"The Unholy Alliance, Five Western Donors Shape a Pro-Corporate Agenda for African Agriculture"

The 2007-2008 food price crisis should have created momentum to address the root causes of food insecurity. With their aid budgets, donors could have helped African countries restore effective food and agriculture policies that would address hunger and put in place adequate mechanisms to lessen nations’ and people’s vulnerability to volatile global food markets. Instead, the NAFSN and the EBA donors believe that profit-driven corporations will ensure food security, taking the risky bet that integration into the global markets and private investments “can sustainably support small-scale farming and help reduce poverty, hunger and undernutrition.”…

 There is a major danger in putting profit-driven corporations in charge of food security and alleviating poverty in the world. Instead, strong national policies are needed to support sustainable production by smallholder farmers. These polices cannot be dictated by the World Bank and a cluster of international donors. Rather, sound food security strategies will arise from national debates and policy building processes that involve farmers and seek to address context-specific needs and demands.