Opinion pieces discuss global action on food security

The Hill's "Congress Blog" on Friday published two opinion pieces addressing global food security, the G8 summit, and the New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security. The following are summaries of the pieces.

• Rev. David Beckmann and Lucy Sullivan, The Hill's "Congress Blog": Noting that "[t]hrough the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) movement, 27 countries have committed to achieving measurable progress on improving nutrition and are investing their own resources to reduce chronic malnutrition in their populations," Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Sullivan, executive director of 1,000 Days, write that "early nutrition can increase a country's GDP by at least two to three percent annually" and "each dollar spent in reducing chronic malnutrition has as much as a $138 payoff in terms of gains in productivity and health savings." They ask that "the administration, Congress, and G8 leaders take bolder steps to improve nutrition by: committing concrete, measurable targets to reduce chronic malnutrition in children; supporting the SUN movement and SUN countries' efforts to improve nutrition; [and] ensuring that food security, agriculture, and health investments are specifically targeted and resources improve nutrition" (5/18).
• Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, Ellen Kullman, and Rajiv Shah, The Hill's "Congress Blog": Kikwete, president of Tanzania; Kullman, CEO of DuPont; and Shah, USAID administrator, discuss the launch of the public-private partnership New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security at the G8 summit, which aims to "lift 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa out of hunger and poverty within 10 years -- that's more than one out of every eight people currently in poverty in the region." They write, "African governments are showing incredible leadership by undertaking serious market-oriented reforms," and conclude, "All told, the New Alliance will lead more than 45 companies to invest more than $3 billion in African agriculture, creating a new model of public-private partnership to fight hunger, improve livelihoods and support African nations as they chart their own future" (5/18).