Those of us who follow global development news know that agriculture is a critical issue in the big picture of global poverty. From drought to hunger, food aid to farm bills, agriculture issues have a major impact on the ground in poor countries.

Of particular interest in the US is the Farm Bill, that big piece of legislation that is renewed every 5 years and gives subsidies for those growing specific crops.

All of these issues are related. How much money gets invested in poor countries in agriculture has a lot to do with the international market for the crops they would grow. The fact that three quarters of the world’s poor live in rural communities makes this issue even more critical.

The World Bank is taking notice. As Celia Dugger reports in the New York Times,

“Foreign aid for agriculture has plunged as support for global health and primary education has surged. The fight against AIDS and other diseases is keeping millions of people alive, and rising elementary school attendance is lifting literacy rates. But most poor Africans make their living in agriculture and need to grow more to feed themselves and earn their way out of destitution, many analysts say.”

The conclusion of the World Bank’s report is clear:

“Increased public investment in scientific research, rural roads, irrigation, credit, fertilizer and seeds — the basics of an agricultural economy — is crucial to helping Africa’s poor farmers grow more sorghum, corn, millet, cassava and rice on their miniature plots.”

Read the NYT article for more on this point.

It’s not too late to take action on the Farm Bill. Contact your senators today and ask them to create a Farm Bill that reduces misguided subsidies and shifts those resources to support the programs that really need the money.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 1:04 pm and is filed under Foreign Aid, Open Markets, Trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.