By Gary Thomas
Oxfam, an international agency, cautioned that the ‘New Alliance to Increase Food and Nutrition Security’ concentrates highly on the contribution of the private sector to address the major food insecurity issues in the developing countries.
Instead, G8 leaders have to follow the promises announced by them earlier to assist developing nations invest in sustainable solutions to poverty and hunger, according to the agency. At the G8 Summit conducted in L'Aquila, Italy three years before, G8 leaders had agreed to pledge $22 billion to developing countries with better plans to address hunger.
Oxfam's Gregory Adams commented that the organization appreciated the effort of assisting 50 million people to escape from poverty and hunger through agriculture. G8 leaders must team up with President Obama to provide resources to developing nations in order to achieve this goal. The pledge to get $1.2 billion to promote country agriculture is a good initiative. However, the G8 has to reaffirm the collaboration they started at L'Aquila and keep that level of investments.
Although the private sector will play a positive role to provide solutions to global hunger, the top down approach of the new alliance’s plan does not address the voice of majority of the people in developing countries. Several African civil society groups and leaders have criticized the food security plans of the G8. The plan discusses about the issues but must do a lot to tackle the increasing threats of natural resource constraints and climate change.
Unless the G8 recommits and keeps up the L'Aquila promises, it is evading from its responsibility of fighting against global hunger, concluded Adams.
Source: http://www.oxfamamerica.org