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News Brief: Week of April 19 2010

 
What Aid Can't Buy in Africa
By Tony Blair
Source: Times
New York, New York - April 19 2010
 
There is a fashion that is half right in saying that aid is not the answer to Africa's plight. Where it is wrong is that aid — especially focused on the killer diseases, like HIV/AIDS or malaria — saves lives and has a real impact. Where it is right, is that aid alone won't relieve Africa's poverty and underdevelopment. But good governance, the rule of law and a climate that welcomes solid private-sector investment can and will.
 
That's why I was excited recently to announce that the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative will be working with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the government of Liberia to improve the way government works and help build the capacity to secure the country's recovery. Already the Africa Governance Initiative, which I set up two years ago, works alongside President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Ernest Bai Koroma in Sierra Leone. They are examples of a new generation of pro-business, pro-reform African leaders, serious about rooting out corruption, protecting investors and leading more stable, better governed countries, convinced that a thriving private sector is a force for good. (See pictures of Africa's AIDS crisis.)
 
They are not alone. Although there are exceptions, the good news is African countries are increasingly well governed, as the Mo Ibrahim index, measuring good governance in Africa, shows. Dramatic change is possible. Witness the strides made in Rwanda over the past 15 years: strong economic growth and positive social change, including bringing deaths from malaria under control.
 
I am immensely proud of the step change in aid and debt relief we began at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005. Every day since, the donor aid given to developing countries has been saving thousands of lives. But such measures are not the whole answer to Africa's challenges. In the future, African countries should aim not to need development assistance. Good governance and sustained economic growth are key to eradicating poverty. That's the basis of the Africa Governance Initiative. (See pictures of Tony Blair.)
 
The Initiative is underpinned by two key principles central to achieving the vision of a stable, prosperous Africa taking its rightful place in the world: effective leadership and increased investment. First, good governance and effective political leadership are essential for development. One way we can help do this is by building capacity around the leader. Our teams work with their counterparts in government to help put in place systems to ensure that decisions made at a presidential level actually make their way through the system of government and effect change. Too often, leaders of developing countries find that no matter how good their ideas, they don't make much of a difference if the systems aren't in place to move decisions to delivery.
 
Second, growing Africa's private sector is the only long-term way to escape from poverty. Increased investment is vital to this, and Africa needs it and warrants it. Those African governments that are able to create the right environment and form effective partnerships with local and international investors will be those that create jobs and end poverty for their people. (Read: "Saving One Life At a Time.")
 
Despite the strides in aid, there is still insufficient focus on these two issues in the development debate — and in particular recognition of the importance of political leadership. Even with outside support, governments still need capacity at their center capable of taking and implementing big strategic decisions. Without it, even the greatest visionaries find it hard to turn aspirations into actions.
 
This is why I am so delighted that the Africa Governance Initiative will be working with one of Africa's most inspiring and visionary leaders in President Johnson-Sirleaf. The President and her people have laid out the vision for the future of Liberia and have shown the will and leadership to see it through. The progress being achieved in Liberia is a testament to the resolve of the Liberian people: stability is restored, political and civil freedoms have been established for all, roads are under construction and major investment is on the way. This is all incredibly heartening. (See a TIME video with Sirleaf.)
 
My hope is the Africa Governance Initiative can help other leaders to turn the vision they have for their country into reality. I also hope the lessons learned from this model of development assistance, focused on capacity and capability at the very center of government, can be shared.
 
I am confident I will see a prosperous and exciting Africa in my lifetime. By supporting the new generation of pro-reform, pro-business leaders and harnessing the investment potential of the private sector, Africa will go from aid to trade, from ambition to action, and by doing so will bring millions of people out of poverty in the process.
 
 
 
Brainard confirmed top U.S. financial diplomat
Source: Reuters
Washington, DC - Apr 20, 2010
 
Lael Brainard, President Barack Obama's long-stalled pick to be the Treasury Department's top financial diplomat, won final confirmation in a Senate vote on Tuesday.
 
The Senate gave its blessing in a 78-19 confirmation ruling a day after Brainard cleared a Republican procedural hurdle.
 
She will serve as Treasury Department under secretary for international affairs, a key position in U.S. efforts to persuade China to adopt a more flexible currency.
 
