Gates Foundation Promises $17.6-Million in Emergency Food Grants

I'd like to share this good news from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. I first read this bit of news from the ONE Campaign Blog. It's a good feeling to know that there are people who can generously share their wealth to the less fortunate...

August 14, 2008

Gates Foundation Promises $17.6-Million in Emergency Food Grants
By Caroline Preston

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation says it will donate $17.6-million to help people who have been affected by rising food prices worldwide.

An estimated 950 million people are at risk of hunger and malnutrition worldwide because of high food and fuel prices, according to the United Nations. Young children and women are suffering the most, while small farmers have been particularly hard hit by increases in fertilizer and transportation costs.

The largest grant, $10-million, will help the U.N. World Food Program feed young children and mothers in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso.

The additional money will be split among Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam America to provide food, jobs, and assistance to farmers in poor countries.

Short and Long Term

While the grants announced Thursday focus on immediate needs, the Seattle foundation is also supporting efforts to improve farm production.

“The current global food crisis requires immediate action to feed people most at risk,” said Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the foundation’s Global Development Program, in a statement.

“In the longer term,” she said, “since agriculture and the needs of small-scale farmers in the developing world have been increasingly neglected in recent decades, we need a significant reinvestment in agricultural development from donors and developing countries
that focuses on helping small farmers boost their yields and increase their incomes.”

Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, in Boston, said the $2-million grant to his charity will expand its hunger-relief efforts in Ethiopia, where more than 225,000 people have been affected by drought. The grant will be used to provide food aid to children and help communities reduce their risk of future droughts, among other efforts.

“This funding comes at a critical time, when people worldwide are striving to save the lives, and the livelihoods, of millions who are suffering,” he said. “Malnutrition continues to grow as global food prices for rice, wheat, and corn have risen 83 percent worldwide over the past three years.”