Canada’s federal Conservative government last week announced a $45 million response to an urgent appeal from the World Food Program to help feed the world’s hungry hit by rising food costs.
It raises Canada’s 2008 food aid commitment to $225 million, making it the second largest contributor to the program.
International co-operation minister Bev Oda also announced April 30 that the government is responding to a plea from the Winnipeg-based Canadian Foodgrains Bank by providing it a $5 million increase in funding.
Oda, under pressure from United Nations officials, domestic aid groups and opposition politicians, said Canada recognizes its obligation to help the world’s hungry, who are being buffeted by dramatic increases in world food prices.
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“This government takes its responsibility very seriously,” she told a news conference. “The rising price of food has created a global crisis. The additional $50 million is a 28 percent increase in food aid this year.”
Terri Toyota, director of government donor relations for the UN World Food Program, said the announcement by Canada is an important signal to the rest of the world.
“Today marks a significant signal to the world of Canada’s deep commitment to fighting world hunger,” Toyota said at the Ottawa news conference.
The food program had warned that unless it raised $750 million in additional contributions this spring, it would have to begin rationing food and cutting off needy recipients in May.
Although just half the plea had been met by the end of April, Toyota said the money would help deal with the immediate crisis and hopefully would inspire other nations to respond.
Jim Cornelius, executive director of the foodgrains bank, said the $5 million injection of money will help the church-based aid agency maintain its programs. It had warned that with existing funding and higher costs, it could have meant a reduction of at least 25 percent in food aid provided in 2008.
“This is a substantial and vital increase in funding,” he told the Ottawa news conference. “We see this action today as a very good first step.”
He said the foodgrains bank will have to launch a renewed fundraising campaign among its church and farmer supporters to meet the increased need.
And governments must move beyond emergency funding to investment in developing country agriculture to reduce the need for food aid, said Cornelius.
While Oda promoted the announcement as $50 million toward the WFP appeal, some of it was tied aid not available to the international agency to spend on its own priorities.
The $5 million to the foodgrains bank was part of it. In addition, she said $10 million would be dedicated to projects in Haiti, where food riots recently resulted in deaths and destruction.
At her news conference, Oda also refused to cite biofuel industry demand for grain as part of the problem in world food price increases. She listed issues including weather and rising demand for the crisis in food prices.
When questioned on the omission, Oda stuck to the government line that in Canada only five percent of crop acreage produces biofuel feedstock.
