The President:
Well, good morning, everybody.
Thank you, Catherine Bertini,
and Dan Glickman and everyone
at the Chicago Council.
We were originally going to
convene, along with the G8,
in Chicago.
But since we're not doing
this in my hometown,
I wanted to bring a little
bit of Chicago to Washington.
(laughter)
It is wonderful
to see all of you.
It is great to see quite a few
young people here as well.
And I want to acknowledge
a good friend.
We were just talking backstage
-- he was my inspiration for
singing at the Apollo --
(laughter)
-- Bono is here, and
it is good to see him.
(applause)
Now, this weekend at the G8,
we'll be represented by many
of the world's
largest economies.
We face urgent challenges
-- creating jobs,
addressing the situation
in the eurozone,
sustaining the global
economic recovery.
But even as we deal
with these issues,
I felt it was also important,
also critical to focus on the
urgent challenge that
confronts some 1 billion men,
women and children around the
world -- the injustice of
chronic hunger; the need for
long-term food security.
So tomorrow at the G8, we're
going to devote a special
session to this challenge.
We're launching a major new
partnership to reduce hunger
and lift tens of millions
of people from poverty.
And we'll be joined by
leaders from across Africa,
including the first three
nations to undertake this effort
and who join us here today -- I
want to acknowledge them: Prime
Minister Meles of Ethiopia --
(applause)
-- President Mills of Ghana --
(applause)
-- and President
Kikwete of Tanzania.
(applause)
Welcome.
I also want to acknowledge
President Yayi of Benin,
chair of the African Union --
(applause)
-- which has shown great
leadership in this cause.
And two of our leaders in this
effort -- USAID Administrator --
every time I meet him,
I realize that I was an
underachiever in my 30s --
(laughter)
-- Dr. Raj Shah is here.
(applause)
And the CEO of the Millennium
Challenge Corporation,
Daniel Yohannes.
(applause)
Now, this partnership is
possible because so many
leaders in Africa and
around the world have made
food security a priority.
And that's why, shortly
after I took office,
I called for the international
community to do its part.
And at the G8 meeting three
years ago in L'Aquila, in Italy,
that's exactly what we did --
mobilizing more than $22 billion
for a global food
security initiative.
After decades in which
agriculture and nutrition
didn't always get the
attention they deserved,
we put the fight against global
hunger where it should be,
which is at the forefront
of global development.
And this reflected the new
approach to development that I
called for when I visited Ghana,
hosted by President Mills,
and that I unveiled at the
last summit on the Millennium
Development goals.
It's rooted in our conviction
that true development involves
not only delivering aid, but
also promoting economic growth
-- broad-based, inclusive growth
that actually helps nations
develop and lifts
people out of poverty.
The whole purpose of development
is to create the conditions
where assistance is
no longer needed,
where people have the
dignity and the pride
of being self-sufficient.
You see our new approach in
our promotion of trade and
investment, of building on the
outstanding work of the African
Growth and Opportunity Act.
You see it in the global
partnership to promote open
government, which empowers
citizens and helps to fuel
development, creates
the framework,
the foundation for
economic growth.
You see it in the international
effort we're leading against
corruption, including greater
transparency so taxpayers
receive every dollar they're
due from the extraction of
natural resources.
You see it in our Global
Health Initiative,
which instead of just delivering
medicine is also helping to
build a stronger health
system, delivering better
care and saving lives.
And you see our new approach in
our food security initiative,
Feed the Future.
Instead of simply
handing out food,
we've partnered with countries
in pursuit of ambitious goals:
better nutrition to prevent
the stunting and the death
of millions of children, and
raising the incomes of millions
of people, most of them farmers.
The good news is we're on
track to meet our goals.
As President, I consider
this a moral imperative.
As the wealthiest
nation on Earth,
I believe the United States has
a moral obligation to lead the
fight against hunger
and malnutrition,
and to partner with others.
So we take pride
in the fact that,
because of smart investments in
nutrition and agriculture and
safety nets, millions of people
in Kenya and Ethiopia did not
need emergency aid in
the recent drought.
But when tens of thousands of
children die from the agony of
starvation, as in Somalia, that
sends us a message we've still
got a lot of work to do.
It's unacceptable.
It's an outrage.
It's an affront to who we are.
So food security is
a moral imperative,
but it's also an
economic imperative.
