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Development Assistance

Development specialists agree that nutrition must be placed at the heart of national poverty reduction efforts. A myriad of planning tools exist to help countries address poverty and food security. One of the most comprehensive is the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), jointly administered by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund….As the process of implementing and revising these plans proceeds, national leaders should work to raise the profile of nutrition and its importance to the success of poverty-reduction efforts….Finding solutions will mean mainstreaming nutrition concerns into the development agenda. (Hunger Report 2006, Page 107) Cross Reference: Food Security and Nutrition Safety Net
Development assistance must target women, too, because as we have seen in this report, women bear much of the burden in holding rural communities together (Hunger Report 2005, Page 114) Cross Reference: Empowerment of Women
Development assistance must target sectors that can address the needs of hungry and poor people, especially programs that help smallholder farmers raise their productivity and supports locally designed, integrated approaches to rural development. Foreign aid targeted effectively is essential, and the United States needs to do its share. More and better development aid from wealthy countries like the United States is essential to cutting poverty and hunger in the developing world (Hunger Report 2005, Page 10) Cross Reference: Rural Development
Bread for the World is engaged in a major campaign called Keep the Promise on Hunger and Health to win the further increases in poverty-focused development assistance that President Bush has pledged for 2005….Net development assistance—as a percentage of donor countries' gross national income—continues to fall and is at an all-time low. Moreover, aid levels have dropped most severely for the poorest countries. While commitment is needed from all sides, wealthier countries like the United States must take the lead and commit the money necessary to address world hunger and poverty once and for all (Hunger Report 2004, Page 91).
Development assistance is only one component of what an effective partnership with poor countries should include. Fairer trade rules and deeper debt relief also are essential to development countries' being able to climb out of poverty and hunger (Hunger Report 2004, Page 87) Cross Reference: Trade and Debt Relief
Improving a country's overall economic growth, while necessary, will not, in and of itself, reduce poverty and hunger. To succeed, poor and hungry people must participate in this economic growth as well. Toward that end, funding must be targeted toward: Small-scale farmers and people living in rural areas, who comprise three out of four poor people worldwide; Women and children, who are among the most socially, politically, economically and physically vulnerable to hunger; and People who are sick and infirm who often have greater nutrition needs. Resources also should be directed toward very poor countries (Hunger Report 2004, Page 84) Cross Reference: Economy, Empowerment of Women, and Health Care
The United States should increase development assistance to poor countries in Africa and other parts of the world, and work with other rich countries to improve the coordination of assistance (Hunger Report 2003, Page 109).
The IMF and World Bank also should be careful about insisting on deep, fast liberalization as a condition for financial assistance (Hunger Report 2003, Page 101)
The ultimate goal of U. S. farm programs must be to promote sustainable agriculture, reduce rural poverty and eliminate food insecurity, both in the United States and throughout the world. Toward this end, the United States should: gradually eliminate tariffs on developing country agriculture exports, export subsidies and production-linked domestic support payments; support U.S. farmers who leave agriculture with adjustment assistance that would include counseling, job training, education reimbursement and transportation aid; support small and mid-size farmers with comprehensive rural development programs and technical assistance in adopting new technologies and developing greater economies of scale; establish provisions for farmers to help them sustain losses resulting from catastrophic weather events; strengthen assistance for farmers in meeting conservation goals and environmental mandates, including increased technical assistance, cost-share programs and incentive payments for use of environmentally friendly practices; increase research and regulation in areas, such as biotechnology, food safety, disease prevention and environmental quality; invest in rural communities by supporting economic development initiatives, job training, business promotion and infrastructure development, and reduce hunger in the United States (through nutrition and poverty reduction programs) and worldwide (through development assistance and trade opportunities), with this adding to the ongoing demand for food production (Hunger Report 2003, Page 55). Cross Reference: Agriculture (International), Food Security (International), Rural Development (International), Environment, Biotechnology, Nutrition Programs, and Trade
The United States should provide development aid to: Support traditional and nontraditional agricultural exports in which women control the proceeds; work with women's groups in low-income countries to increase women's entitlement to land and access to credit; retrain women farmers who have been displaced; provide legal support and health care assistance to workers who are exposed to pesticides and other harmful chemicals; and ensure that American companies, contractors and subcontractors that produce agricultural products abroad abide by U.S. labor standards and observe U.S. health and safety protocols for their workers (Hunger Report 2003, Side Bar: Page 23). Cross Reference: Agriculture, Empowerment of Women, and Health Care
The industrialized countries and international financial institutions must provide substantially increased development financing, including debt relief, to poor countries that are making a serious effort to reduce hunger, poverty and disease (Hunger Report 2002, Page 84). Cross Reference: Debt Relief
Development assistance should train local technicians and administrators so that progress can be sustained (Hunger Report 2001, Page 58).
The developed countries should also expand participatory, poverty-focused and results-oriented development assistance (Hunger Report 2000, Page 62).
BFWI has advocated that relief aid should, whenever possible, move quickly into recovery and development "through such activities as helping people restore assets and livelihoods, and food-for-work and other job creation projects that rebuild infrastructure (Hunger Report 2000, Page 66).

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