G8 leaders must follow through on food security commitments

"I have just returned from a whirlwind visit to Washington, D.C., and Chicago, where I participated in a number of events around the G8 and NATO Summits focused on food and nutrition security," Tom Arnold, CEO of Concern Worldwide, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, adding, "Among so many world leaders and high-level representatives from civil society and academia, I felt a sense of critical mass beginning to form in the fight to end global hunger." He continues, "It's a feeling I've had before -- perhaps not this strong -- only to be disappointed when promises went unfulfilled. We must keep calling our leaders to persevere, especially those in the G8, to ensure that does not happen this time."

Arnold highlights the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched by President Barack Obama at a food security symposium last week, writing, "Despite some mentions of nutrition, including support for the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, the New Alliance still focuses very heavily on improving agricultural yields through new technology. While important, this is only one part of what it will take to end food insecurity and malnutrition." He writes, "Any delay or failure by G8 members to follow through on what they committed at L'Aquila will directly impact entire generations of children, ultimately dragging down the GDPs of low-income countries by an estimated two to three percent per year." Arnold concludes, "We all share the obligation to make malnutrition history. The good news is that we have never been this well-positioned to make it a reality" (5/24).