History teaches us that one of
the most effective ways to pull
people and entire nations
out of poverty is to invest
in their agriculture.
And as we've seen from Latin
America to Africa to Asia,
a growing middle class also
means growing markets,
including more customers for
American exports that support
American jobs.
So we have a self
interest in this.
It's a moral imperative,
it's an economic imperative,
and it is a security imperative.
For we've seen how spikes in
food prices can plunge millions
into poverty, which, in turn,
can spark riots that cost lives,
and can lead to instability.
And this danger will only grow
if a surging global population
isn't matched by
surging food production.
So reducing malnutrition and
hunger around the world advances
international peace and security
-- and that includes the
national security of
the United States.
And perhaps nowhere do we
see this link more vividly
than in Africa.
On the one hand, we see
Africa as an emerging market.
African economies are
some of the fastest
growing in the world.
We see a surge in
foreign investment.
We see a growing middle class;
hundreds of millions of people
connected by mobile phones;
more young Africans online
than ever before.
There's hope and some optimism.
And all of this has yielded
impressive progress -- for the
first time ever, a decline in
extreme poverty in Africa;
an increase in crop yields; a
dramatic drop in child deaths.
That's the good news, and in
part it's due to some of the
work of the people in this room.
On the other hand, we see an
Africa that still faces huge
hurdles: stark inequalities;
most Africans still living on
less than $2 a day; climate
change that increases the
risk of drought and famine.
All of which perpetuates
stubborn barriers in
agriculture, in the agricultural
sector -- from bottlenecks in
infrastructure that prevent
food from getting to market,
to the lack of credit,
especially for small farmers,
most of whom are women.
I've spoken before about
relatives I have in Kenya,
who live in villages where
hunger is sometimes a reality --
despite the fact that African
farmers can be some of the
hardest-working people on Earth.
Most of the world's unused
arable land is in Africa.
Fifty years ago, Africa
was an exporter of food.
There is no reason why Africa
should not be feeding itself
and exporting food again.
There is no reason for that.
(applause)
So that's why we're here.
In Africa and around the
world, progress isn't
coming fast enough.
And economic growth can't just
be for the lucky few at the top,
it's got to be
broad-based, for everybody,
and a good place to start is
in the agricultural sector.
So even as the world responds
with food aid in a crisis -- as
we've done in the Horn of Africa
-- communities can't go back
just to the way things
were, vulnerable as before,
waiting for the next
crisis to happen.
Development has
to be sustainable,
and as an international
community, we have to do better.
So here at the G8, we're going
to build on the progress we've
made so far.
Today, I can announce a new
global effort we're calling a
New Alliance for Food
Security and Nutrition.
And to get the job done we're
bringing together all the key
players around a
shared commitment.
Let me describe it.
Governments, like
those in Africa,
that are committed to
agricultural development
and food security, they agree
to take the lead -- building
on their own plans by
making tough reforms
and attracting investment.
Donor countries -- including
G8 members and international
organizations -- agree to more
closely align our assistance
with these country plans.
And the private sector -- from
large multinationals to small
African cooperatives, your NGOs
and civil society groups --
agree to make concrete and
continuing commitments as well,
so that there is an alignment
between all these sectors.
Now, I know some have asked,
in a time of austerity,
whether this New Alliance is
just a way for governments
to shift the burden
onto somebody else.
I want to be clear:
The answer is no.
As President, I can assure
you that the United States
will continue to meet
our responsibilities,
so that even in these
tough fiscal times,
we will continue to
make historic investments
in development.
And, by the way, we're going
to be working to end hunger
right here in the
United States as well.
(applause)
That will continue
to be a priority.
(applause)
We'll continue to be the
leader in times of crisis,
as we've done as the single
largest donor of aid in the
Horn of Africa, and as we focus
on the drought in the Sahel.
That's why I've proposed to
continue increasing funds for
food security.
(applause)
So I want to be clear: The
United States will remain a
global leader in development
in partnership with you.
And we will continue to
make available food --
or emergency aid.
That will not change.
But what we do want to partner
with you on is a strategy so
that emergency aid becomes
less and less relevant as a
consequence of greater and
greater sustainability within
these own countries.
That's how development
is supposed to work.
That's what I mean by a new
approach that challenges more
nations, more organizations,
more companies, more NGOs,
challenges individuals -- some
of the young people who are here
-- to step up and play a role
-- because government cannot
and should not do this alone.