 
Top-level CAADP meeting to review implementation progress
Source: CAADP
April 20 2010
 
THE 6th Partnership Platform meeting of the CAADP, with the theme Post-Compact CAADP implementation, will take place from 19-23 April in Johannesburg to review progress and country-level experiences in implementation since the previous meeting in November 2009.
 
The meeting will be attended by government ministers, high-level representatives from NEPAD, ECOWAS, the AU Commissioner for Agriculture, development partners and the United Nations and will provide an opportunity for peer interaction, review and experience-sharing among the core institutions and partners involved in CAADP implementation.
 
International dialogue is currently focused on agricultural performance, food security and climate change and this meeting will provide the opportunity to discuss how agriculture in Africa and the lives of farmers and farming communities can be improved.
 
“Eighteen countries have signed the CAADP Compact in terms of which they have agreed to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10% of their national budgets. This is unique – no other region in the world has an agricultural/regional/continental strategy,” said Prof. Richard Mkandawire, CEO of CAADP.
 
“This programme will help to ensure coherence and co-ordinated action on important regional policies such as trade, food safety standards and the control of trans-boundary pests and diseases.”
 
Agriculture is the cornerstone of the African economy and is critical to the success of efforts to eliminate hunger, reduce food insecurity and poverty. CAADP is at the heart of efforts by African governments to accelerate growth and eliminate poverty across the continent.
 
“CAADP was conceived and led by Africans rather than being imposed from outside Africa,” Mkandawire said. “Consequently it has achieved a level of unprecedented political endorsement and continent-wide focus.
 
“Our main goal is to help African countries achieve economic growth through agriculture-led development that eliminates hunger, reduces poverty and food insecurity whilst ensuring environmental resilience.”
 
 
The Green Revolution –helping Africa to feed itself
By Kofi Annan
Source: Kampala Daily Monitor
Kampala, Uganda - 23 March 2010 
 
AFRICA IS the only continent unable to feed itself. Agricultural productivity has failed to keep pace with a growing population. Hunger has never been worse. Around 300 million people will not have enough to eat today. Despite millions of hectares of unused cultivated land, Africa spends $20bn each year buying food.
 
This is simply not sustainable, economically nor politically. It is the cause of terrible human suffering and is a catastrophic brake on Africa’s development. But this is not the all-too-familiar call for the rest of the world to come to Africa’s aid.
 
Out of the headlines, a quiet – and green – revolution is already underway, led by Africa’s scientists, farmers and politicians. African scientists are developing new and improved crop varieties. The continent’s farmers are enthusiastically putting into practice techniques like drip irrigation to make the best of every drop of water. African governments are making transforming agriculture a top priority.
 
These efforts are being supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which I am honoured to chair. Hundreds of millions of dollars in grants are being provided to raise agricultural productivity, promote the use of sound soil management techniques and good water husbandry.
 
National research institutions are being funded to develop new crop varieties for diverse soils including staple food crops such as millet, sorghum, maize, cassava, rice, sweet potatoes and pulses.
 
Across Africa, we can see the results. In Tanzania, the farmers in the southern highlands now plant early-maturing maize to escape the damage caused by an increasingly unreliable rainy season.
 
Over 300,000 farmers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are being helped by AGRA to use micro-dosing techniques which greatly increase yields and save enormous quantities of fertilizer.
 
For the last four years, Malawi has not only met its own food needs, but has also become able to export to its neighbours. Rwanda’s agricultural production has grown by 13 per cent and 17 per cent in the last two years.
 
We now need to build on this progress and spread best practices across the continent. Farmers need help to manage water more efficiently, through water harvesting and small scale irrigation. To rapidly increase productivity, farmers will also need better access to fertilizers and education and practice conservation agriculture where technically and economically feasible.
 
But helping Africa feed itself must go far further than what happens in the fields. It requires farmers to be able to sell their crops easily and for a fair price. In Uganda, improved banana marketing systems have helped to connect 20,000 farmers to markets, increasing their farm gate prices by 30 per cent, earning them some $3.5 million in incomes.
 
