Press Release

Bread for the World Urges Congress to Replenish International Development Association, African Development Fund

Washington, DC, June 19, 2008 – Testifying before the members of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee yesterday, Bread for the World President David Beckmann recommended that Congress authorize the entire replenishment of the U.S. contribution of $1.43 billion to the International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Fund without conditions. Read the full testimony

"The world hunger crisis is a huge setback in the world's progress against poverty.  Reauthorizing the funding for IDA and the African Development Fund would provide much-needed financing for poor countries to recover from the hunger crisis now gripping the world," said Rev. Beckmann.  "The World Bank's performance in this crisis has been particularly impressive, and it illustrates some of the ongoing strengths of both IDA and the African Development Fund."

He added that the World Bank has been sounding an alarm about the hunger crisis since April, and the Bank's analysis of what needs to be done is more sophisticated than any other source's. 

"Both IDA and the African Development Fund have announced that they are expanding their investment in agriculture. The World Bank has also launched a rapid response facility to help the hardest hit countries. Because the prices of fertilizer and seed have shot up, many poor farmers cannot afford to plant more crops in order to cash in on the higher prices. The new facility is helping to cushion the humanitarian impact of the crisis and to get affordable seeds and fertilizers out to farmers."

Rev. Beckmann added that reauthorizing these replenishments without conditions would also strengthen the U.S. voice in these institutions.  "Other countries have increased their contributions more than we have, and we are in arrears to the World Bank.   Many people in other countries are impatient with U.S. foreign policy generally, so we would do well to be a team player in these reauthorizations."

He warned that the world will see political unrest in some of the countries facing dramatically increased prices for basic grains. A string of humanitarian crises looms on the horizon, beginning with the severe hunger that has now hit parts of Ethiopia. 

"The annual food-import bill of the low-income food-deficit countries has gone up by roughly $70 billion over the last two years, and the U.S. policy response so far is not at all commensurate with the scale of the problem," said Rev. Beckmann, "It is akin to trying to hold back a historic flood with a single sandbag."

###

Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. www.bread.org