Posted January 18th, 2011, Updated February 9th, 2011

UPDATE: AFJN has signed on to a letter to Congress urging them to boost funding to global food programs in the FY2011 budget.  The letter, signed by 39 organizations, highlights the positive impact development has on global economics and mentions the long term expense of undernutrition in developing countries.   In light of the recent increase in food prices to 2008 levels, global food programs are increasingly important.  Read the letter here, and read the previous letter to President Obama here. 

Today AFJN joined 21 other organizations in signing a letter urging President Obama to support the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP).  The US created and chairs this multilateral fund, which “allows donors to coordinate efforts and leverage funding to implement country-led plans and initiatives to address issues of hunger and food security.” This program is important for Africa because it vows to listen to the voice of civil society on the ground and strive to implement their country-specific plans to fight hunger.  But, the FY2011 budget contains virtually no funds for the GAFSP; and the US has only given $67m of the total $475m promised.

funding-graph

Source: http://www.gafspfund.org/gafsp/content/funding

The letter stressed that GAFSP is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s Feed the Future Initiative, and asked that at least $100m be transferred to keep the GAFSP afloat.  This issue is urgent because food prices are rising to 2007-08 levels and many critical programs will go unfunded if the US does not transfer money to leverage the anticipated donations of other member states.  Even in these uncertain economic times, the US must stay on the forefront of fighting for food security.

Please click here to read the one page letter