Farmers and the small businesses which serve them need better access to finance. Agriculture accounts in many African countries for as much as half of GDP and seven out of every 10 jobs. Yet less than three per cent of total private sector financing goes into agriculture with smallholder-based farming taking an even smaller share.
 
Loan guarantees provided by organisations like AGRA have encouraged some of Africa’s leading banks to provide tens of millions of dollars of new and affordable finance. Farmers are now using this funding to expand their use of improved seeds, fertilizers, small scale irrigation and improved storage facilities.
 
Rapid progress is now needed in four main areas. We need to target investment in Africa’s breadbasket areas which have the potential to grow huge amounts of food. Rural infrastructure - especially roads, ports, rails and storage – must be improved. Barriers which prevent regional trade such as tariffs must be removed. Farmers must be helped to adapt to the additional challenges they face from climate change.
 
In shaping Africa’s Green Revolution, we must especially focus on the small-holder farmers who form over 70 per cent of the continent’s agricultural producers. Foreign investment in agriculture and land must not displace small-holders whose families have farmed the land for decades. We need to use their knowledge, not discount it, if we are to end food shortages and transform life in rural areas.
 
Indeed partnerships – whether with local farmers’ associations or international institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank – are the key to ensuring the Green Revolution takes root across the continent and unlocking Africa’s enormous agricultural potential. Feeding Africa is one of the major development challenges of our time, but it can be done.
 
 
World Bank Group launches drive to support agribusiness in Southern Africa
Source: The Financial global news channel - www.finchannel.com
 
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank Group, supported by the European Union, on 7 April announced a major initiative to boost private sector agriculture output in Southern Africa to help the region meet a growing demand for food, and to support economic growth and job creation.
 
To launch the initiative, IFC, the World Bank, and the European Union hosted a Regional Agricultural and Food Security Forum from 6-9 April in Livingstone, Zambia, attended by industry leaders, private and public sector partners, financial institutions, farmer organisations, and civil society groups.
 
Participants discussed ways to help emergent and small-scale farmers more easily access finance, and improve the quantity and quality of their products.
 
The forum was supported by the Netherlands’ Rabobank and the Zambia National Commercial Bank, and facilitated by Dalberg.
 
Peter Daka, Zambia’s Minister of Agriculture, said, “Broader access to agriculture finance will require both public and private finance to support high impact interventions. Finding a formula for a sustainable partnership between the two will stimulate private sector led agriculture growth in the region.”
 
 
Agribusiness must take the lead in alleviating Africa’s poverty
By Hajia Sani
Source: NEXT
Lagos, Nigeria - 22 March 2010 
  
AFRICA IS arguably one of the most endowed continents of the world in terms of arable land mass. The continent’s geographical location and tropical weather, as well as its diversely rich soil content, give it added advantage for massive agricultural activities. A majority of Africans engage in one form of farming or the other, albeit at subsistence scale.
 
However, factors responsible for Africa’s under-productivity in agriculture include inconsistencies in policies, insufficient financing, low level mechanisation and industrialisation, as well as poor pre and post harvest management of products.
 
For many Africans, food insecurity and poverty continue to affect daily survival as a result of continuing reduction in soil nutrients and fertility, continuous decline in farming activities, leading to a hike in the cost of staple foods; as well as rising cost of farm and farming technologies.
 
While, across the continent, a number of countries have been making some efforts to improve their agricultural output, many remain constrained by the factors enumerated earlier, thus further limiting Africa’s ability to meet the goals of income growth, increased food security and improved social well being of its population.
 
The emerging consensus today is for agriculture to take the central focal point of the continent’s economic development. This will require that investments in agriculture go beyond the current stop-gap improvements in on-farm productivity to include large-scale development of the agri-business and agro-industrial sectors.
 
Following up on the consensus, African governments, in collaboration with international development partners, formulated an African Agribusiness and Agro-industries initiative (3ADI), designed to provide a continent-wide support for the development of the agri-business and agro-industrial sectors.
 
The initiative builds on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) commitment of the African Union.
 
The CAADP seeks to create, by the year 2020, an agricultural sector in Africa that consists of highly productive and profitable value chains and accessible and competitive local and international markets. This is expected to translate into the supply of higher-value food, fibre, feed and fuel products, increased farmers’ incomes, high quality employment and optimal and sustainable utilisation of natural resources.
 