This has to be
all hands on deck.
And that's the essence
of this New Alliance.
So G8 nations will pledge
to honor the commitments
we made in L'Aquila.
We must do what we
say; no empty promises.
And at the same time, we'll
deliver the assistance to
launch this new effort.
Moreover, we're committing to
replenish the very successful
Global Agricultural and
Food Security Program.
(applause)
That's an important part
of this overall effort.
Next, we're going to mobilize
more private capital.
Today, I can announce that
45 companies -- from major
international corporations
to African companies and
cooperatives -- have pledged
to invest more than $3 billion
to kick off this effort.
(applause)
And we're also going to
fast-track new agricultural
projects so they reach
those in need even quicker.
Third, we're going to speed up
the development and delivery
of innovation -- better seeds,
better storage -- that unleash
huge leaps in food production.
And we're going to tap that
mobile phone revolution in
Africa so that more data on
agriculture -- whether it's
satellite imagery or weather
forecasts or market prices --
are put in the hands of farmers
so they know where to plant and
when to plant and when to sell.
Fourth, we're joining with the
World Bank and other partners to
better understand and manage the
risks that come with changing
food prices and a changing
climate -- because a change in
prices or a single bad season
should not plunge a family,
a community or a
region into crisis.
And finally, we're going to
keep focusing on nutrition,
especially for young children,
because we know the effects of
poor nutrition can last a
lifetime -- it's harder to
learn, it's harder
to earn a living.
When there is good nutrition,
especially in those thousand
days during pregnancy up to
the child's second birthday,
it means healthier lives for
that child and that mother.
And it's the smart thing to do
because better nutrition means
lower health care costs and it
means less need for assistance
later on.
That's what we're going to do.
We're going to sustain the
commitments we made three years
ago, and we're going
to speed things up.
And we're starting with these
three countries -- Tanzania,
Ghana and Ethiopia -- precisely
because of their record in
improving agriculture
and food security.
But this is just the beginning.
In the coming months, we'll
expand to six countries.
We'll welcome other countries
that are committed to making
tough reforms.
We'll welcome more companies
that are willing to invest.
We're going to hold
ourselves accountable;
we'll measure results.
And we'll stay focused on
clear goals: boosting farmers'
incomes, and over the next
decade, helping 50 million men,
women and children lift
themselves out of poverty.
(applause)
And I know there are going to
be skeptics -- there always are.
We see heartbreaking images
-- fields turned to dust,
babies with distended bellies
-- and we say it's hopeless,
and some places are condemned
to perpetual poverty and hunger.
But the people in
this room disagree.
I think most of the
American people disagree.
Anyone who claims great
change is impossible,
I say look at the extraordinary
successes in development.
Look at the Green Revolution,
which pulled hundreds of
millions of people
out of poverty.
(applause)
Look at microfinance, which has
empowered so many rural poor --
something my mother
was involved with.
Look at the huge expansion of
education, especially for girls.
Look at the progress we've made
with vaccines -- from smallpox
to measles to pneumonia to
diarrhea -- which have saved the
lives of hundreds of millions.
And of course, look at the
global fight against HIV/AIDS,
which has brought us to the
point where we can imagine what
was once unthinkable -- and
that is the real possibility
of an AIDS-free generation.
(applause)
Moreover, we are already making
progress in this area right now.
In Rwanda, farmers are selling
more coffee and lifting their
families out of poverty.
In Haiti, some farmers have
more than doubled their yields.
In Bangladesh, in
the poorest region,
they've had their
first-ever surplus of rice.
There are millions of farmers
and families whose lives are
being transformed right
now because of some of
the strategies that
we're talking about.
And that includes a farmer in
Ethiopia who got a new loan,
increased production,
hired more workers.
And he said, "This
salary changed my life.
My kids can now go to school."
And we start getting
the wheel turning in the
direction of progress.
We can do this.
We're already doing it.
We just need to bring
it all together.
We can unleash the change that
reduces hunger and malnutrition.
We can spark the kind of
economic growth that lifts
people and nations
out of poverty.
This is the new commitment
that we're making.
And I pledge to you today that
this will remain a priority as
long as I am United
States President.
Thank very much.
(applause)
God bless you. Thank
you. God bless America.
