Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and a core group of finance ministers from the United States, Canada, Spain and South Korea, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, met at the Department of Treasury to announce an initial contribution of $880 million for a new fund to tackle global hunger and poverty.

April 22, 2010

Press Release
Department of Treasury
Washington

Initial Contributions to Leverage Additional Donor Support from Around the World, Public and Private Sectors

WASHINGTON – Today, a core group of finance ministers from the United States, Canada, Spain and South Korea, as well as the leadership of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, met at the U.S. Department of the Treasury to announce an initial contribution of $880 million for a new fund to tackle global hunger and poverty and to discuss ways to foster additional contributions from the public and private sectors around the world.

The new fund, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, will include a U.S. commitment of $475 million, a key element of the Obama Administration’s initiative to enhance food security in poor countries. As fellow inaugural fund contributors, Canada pledged $230 million, Spain $95 million, South Korea $50 million and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $30 million.

“As we work to build a stronger, more stable and balanced global economy, we must renew our commitment to tackle global hunger and poverty,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. “A global economy where more than one billion people suffer from hunger is not a sustainable one. At a time of limited resources and large global challenges, this fund will leverage support from around the world to achieve lasting progress against hunger and bolster agricultural productivity and growth.”

The fund was created in response to a call by G-20 leaders in Pittsburgh last year for the World Bank Group to work with interested donors to set up a multi-donor trust fund to help implement some of the $22 billion in pledges made by G-8 leaders at their meeting in L’Aquila.

The United States has already contributed $67 million to the fund and has requested $408 million in President Obama’s FY 2011 budget, which is subject to Congressional appropriation. This investment is a key element of the Administration’s initiative to enhance food security, raise rural incomes and promote stability in poor countries and will complement the bilateral food security activities of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“With the global number of chronically hungry reaching 1 billion, working together to put an end to the status quo and improve on past efforts is both a moral and economic imperative,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The financial commitments to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program announced today will help address this critical issue in a meaningful and comprehensive way.”

With the aim of boosting agricultural assistance to poor countries, the fund will have both public and private sector accounts to provide financing to countries that have robust agriculture strategies. The public sector account will provide aid for better irrigation systems, linking farmers to markets and building post-harvest storage infrastructure. The private sector account will provide innovative financing to increase the commercial value of small and medium-sized agri-businesses and farmers.

“Investing in small farmers is an incredibly effective way to combat hunger and extreme poverty – history has proved it many times,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, which has committed $1.5 billion to date to agricultural development. “The launch of this fund is an important step forward, but only a first step. Other countries meeting at the European, G-8 and G-20 summits in June and at the U.N. Summit in September should join the four founding partners and make good on their pledges. If we all sustain focus until the job is done, hundreds of millions of people will lead better lives.”

The fund aims to improve the income and food security of poor people in developing countries. It is estimated that the sudden increase in food prices in 2008 drove 100 million people into poverty. Even before the food price spikes, 850 million people in poor countries were chronically malnourished. Agriculture, seen as vital for development, has also been affected by low levels of investment over the past few decades and issues like climate change.

“At a time when practical and effective solutions are required, Canada is pleased to be among the first to help fund such a valuable program,” said Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Minister of Finance. “Our $230 million contribution builds on Canada’s ongoing efforts to improve sustainable agriculture for the world’s poorest. It also ensures international institutions have the resources they need to help countries tackle increasingly difficult challenges. None are as basic, as urgent or as unacceptable as global hunger.”

“We have to maintain our degree of commitment with the poor,” said Elena Salgado, Second Vice-President and Minister of Economy and Finance of Spain. “We cannot forget the 75 percent of the world’s poor that live in rural areas. Sustaining food security requires a comprehensive approach that encompasses increasing agriculture productivity, fostering rural development and guaranteeing access to markets, especially for small farmers. Vulnerable populations would benefit from surpluses thus generated, through food safety nets.”

“Korea experienced a severe food shortage and poverty at the initial stages of its economic development in the 1960s,” said Korean Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-Hyun. “The experiences made Korea recognize the importance of food security. In this regard, we will spare no effort in supporting developing countries’ economic development and helping to strengthen their agriculture sector with empathy rather than sympathy, deep down in the heart.”

Hosted by the World Bank Group, a number of agencies, including the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, will implement the projects financed by the fund. The fund will embrace a transparent governance structure by ensuring that recipient countries and civil society organizations, as well as donors, have a voice in the operation of the fund.

“Malnutrition and hunger afflicts millions of vulnerable people in Africa who cannot afford to grow and buy sufficient food,” said Jean Ping, the Chairman of the African Union Commission. “Last year, the international community pledged resources to help the world’s poorest farmers. The establishment of this fund is an important signal that donors intend to meet their commitments and help African countries implement their comprehensive agriculture strategies. We urge other countries to come forward and make good on their promises.”

“With a sixth of the world’s people going hungry every day, the crisis in food remains very real, posing a severe economic burden on developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said World Bank Group President, Robert B. Zoellick. “Co-operation and coordination are vital to boost agricultural productivity and connect farmers to markets, as agriculture is the main lifeline today for about 75 percent of the world’s poor.”

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Read Remarks of Secretary Geithner

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (center) launched the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program with a U.S. commitment of $475 million.

