L’AQUILA, Italy — Leaders of the world’s major economies pledged $20 billion for food and agricultural aid Friday to the world’s most impoverished countries, and President Barack Obama ended a global summit by saying that despite steps forward on economic, environmental and security issues, much work remains to be done.
“While our markets are improving and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know that too many people are still struggling,” Obama said, speaking at a news conference after a three-day meeting of the Group of Eight highly industrialized nations.
“Right now, at this defining moment, we face a choice. We can either shape our future or let events shape it for us,” he said.
Obama called the agreement on food aid among the most significant achievements at the summit. He also singled out actions to combat nuclear proliferation and global warming, efforts to stabilize the global economy, and a joint statement condemning Iran’s crackdown on protests after its disputed presidential election last month.
He said the leaders will “take stock of Iran’s progress” this September at the Group of 20 meeting in Pittsburgh, another global summit that will follow a United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
The expanded global commitment on food security — up from an earlier pledge of $15 billion in aid — comes as the worldwide recession and high commodity prices have combined to push food prices 40 percent above historical levels.
That combination has left as many as 100 million people around the world at risk of tumbling into abject poverty, according to the White House.
The United States expanded on its earlier commitment to double agricultural development assistance to more than $1 billion in 2010 — increasing the pledged amount to $3.5 billion by 2012.
Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, applauded the commitment by the G8 to fight hunger through agricultural development.
“In the past, food security was a mere bullet point at the G8,” he said. “This time, world leaders have endorsed a concrete and wide-ranging initiative. They have recognized that food security has two dimensions: food aid for critical situations and sustained investment in agriculture to break the poverty cycle.”
