Emergency Grants to Help People Most Affected by Global Food Crisis - Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a $17.6 million package of grants to help people most affected by the global food crisis and support small-scale farmers in developing countries. The largest grant—$10 million to the World Food Programme (WFP)—will continue the organization's efforts to feed young children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers in Niger, Cote D'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, where malnutrition rates are staggering. Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam America will also receive funds from the foundation’s emergency relief initiative to respond to the food crisis.

Rising food and fuel prices have put 950 million people worldwide at risk of hunger and malnutrition, according to the United Nations. Young children, whose early nutritional needs are critical to ensure long-term health, and women are at the greatest risk. Increases in farming costs, such as transportation and fertilizer, are adding to small farmers' burdens.

"The Gates donation will help us feed the hungry—especially young children, pregnant and lactating women—in this critical moment," said Thomas Yanga, WFP's regional director for West Africa.

Grants to Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam America total $7.6 million. These grants will support efforts that include providing food for those most in need; helping families earn money for food through employment opportunities or cash-for-work programs; and helping farmers continue and improve their production in times of crisis.

While these grants address some of the most urgent consequences of the global food crisis, the foundation is also deeply committed to funding nutritional programs that promote lasting health and supporting long-term, sustainable efforts to help hundreds of millions of small farmers boost their productivity so they can feed their families and overcome poverty. 

"The current global food crisis requires immediate action to feed people most at risk," said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation's Global Development Program. "In the longer term, since agriculture and the needs of small-scale farmers in the developing world have been increasingly neglected in recent decades, we need a significant reinvestment in agricultural development—from donors and developing countries—that focuses on helping small farmers boost their yields and increase their incomes."

Agricultural development is the largest initiative in the foundation's Global Development Program, which was launched in 2006. To date, the foundation has made more than $800 million in commitments in the sector with a focus on helping small-scale farmers in Africa and South Asia. The grants span the agricultural value chain—from seeds and soil to farm management and market access—so that millions of small farmers have the tools and opportunities to live healthy, productive lives.

According to the World Bank, three-quarters of the 1.1 billion people who live on less than $1 a day live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for a living, yet the percentage of development assistance that went to agriculture fell from more than 16 percent in 1980, to less than 4 percent in 2004. In addition, agriculture accounts for only 4 percent of public spending in agriculture-based developing countries. The foundation believes with strong partnerships and a renewed commitment to agricultural development from all sectors, hundreds of millions of small farmers will be able to increase their productivity and incomes and lead healthy, productive lives. 

Today's announcement includes the following grants:

Catholic Relief Services - $2.9 million

• In Afghanistan, provide employment opportunities on community infrastructure and other projects; provide direct emergency assistance to households unable to participate in cash-for-work programs; and help small-scale farmers buy seeds, tools, and other farm necessities.
  
• In Burkina Faso, provide food vouchers for urban families and help poor farm families increase production and sale of rice.
  
• In Haiti, help small-scale farmers buy seeds, tools, and other farm necessities.

Mercy Corps - $2.7 million

• In the Central African Republic, provide employment opportunities on community infrastructure and other projects; help small-scale farmers buy seeds, tools, and other farm necessities; train farmers to improve their production techniques and marketing of agricultural products; and provide access to microfinance loans to fund food-production related enterprises.
  
• In Nepal, provide employment opportunities on community infrastructure and other projects; provide access to microfinance loans to fund food-production related enterprises; and strengthen agriculture market chains for food and non-food crops.
  
• In Niger, provide vouchers and training for farmers to improve production techniques and marketing of agricultural products; and support the health and supply of small livestock and poultry.
  
• In Somalia, distribute seeds and farm tools; provide employment opportunities on community infrastructure and other projects; provide access to microfinance loans to fund food-production related enterprises; and support the health and supply of small livestock and poultry.
  
• In Sri Lanka, help small-scale farmers buy seeds, tools, and other farm necessities; train farmers to improve their production techniques and marketing of agricultural products; and facilitate access to microfinance loans to fund food-production related enterprises.

Oxfam America - $2 million

• In Ethiopia, provide local jobs on community infrastructure projects including building irrigation systems; support programs that provide food to schoolchildren; take steps to improve agricultural production, including distributing seeds and supporting irrigation projects; develop a grain bank system; implement a drought early warning system that helps prepare farmers for potential drought or other disaster; and provide livestock to women and help all farmers care for their livestock.

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World Food Programme - $10 million

• Help continue the maternal-child health program in Niger, Cote D'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.