"Partnering" with Monsanto and Pepsi to end world hunger? Call me skeptical... [View all]

[Matariki]

http://www.channel4.com/news/obamas-3-billion-plan-to-fight-world-hunger

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The US Agency for International Development is already partnering with multinational companies like WalMart, Chevron and Coca-Cola to provide the extra capacity and financial clout which it can't supply on its own. USAID dirctor Rajiv Shah offered one example of a joint initiative that he said was already showing results on many levels.

"We are working with Pepsi in Ethiopia to create a chickpea-based product that can both be sold in their own hummus business and also be packaged and provided to children who are deeply malnourished", he told Foreign Policy magazine. "That's going to help 30,000 farmers in Ethiopia move out of poverty, and it will help thousands of children improve their nutrition status."

President Obama's initiative will also involve twenty companies from Africa alongside agribusiness giants like DuPont and Monsanto to help farmers build local markets as well as improve their productivity. It is not simply about outside intervention, though: the United States wants local people, especially women - who produce as much as 90% of Africa's food - to drive the revolution forward.