G20 must uphold previous agriculture pledges, invest more

"In the last few years, funding of agriculture has slowly been increasing after a generation of decline in investment in the sector, but not fast enough. In the L'Aquila pledge, the G8 made commitments to food security in 2009 of $20 billion. The G8 accountability report 2011 states that the group has already disbursed 22% of the money it pledged, and a further 26% is on the way," Lucy Muchoki, CEO of the Pan-African Agribusiness Consortium and a spokesperson for Farming First, writes in a Guardian "Poverty Matters Blog" post.

"But this is not enough. The G20 agriculture ministers have a duty to ensure all recent commitments are honoured and that the underlying issues for food insecurity remain top priorities for world leaders," she concludes (6/20).