate transparently, to directly support smallholders and their organizations, and to demonstrate development effectiveness; and
Ensure strong linkages and accountability with the Committee on World Food Security.

ActionAid believes the GAFSP is a promising vehicle through which donors should deliver agricultural development assistance. We are urging Congress to provide full funding for the United States’ pledge to the fund. The current shortfall from the US is a risk to the fund’s sustainability. We are also urging other G-20 countries that have not yet contributed to GAFSP to make pledges to the Fund, which is an important model of aid effectiveness in practice.

Tags: agriculture, aid effectiveness, civil society, development, food security, foreign assistance reform, G20, G8, GAFSP, leverage, L’Aquila, partnerships
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Feeding Hungry People While Feeding the Future

Friday, March 11th, 2011

Below is the second installment of MFAN’s blog series highlighting the reform aspects of Feed the Future, the United States Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Feed the Future incorporates many key reform principles such as components of country ownership, strong monitoring and evaluation, and leveraging partnerships for enhanced results. To read the first blog in the series, Feed the Future: A Promising New Model of Development, click here. In this week’s post, Rick Leach, President and CEO of World Food Program USA focuses on both the short and long-term goals for food security as well as the importance of a comprehensive approach.

As Mr. Leach says, “This comprehensive approach makes foreign assistance more effective and leads to increased economic growth, which can open new markets for U.S. products and create new jobs at home.”

A Guest Blog Post by Rick Leach, President and CEO

World Food Program USA

The United States has been a long-standing leader in providing emergency food assistance to people in need around the world. From the food assistance provided under the Marshall Plan, which helped ensure prosperity for a generation of Europeans, to the lifesaving food provided in the wake of last year’s devastating earthquake in Haiti, U.S. food assistance has enjoyed decades of bipartisan support.

In recent years, support for food assistance has been unprecedented, as its efficiency and effectiveness continues to improve. Food is now reaching hungry people in need more quickly and more efficiently than ever before. The United States has increased the flexibility of food assistance by expanding prepositioning, so food is nearby when emergencies strike. And with U.S. cash-based assistance food also can be purchased locally, helping to revive and support local economies.

Now, with the administration’s new Feed the Future Initiative, the United States has matched its longstanding commitment to saving and rebuilding lives during emergencies with robust support for efforts to tackle an underlying cause of hunger.

WFP/Alejandro Chicheri

During the 2008 food price crisis, the world witnessed the destabilizing effects that food insecurity had on the world’s poorest people, causing riots in 40 countries. In response the United States and G8 leaders issued a call to action: improved global food security would require a comprehensive approach, one which combined short-term food assistance with long-term development initiatives. This call to action has resulted in an unprecedented consensus on how to effectively address global hunger, from government leaders to recipient countries and international development organizations. The U.S. response to this call to action is Feed the Future, which complements U.S. food assistance with investments in nutrition and agricultural development to comprehensively address the short and long-term impacts of hunger.

The United States and its partners are now employing this multifaceted approach to solve hunger in countries around the world, including Afghanistan where the United States is tailoring its assistance to meet diverse needs on the ground. In cities, such as Kabul, where markets continue to function, the most food insecure families receive vouchers, which enable them to purchase food from local retailers, thereby bolstering local markets. In order to maintain food security and rebuild lives and communities after emergencies, vulnerable populations are provided with food in exchange for their participation in training programs or infrastructure projects, which helps strengthen the capacity of the Afghan people and build the Afghan economy.

U.S. anti-hunger initiatives also provide children in Afghanistan with food assistance specific to their needs. If children do not receive proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life (from conception to two years of age) they can suffer permanent mental and physical damage. Therefore, young children and mothers receive nutrient-rich food and nutritional products to ensure proper early development. In support of national efforts to strengthen the education system, school-age children are also encouraged to attend school with the promise of a meal. This not only increases enrollment, especially for girls, but also improves cognition so children are able to learn and retain information.

Finally, the United States and its partners are now embarking on a global effort to expand agricultural and rural development. One example of an innovative program is the World Food Program’s (WFP) Purchase for Progress initiative, supported by the United States and other donors, which has begun purchasing wheat directly from small-scale Afghan farmers. This initiative is increasing the productivity and income of small-scale farmers, improving their long-term food security. In turn, the wheat purchased by WFP has been used to provide assistance to Afghan families affected by flooding and to produce fortified biscuits for school meals programs.