One of the objectives of the 3ADI is to mobilise resources from domestic and international financial systems, for a more comprehensive private sector investment and participation in the agriculture sector in Africa, towards meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty and hunger by the year 2015.
 

Events

Global preparatory meeting for the 2010 Annual Ministerial Review on
 “Who feeds the world In 2010 and beyond? Rural women as agents of change and champions of global food security”
 
Date: Thursday, 22 April 2010
Time: 10.00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Venue: United Nations Headquarters, New York
ECOSOC Chamber (North Lawn Building)
 
Tentative Programme
 
Presentation of 3-minute video on women’s contribution to food security and global food production
 
Opening remarks:
 
H.E. Mr. Hamidon Ali
President of ECOSOC
 
Moderator:
 
Marcela Villarreal
Director, Gender Division, FAO
 
Panelists:
 
The Honourable Florence Chenoweth
Minister of Agriculture of Liberia
Providing national policy perspective
 
Ms. Myrna Cunningham
Director, Centre for Indigenous People's Autonomy and Development (CIPAD)Providing regional perspective on rural women’s empowerment
 
Ms. Carmen Griffiths
Coordinator, GROOTS, Jamaica
Providing a local farmer’s perspective
 
Developed country representative
To provide perspective of development partners
 
Interactive dialogue with ECOSOC members, observers, United Nations system organizations, civil society.
 
Summary of the discussion:
 
Ms. Marcela Villarreal
FAO
 
Closing remarks:
 
H.E. Mr. Hamidon Ali
President of ECOSOC
 
For more information on the event, please contact Mr. Ajit Yogasundram at yogasundram@un.org 
  
 
Yes Africa Can: Success Stories from a Dynamic Continent
  
Date: April 27 2010
Time: 10:00 – 2:00
Venue: The World Bank, 1313 H St. NW
 
The economic landscape of Africa has changed dramatically since the mid-1990s, as stagnation has given way to dynamism in a broad swath of African countries. From Mozambique’s impressive growth rate (averaging 8% p.a. for more than a decade) to Mali’s success in exporting mangoes and from M-PESA’s mobile phone based cash transfers to Rwanda’s gorilla based tourism, Africa is seeing a dramatic transformation. This favorable trend is spurres by, among other things, stronger leadership, better governance, and improving business climate, innovation, market-based solutions, a more involved citizenry, and an increasing reliance on home-grown solutions. More and more, Africans are driving Africa development. This forum will address these issues.
 
Panel I: Development Successes
 
Chair:
Obiageli K Ezekwesili
Vice President
Africa Region, World Bank
 
Steve Radelet
Senior Advisor on Development
US State Department
 
Ali Mansoor
Finance Secretary
Mauritius
 
Paul Gertler
UC Berkeley
 
Haroon Bhorat
University of Cape Town
 
Hassan Aly
African Development Bank
 
Panel II: Perspectives on Success Stories
 
Chair:
 
Yifu Lin
Senior Vice President & Chief Economist
Development Economics Group, World Bank
 
Shanta Devarajan
World Bank
 
Alan Gelb
Center for Global Development
 
John Page
Brooking Institution
 
Lunch Keynote Speaker:
 
Paul Collier
Oxford University
 
To RSVP, Please email chiefeconomistaf@worldbank.org or call 202-473-7494.
 
 
 
House Hunger Caucus Briefing:
 
Feeding a Community, Country and Continent: The Role of Women in Food Security.
 
Date and time: Wednesday, 28 April at 12:00 pm
Venue: 121 Cannon House Office Building
 
The House Hunger Caucus is holding a briefing on 28 April entitled Feeding a Community, Country and Continent: The Role of Women in Food Security.  The briefing will include the four panelists below, who will address the role of women in food security.  Nora O'Connell, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs at Women Thrive Worldwide. Will moderate the briefing.
 
