G8 to pledge funds for food security
- 00:01:43
- ITN
G8 to pledge funds for food security
The world's richest countries are set to approve a new $15 billion (£9bn) agriculture programme. The G8 nations are expected to use a meeting on the problems of the developing world to announce the spending plan over three years to boost agricultural investment in poorer countries. The focus on agricultural investments reflects a US-led shift away from emergency aid assistance towards longer-term strategies to try to make communities more self-sufficient. At the G8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005, world leaders promised to increase annual aid levels by £30 billion by 2010, half of which was meant to go to African countries. But aid organisations say some countries have gone back on their word, especially this year's G8 host Italy, and African heads of state said they would voice their concerns. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said: "The key message for us is to ask the G8 to live up to their commitments." The leaders of Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa are expected to push their demand for compensation for the ravages of climate change.
ITN | July 10, 2009