This comprehensive approach makes foreign assistance more effective and leads to increased economic growth, which can open new markets for U.S. products and create new jobs at home. And by more effectively addressing emergency needs and transitioning countries to stable, productive societies, the United States is also building peace around the world. This means improved national security and as Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said, “development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.” These investments are small but the reward is great. Providing food for hungry people today while growing food to feed future generations is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.

Tags: agriculture, comprehensive, country ownership, development, economic growth, effectiveness, efficiency, emergency, Feed the Future, flexibility, food assistance, Food Security Initiative, foreign assistance reform, Haiti, hunger, investment, local, long-term
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Women’s empowerment – not a partisan issue

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Heather Coleman, senior policy advisor on climate change at Oxfam America, recently posted a blog commemorating International Women’s Day and sharing stories about women who inspire her in the developing world. Coleman can relate to the struggles these incredible women face as they try to produce food for their families and communities, as she is a new mother herself.

“As a new mother I’m deeply touched when I hear stories like that of Sahena Begum in Bangladesh who has two children and whose family has been ravaged by increasingly severe and persistent floods. Sahena invests in disaster preparedness measures like flood early warning systems and raising homesteads with a local organization. I wonder how she has time to invest in such efforts with a family to take care of and food to put on the table. Even with a comfortable home, adequate resources, and no direct threat of natural disasters (or at least none that I know of), I barely have enough time to breathe, never mind invest in community development projects.”

“And while Sahena protects her family and community from yet another flood in Bangladesh, a US Congressional budget battle threatens to slash international development funding accounts that build human security in some of the poorest countries in the world. It looks like the House and Senate will agree to a compromise this week that prevents a government shutdown in the immediate term, but it’s still unclear how long this will last and whether international food security and climate finance will be cut in the end.”

To read more about what Oxfam America is doing to help women around the world, click here. For the latest updates on the budget battle, click here.

Tags: budget, climate change, development, economic growth, Food Security Initiative, gender, International Women's Day, women
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Celebrating International Women’s Day

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

Tuesday, March 8 marks the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, but MFAN Partner Women Thrive Worldwide is drawing attention to the importance of women’s empowerment a few days early. Tomorrow morning they will have their 3rd annual International Women’s Day breakfast as the community takes stock of the progress made in agricultural development and food security and explores important questions for charting a path forward for gender equality. Just five days later Women Thrive Worldwide will be partnering with MFAN and American Jewish World Service to host a discussion on “Forging the Path to Effective Development: Getting Gender Policy Right”. For details about the event, see below. Be sure to visit ModernizeAid later this week and next for more highlights on International Women’s Day and what our partners are doing to mark the occasion.

Forging the Path to Effective Development: Getting Gender Policy Right

With Keynote Remarks By:

Deputy Administrator Donald K. Steinberg

U.S. Agency for International Development

Who Will Join a Panel With:

Ruth Messinger and Ritu Sharma

Presidents of American Jewish World Service and Women Thrive Worldwide

Moderated by

Dee Dee Myers

Political Analyst and Commentator

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

8:30a.m.-10:00a.m.

Reserve Officers Association Building, Minuteman Ballroom A

One Constitution Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC

To RSVP for this event, please e-mail rsvp-dc@ajws.org.

The first government-wide global development policy issued by the President last fall and the State Department’s recently released Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) both commit the United States to consider the unique needs of women and girls, as well as men and boys, in designing U.S. diplomacy and poverty-fighting efforts around the world. When gender is taken into account, foreign assistance can truly reach the people it is intended to benefit—so that both women and men can contribute to the growth and development of their countries. However, without a commitment to gender integration, women are usually the ones left behind; even though research shows that investments in women yield economic, health, and education benefits in lifting families and communities out of poverty.

Join us on International Women’s Day for this timely discussion with Deputy Administrator Steinberg on the importance of taking gender into account when designing development and foreign assistance programs. Hear about a new analysis and recommendations for the QDDR from Women Thrive Worldwide, as well as a new AJWS paper, entitled Empowering Girls as Agents of Change: A Human Rights-Based Approach to U.S. Development Policy.