Panelists:
  • Lydia Sasu, Executive Director, Development Action Association and farmer from Ghana
  • David Kauck, Senior Gender and Agriculture Specialist, International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)
  • Cheryl Morden, Director, North American Liaison Office, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
  • Kristy Cook, Food Security Advisor, Africa Bureau of USAID
 
 
Cultivating Global Food Security:
A Strategy for U.S. Leadership on Productivity, Agricultural Research and Trade
 
Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Venue: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing Room
419 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC
 
The Center for Strategic and International Studies invites you to the launch of the report of its Task Force on Food Security, co-chaired by Senator Richard Lugar, Senator Robert Casey, and Representative Betty McCollum, entitled "Cultivating Global Food Security: A Strategy for U.S. Leadership on Productivity, Agricultural Research and Trade". This event marks the outcome of many discussions and meetings by the Task Force Members -- a group charged with developing recommendations for a long-term U.S. strategic approach to global food security. The Task Force's membership includes leaders from government, business, academia, and the nongovernmental and philanthropy communities. CSIS President & CEO Dr. John Hamre will provide introductory remarks, and the Congressional Co-Chairs will address the audience. Their comments will be followed by an expert panel discussion and Q&A on the report's key findings and recommendations for a long-term U.S. strategic approach to global food security.
 
 
NCBA - CLUSA International Invites You to Attend: 
 
"Strengthening Food Security through Innovative Cooperative and Private Sector Approaches"
 
Date and Time: Tuesday, May 4th, from 3 to 5 PM
Venue: Capitol Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW, Washington D.C. 
 
More than one billion people, one sixth of the world's population, suffer from chronic hunger--a crisis of unimaginable proportions.
 
Without enough food, adults struggle to work and child development and learning suffers, jeopardizing sustainable long term development. Ensuring global food security will become even more challenging in the future as experts predict that the demand for food will increase by 50 percent over the next 20 years. 
 
NCBA has extensive experience working with cooperative businesses and other private enterprises to improve agriculture and food security at the grassroots. NCBA's best practices and lessons learned stem from five decades of experience in more than 80 countries, across Latin America, Africa and Asia. 
 
NCBA invites you to join our field Directors for a lively discussion on using agricultural markets to resolve issues of food security titled Strengthening Food Security through Innovative Cooperative and Private Sector Approaches.  This session takes an in-depth look at cooperative and private sector initiatives that have positively impacted food security and promoted agriculture development around the world. The event takes place Tuesday, May 4th, from 3 to 5 PM at the Capitol Hilton, located at 1001 16th Street NW, in Washington D.C.  
 
Dr. John R. Dunn, Vice President of International Programs, will preside over the discussion and Mr. Papa Sene, Africa Director and former Country Director in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; will moderate. Presentations include:
  • Development of a new value chain: introduction of soybean production in Northern Mozambique, Stephen Gudz, Country Director, Mozambique
  • Developing input markets and agriculture services and its impact on sustainable agriculture development in Zambia, Mark Wood, Chief of Party, Production, Finance and Technology Program (PROFIT), Zambia
  • Developing cooperatives for high value crops exports and provision of health services in Indonesia and East Timor, Sam Filiaci, South East Asia Director 
  • Community mobilization and organization for maternal and child health in Kenya, Joyce Wafula,  Country Director, Kenya 
The event is open to the public and coincides with NCBA's 2010 Annual Meeting and Cooperative Conference. 
 
To attend this special NCBA - CLUSA International event, please respond to International@ncba.coop or call 202 - 383-5476 by COB Friday, April 30, 2010.
 
 
The Role of Business in Development: How Private Investment Can Catalyze Economic Growth and Reduce Poverty
 
Date: Monday, May 3, 2010
Time: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm 
Venue: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Root Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 
 
On May 3, Global Economy and Development at Brookings and the Initiative for Global Development will host a discussion on the critical role of business in catalyzing economic growth and reducing poverty. While the Obama administration reviews U.S. global development efforts and Congress seeks to improve development assistance, this event will focus on the need for greater coordination of U.S. aid, trade and investment programs, and how to effectively work across sectors. How can U.S. development programs best build capacity, unlock capital, supply infrastructure and create an environment for market-led growth; how can companies most effectively contribute to the growth of local enterprises and local employment through their supply chains and investments; and what are the specific opportunities and challenges of increasing investment across Africa?  