April 22, 2010

Timothy F. Geithner
Treasury Secretary
Department of Treasury

Remarks at the Announcement on International Commitment to Fight Global Hunger and Poverty

As Prepared for Delivery

Good morning.

We have just concluded an important meeting to launch the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program. My thanks to Bill Gates, Minister Flaherty, Minister Salgado, Minister Yoon, President Zoellick and Minister Muhith for being here today. I also want to thank Secretary Vilsack for joining us.

A year ago, the world came together in a powerful and coordinated effort to restore stability to the financial systems of the major economies and provide support for emerging and developing economies on a dramatic scale. The actions we took together are working, and the world is beginning to recover from its most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression.

But as we work to build a stronger, more stable and balanced global economy, we must renew our commitment to tackle global hunger and poverty. Because a world where more than 1 billion people suffer from hunger is not a strong or stable world. A world where more than 2 billion people in rural areas struggle to secure a livelihood is not a balanced one.

We are moved to act both by our conscience and our common interests. Eradicating hunger anywhere advances humanity everywhere. Promoting economic growth abroad increases prosperity and security at home.

Recognizing this, Leaders of the G-8 and G-20 have agreed that we must act to help the world’s poorest farmers grow more, earn more and lift themselves out of poverty.

To this end, I am pleased to announce that the United States proposes to contribute $475 million toward the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program – a new fund that will reduce global hunger and poverty by increasing agriculture productivity, linking farmers to markets and improving rural infrastructure. Our commitment is key to the Administration’s efforts to enhance food security, raise rural incomes and promote stability in poor countries. It will complement the existing food security activities of USAID and the Department of Agriculture.

The need for the new fund could not be clearer.

At a time when the threat of global poverty has increased, the fund will seek to put poverty back on a downward path.

At a time when investment in agriculture has declined, the fund will work to reverse the neglect and increase investment in this crucial area.

At a time when the challenges that we face are increasingly transnational, the fund will operate across borders and issues. It will help us address climate change and water scarcity even as we tackle food security and agriculture.

The United States will be guided by three principles in this effort.

First, with financial resources constrained at home, we will work with our partners at the multi-lateral institutions to fully leverage our investment dollars. We will seek to mobilize the resources from other countries and foundations to join us in tackling the challenges of food security.

Second, recognizing that foreign aid alone cannot unleash the potential of agriculture, we will work to assure that private sector investment complements aid flows. The new fund will have a private sector window that will work with businesses, investors and local financial institutions to increase the commercial potential of small and medium-sized agri-businesses.

Finally, the fund will embrace a transparent governance structure by ensuring that recipient countries and civil society organizations, as well as donors, have a voice in the operation of the fund.

We know that the new fund alone will not put an end to food insecurity. But by pledging our support for the fund, we are taking a bold step to help the world’s poorest farmers. We call on our colleagues from other G-8 and G-20 countries to join us in this extraordinary effort to help the world’s most vulnerable populations and, in the process, take an important step towards creating a more balanced, prosperous and secure world for all.

Thank you.

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Other Resources:

$880 Million to tackle Global Hunger and Poverty

Treasury Department Issues New General License to Boost Internet-Based Communication, Free Flow of Information in Iran, Sudan and Cuba

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today amended the Iranian Transactions Regulations, Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, and Cuban Assets Control Regulations to ensure that individuals in these countries can exercise their universal right to free speech and information to the greatest extent possible. The amendments add general licenses authorizing the exportation of certain personal Internet-based communications services – such as instant messaging, chat and email, and social networking – to Iran, Sudan and Cuba. The amendments also permit the exportation of related software to Iran and Sudan.

“Consistent with the Administration’s deep commitment to the universal rights of all the world’s citizens, the issuance of these general licenses will make it easier for individuals in Iran, Sudan and Cuba to use the Internet to communicate with each other and with the outside world. Today’s actions will enable Iranian, Sudanese and Cuban citizens to exercise their most basic rights,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin.

The new general licenses authorize exports from the United States or by U.S. persons to persons in Iran and Sudan of services and software related to the exchange of personal communications over the Internet, including web browsing, blogging, email, instant messaging, and chat; social networking; and photo and movie sharing. Today’s amendments also provide that specific licenses may be issued on a case-by-case basis for the exportation of services and software used to share information over the Internet that not covered by the general licenses.

“As recent events in Iran have shown, personal Internet-based communications like email, instant messaging and social networking are powerful tools. This software will foster and support the free flow of information – a basic human right – for all Iranians,” continued Wolin. “At the same time as we take these steps, the Administration will continue aggressively to enforce existing sanctions and to work with our international partners to increase the pressure on the Government of Iran to meet its international obligations.”

The sanctions regulations on Cuba also have been amended to include a similar authorization and statement of licensing policy for the exportation of such services to Cuba. Unlike Iran and Sudan, the exportation of goods and technology, including software, to Cuba is separately licensed or otherwise authorized by the Commerce Department.

Today’s action follows up on the December 2009 notification submitted to Congress by the State Department of a national interest waiver under the Iran Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act to authorize the exportation of free mass market software to Iran necessary for the exchange of personal communications and/or sharing of information over the Internet.

To view the final rule click here.

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