Tags: agriculture, development, economic growth, education, food security, gender, gender equality, health, PPD, Presidential Study Directive on Global Development Policy, QDDR, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, women
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A Message to Freshman Members of Congress: Invest in nation’s smart power

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Representatives Gerald Connolly (D-VA) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) authored an op-ed which appeared in today’s Politico about the importance of investing in smart power regardless of one’s political affiliation. The bipartisan piece was geared toward freshman members of Congress – providing a word of advice on the importance of the international affairs budget and its impact on national security. Connolly and Lance write, “As freshmen, you are likely to face a dizzying array of difficult decisions. But foreign assistance shouldn’t be one of them. A strong and effective international affairs budget is critical to our national and economic security.”

Read the entire piece below.

Invest in nation’s ‘smart power’

By: Rep. Gerald Connolly and Rep. Leonard Lance

Making decisions for the first time about foreign policy and national security is a daunting responsibility — but an important one that freshmen members of Congress face. Fortunately, the advancement of our national security is one issue with bipartisan support.

In the current economic climate, national security decisions are especially difficult. Strategic investment and efficacy are crucial to our nation’s future security.

We must work together to ensure that our national security focuses on the three pillars — defense, diplomacy and development. Neglecting the second two pillars can be costly — in terms of unnecessary spending and, more important, American lives.

National security experts repeatedly extol the virtues and importance of a strong international affairs budget to keep our nation safe and build our economy. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has highlighted the importance of diplomacy and development in U.S. foreign policy. “Without development,” Gates said, “we will not be successful in either Iraq or Afghanistan.” He asserted, “Economic development is a lot cheaper than sending soldiers.”

Gates is not alone in his assessment of international development as a key foreign policy tool. Numerous bipartisan commissions, among them the 2006 National Security Strategy, the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review, the 9/11 commission and the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group, all concluded that a strong and effective international affairs budget is essential to ensuring U.S. security in the 21st century.

This is why military leaders, fresh from the battlefield. advocate for programs funded by the international affairs budget. In a recent poll of military officers, nearly 90 percent of active duty and retired military officers agreed that the tools of diplomacy and development are critical to achieving U.S. national security objectives and a strong military alone is not enough to protect America.

That doesn’t mean diplomacy always works — but it should always be tried. President John F. Kennedy understood this. “Let us never negotiate out of fear,” Kennedy said. “But let us never fear to negotiate.”

The international affairs budget does more than just keep our nation safe—it bolsters our economy by creating jobs here and developing markets for U.S. goods and services overseas. It makes sense: effective development brings stability, economic development and a demand for goods and services.

In fact, one out of five U.S. jobs depends on international trade, and roughly half of total U.S. exports each year go to developing countries. That’s more than $500 billion annually.

Among the myths about the federal budget, perhaps none is greater than the widespread belief that more than 10 percent is spent on foreign assistance. The reality, of course, is far different. Even with the modest increases in recent years, supported by both Democratic and Republican administrations and Congresses, the international affairs budget totals less than 1.5 percent of the federal budget.

This small investment yields a significant return. In this tough economic climate our constituents are demanding – and we are committed to delivering – efficient programs with tangible results.

As freshmen, you are likely to face a dizzying array of difficult decisions. But foreign assistance shouldn’t be one of them. A strong and effective international affairs budget is critical to our national and economic security.

Standing up for smart power is the right approach to our foreign policy — no matter what your political affiliation.

When you are faced with a vote on the international affairs budget, just remember the adage: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Reps. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.) and Leonard Lance (R-N.J.) are both beginning their second terms. Their offices are side-by-side in the Cannon Office Building.

Tags: 150 account, Afghanistan, bipartisan, developing markets, development, economic security, foreign assistance, Gates, International Affairs budget, investment, Iraq, jobs, military, national security, one percent
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Posts Tagged ‘development’

The Global Agricultural and Food Security Program (GAFSP): An Innovative Fund to Fight Hunger

Feeding Hungry People While Feeding the Future

Women’s empowerment – not a partisan issue

Celebrating International Women’s Day

A Message to Freshman Members of Congress: Invest in nation’s smart power

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