NGOs have 'critical role' in improving food security

Writing in a commentary on the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) webpage, Ambassador William Garvelink, a senior adviser with the CSIS Project on U.S. Leadership in Development, and Kristin Wedding, a fellow with the CSIS Global Food Security Project, examine the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, an initiative that "aims to move 50 million people out of poverty over the next decade through agricultural growth and development." "While the goal is to be applauded, notably absent from the New Alliance is the key role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play in implementing and delivering solutions, often to the populations who need it most," they state. Noting the importance of private sector involvement, they conclude, "One hopes that the G20 will discuss food security in a more robust way than the G8, with a more comprehensive, whole-of-community approach to reducing food insecurity and malnutrition and recognize the critical role of NGOs in this most important endeavor" (6/14).