Important to fund the GAFSP now

In a Guardian opinion piece, Lael Brainard, under-secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury, writes about the importance of funding the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and investing in small farmers in the developing world.

"We have already been able to provide nearly $500m in grants in the fund's first year of existence. At the same time, developing country governments have demonstrated their own financial commitment to agriculture, a key criteria for GAFSP recipients. But this effort goes beyond governments - in fact, it rests on steadfast participation of civil society organisations to give smallholder farmers a stronger voice in this effort," she writes, concluding, "If there were ever a moment in time for our partners to come forward and join in a coordinated response to combat food insecurity, this is it" (6/16).