By Cara A. George and Nabeeha M. Kazi at Humanitas Global Development
“There are moments in time when you know the world has shifted.”
This comment, spoken by Josette Sheeran from the World Economic Forum, epitomized the general sentiment at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, held on the eve of the 2012 G8 Summit.
The elevated attention on hunger and malnutrition represents a change in thinking. Fighting hunger is recognized as a “quest for humanity.” In fact, at one point, Symposium attendees were polled with the question of “raise your hand if hunger persisted within your own family within the last two to three generations.” The number of hands in the air was astounding.
To continue in this battle against food insecurity - one in which we know many of the solutions, as Jeff Simmons, President of Elanco, pointed out - there must be long-term engagement between public and private-sector organizations.
This cross-sectoral spirit defined the Symposium, which focused on new approaches to collaborate and scale up nutrition, and the importance of investing in agriculture, which results in both better nutrition and economic progress. While agriculture in Africa constitutes a significant amount of GDP, it ironically has received a very small percentage of investment from governments. This needs to change, and the responsibility to advocate for and ensure this change must be shared.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said that with dedicated leadership, we can end hunger, and the commitment needs to be collective. And, there was an emphasis that all leaders remain committed to “deeds, not promises.”
This message was echoed multiple times, from the ONE Initiative’s video stressing “actions not words,” to the Tanzania Horticulture Association Executive Director Jacqueline Mkindi, who emphasized that we need fewer meetings and more action. Each speaker stressed that these promises must be fulfilled in order to meet the agenda set at L’Aquila in 2009.
Bold, visionary leadership, along with the commitments that were made on Friday in Washington, DC and that have been made over the past few years around the world, are fundamental to success. We must engage in a new way. We must leverage our collective resources, know-how, and voice. We must hold ourselves and each other accountable in our global quest to ensure a food and nutrition secure world, and put an end to the injustice of hunger.
