18 May 2012
Ottawa, Ontario
The Harper Government is committed to combating hunger and malnutrition and creating the basis for health and prosperity in developing countries. To this end, on May 18, 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced support to the 2012 G-8 New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security (the New Alliance), which will contribute to collective efforts to drive agricultural transformation, improve nutritional status and unlock sustainable economic growth in Africa.
The New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security will allow African partners, G-8 countries, other donors and the private sector to create new and innovative partnerships that will drive agricultural transformation, improve nutrition and unlock sustainable economic growth in Africa. These efforts will complement initiatives being undertaken by the African Union.
Canada's support to the New Alliance, in the amount of $219 million, over three years, funded through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)'s bilateral and multilateral programs includes:
- $ 169 million (2012-2014) in ongoing bilateral food security programming in Ghana and Ethiopia, which will help smallholder farmers to increase their productivity and profitability;
- $25 million (2012-2014) in new funding for a new Canadian nutrition initiative with multilateral partners to support innovative nutrition research and technologies and build the capacity of local actors, including the local private sector, to scale-up these innovations; and
- $25 million (2012-2014) in new funding for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP) Public Sector Window, which links farmers to markets and provides public sector grants to finance higher agricultural productivity, capacity strengthening, risk and vulnerability reduction, and improved non-farm rural livelihoods..
Canada's contribution to the New Alliance builds on Canada's track record of global leadership in food security. At the G-8 Summit in L'Aquila in 2009, Canada announced new funding of $600 million for sustainable agricultural development over three years, elevating its total support to $1.18 billion. In April 2011, Canada became the first G-8 country to fully meet its L'Aquila commitment.
In 2009, Canada launched its Food Security Strategy, a comprehensive approach to address immediate food needs in developing countries and find solutions for lasting food security through three paths: sustainable agricultural development, food assistance and nutrition, and agricultural research.
Canada's efforts to improve access to sufficient quantities of nutritious food and to enhance the quality and effectiveness of food assistance and nutrition programming will result in more lives saved and better overall health.
