Five Questions about the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

1. What is the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, and who is participating?

The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a commitment by G8 members, African countries, and private sector partners to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years. It builds upon the progress and commitments made in 2009 at the L’Aquila G8 Summit, and offers a broad and innovative path to strengthen food security and nutrition.

The New Alliance includes specific commitments from:

• African leaders to refine policies in order to improve investment opportunities and drive their country-led plans on food security;
• Private sector partners, who have collectively committed more than $3 billion to increase investments; and
• G8 members, who will support Africa’s potential for rapid and sustained agricultural growth, and ensure accountability for the New Alliance.

Read more about the New Alliance.

2. Does the New Alliance mean that the U.S. and other G8 members will not meet their 2009 L’Aquila commitments?

Not at all! The New Alliance builds upon the G8 commitments made at L’Aquila in 2009 and represents the next phase of investment in food security and nutrition. The L’Aquila effort in 2009 was critical in reversing decades of neglect of African agriculture by donors and governments. We’re going to sustain the commitments we made three years ago, and we’re going to speed things up, as President Obama has noted.

L’Aquila showed that we can marshal aid resources and that African countries can develop credible, comprehensive plans. But we need to accelerate our progress, which the New Alliance will do by mobilizing private capital, taking innovation to scale, and managing risk.

It’s important to keep in mind that the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative was about so much more than just money—it was a new way of doing development. Initiative leaders agreed to put their money behind country plans that had been developed and were owned by the developing countries themselves, and to increase investment in research and development, to better coordinate efforts, and to act both bilaterally and through multilateral institutions.

Read the G8 Accountability Report, which tracks G8 progress on fulfilling L’Aquila pledges.

3. What kinds of private sector companies are participating in the New Alliance?

The more than 45 companies making commitments at this time include both large and small American, African, and international companies. Most of the participating companies and associations have missions associated with agriculture or finance.

4. How much does this cost, and where is the money coming from?

President Obama announced last week that more than 45 international and African companies have committed more than $3 billion to specific agricultural investments spanning all areas of the agricultural value chain, including seed systems, fertilizer, irrigation, crop protection, extension and training, post-harvest processing and storage, agricultural financing, and infrastructure. This is new money committed by the private sector at the 2012 G8 Summit and builds on public sector commitments made in 2009.

At the L’Aquila G8 Summit, member countries and others pledged more than $22 billion for agricultural development and at the 2012 G8 Summit they affirmed continued commitment to sustaining and disbursing these funds. The New Alliance will channel those efforts into the most innovative and productive ways possible to maximize results.

As a way to channel funds committed at L’Aquila three years ago, the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) was set up as a unique partnership between donors, partner countries, civil society, and multilateral development institutions to scale up financing for agriculture in the poorest countries. It provides financing through a competitive process to countries that have technically sound agricultural development strategies in place.

The GAFSP has awarded $481 million to 12 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia and will award approximately $180 million more this week. The United States, which has contributed $301.4 million to the GAFSP, is likely to complete its $475 million pledge in the next year. We continue to support this innovative program as part of our commitment not only to food security but also to country-led processes and multilateral involvement.

Last week, the G8 set a goal of securing $1.2 billion over three years in further contributions to the GAFSP from new and existing donors. The United Kingdom has publicly pledged $120 million toward this goal.

Learn more about the GAFSP and track commitments.

5. Which African countries are involved, and what are they committing?

At the 2012 G8 Camp David Summit, the New Alliance initially launched in Ghana, Tanzania and Ethiopia, and will expand rapidly to other African countries, including Mozambique, Cote D’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. These countries are participating in the Grow Africa Partnership, a joint initiative with the African Union and the World Economic Forum to support the private sector component of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). Over time, the New Alliance will expand to other African countries that have demonstrated an interest and willingness to participate in the process.

These African countries have committed to major policy changes that open doors to more private sector trade and investment, such as strengthening property rights, supporting seed investments, and opening trade opportunities. G8 members identified development assistance funding aligned behind these nations’ own country investment plans for agriculture, and private sector firms have laid out investment plans in the agricultural sectors of these countries.

Be sure to check out our one-stop shop on G8 announcements for more information and the follow up blog post “Five More Questions about the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.”