Daniel Yohannes, Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO, will provide opening remarks, followed by a discussion among CEOs from the United States and Africa. Kemal Dervis, vice president and director of Global Economy and Development, will moderate the discussion.

Introduction:

Jennifer Potter
President and CEO
The Initiative for Global Development 

Kemal Dervis
Vice President and Director,
Global Economy and Development
The Brookings Institution 

Daniel Yohannes
CEO
Millennium Challenge Corporation

Panelists:

Justin Chinyanta
Chairman & CEO
Loita Capital Partners International LTD 

Tim Solso
Chairman & CEO
Cummins Inc. 

Chad Holliday
Former Chairman & CEO
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company

 
To RSVP for this event, please call the Office of Communications at 202.797.6105 or click here.
 
 
The University of Barcelona, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council are pleased to announce an international conference on policy responses to food and agricultural price volatility: 
 
"Agricultural Price Volatility: Prospects, Challenges and Possible Solutions"
 Barcelona, May 26-27, 2010
Historic Building of the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona - Llotja de Mar
 
Summary:
The agricultural sector has been deeply battered by both the food and financial crises and faces a looming climate change crisis. Projections differ on whether commodity prices will continue their long-term decline of the last decades or experience a reversal of this trend, but experts agree that price volatility is likely to grow in the future. Price volatility presents different sets of challenges to consumers and producers throughout the world and a grave risk to the food security of millions of people in developing countries. This seminar will examine current and projected trends in prices, review past policy responses, examine policy options available today and arrive at pragmatic recommendations on addressing volatility in the future. 
 
Please register online. There is no cost to attend this seminar. 
 
Sessions at a Glance:

Session I:The Outlook for Food and Agricultural Prices and an Overview of Policy Options in Response to Price Volatility

Session II:Price Volatility - Considerations for Developing Countries

Session III:CAP Reform and Risk Management

Session IV:Futures Markets and Volatility

Session V:Trade Considerations  

 
Contact Katharine Shaw at: shaw@agritrade.org 
if you have any questions regarding the seminar.
 
 
UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Global Preparatory Meeting on Rural Women's
 
Empowerment and their Role in Global Food Production
 
Date: April 22 2010
Time: 10:00 - 1:00
 
Dear Colleagues,
 
Please be advised that you may watch the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) global preparatory meeting on rural women's empowerment and their role in global food production on 22 April via webcast at: http://www.un.org/webcast
 
Once again, the meeting is scheduled from 10:00 am-1:00 pm at UN
headquarters in New York. Please scroll down for additional details.
 
Best regards,
 
Thomas Pesek
 
Liaison Officer
International Fund for Agricultural Development
1775 K Street, NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: 202-331-9099
 
 
**Please note that because of security procedures, you must RSVP by April 21st**
 
Center for Global Development invites you to attend a discussion on:

Innovative Finance for Aid Delivery: The Potential in Agriculture
 
Date: Friday, April 23, 2010 
Time: 4:00pm--5:30pm 
Venue: The World Bank
1818 H St., NW, Room 400, 13th floor 
 
With presentations by:
 
Kimberly Elliott
Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

Michael Kremer
Gates Professor of Development Studies, Harvard University;
Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development

Additional speakers from the U.S. Government and World Bank to be announced.

Chaired by:

Graham Flack
Assistant Deputy Minister, International Trade and Finance, Department of Finance Canada

and
 
Lawrence
Vice President of Communications and Policy Outreach, Center for Global Development MacDonald
 
 
(Attendees must use the guest entrance on the corner of 18th St. and Pennsylvania Ave.)
 
Private-sector innovation to help developing country governments promote food security, help their people stay healthy, educate kids, and, overall, reduce poverty is vastly under-supplied because market failures are so common. There is currently a pilot program using an advance market commitment to stimulate private-sector interest in developing a pneumococcal vaccine for developing countries. Prizes have also been used in a range of fields to attract investments in R&D. Might these "pull mechanisms," where donors stimulate demand for new technologies, be used more broadly to complement to traditional "push mechanisms," where donors provide funding to increase the supply of R&D? In particular, could these mechanisms be helpful in meeting the enormous challenge of feeding an additional three billion people over the next four decades, along with providing food security for another one billion people that are currently hungry or malnourished? 
 

 

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