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	Working together to confront some the world’s most pressing problems by The Clinton Global Initiative USA   Building on former US President Bill Clinton’s lifetime in public service, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) reflects his belief that governments need collaboration from the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and other global leaders to effectively confront the world’s most pressing problems.   After attending thousands of meetings during his career in which urgent needs were discussed but no action was taken to solve them, President Clinton saw a need to establish a new kind of meeting with an emphasis on results.   In 2005, President Clinton established CGI to turn ideas into action and to help move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values.   By gathering world leaders from a variety of backgrounds, CGI creates an opportunity to channel the capacities of individuals and organizations to realize change. To fulfill the action-oriented mission of CGI, all members devise practical solutions to global issues through the development of specific and measurable commitments to action.   Annual Meetings have brought together more than 100 current and former heads of state, 14 Nobel Peace Prize winners, hundreds of leading global CEOs, major philanthropists, directors of non-governmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made nearly 1,700 commitments, which have improved more than 200 million lives in 150 countries.   Jan 2010   Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting ranked No. 1 Conference for CEOs.   According to a recently released study the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting attracted more CEO speakers from top companies than any other major conference in 2009.   “I am incredibly pleased that the Clinton Global Initiative continues to attract top CEOs to discuss and most importantly to take action on pressing global issues,” President Clinton said.   “The private sector plays a critical role in helping to address some of the most critical issues of our time, from improving global health and education, to increasing economic empowerment worldwide. I’m grateful these CEOs are proving through the Clinton Global Initiative that businesses can do well by doing good.”   At CGI, we believe that the private sector, the public sector, and civil society must all work together to make the world a better place. That’s why the CEOs who attend our Annual Meeting also have the opportunity to meet with heads of state, directors of the world’s most effective nongovernmental organizations, Nobel Prize winners, and prominent members of the media.”   Commitments to Action, a unique feature of CGI membership, translates practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. CGI acts as a marketplace for a diverse community of changemakers to develop commitments that fit their business and philanthropic goals.   Commitments to Action are measurable initiatives undertaken by CGI members. Varying in size and duration, commitments may focus on diverse concerns, regions, and types of activities. For example, members may develop a new business model that generates social, environmental, or economic value; or provide financial or in-kind support to an organization of their choice. Visit the related web page
	Millions of poor across Africa set to suffer deepening food crisis, warns UN Report by FAO / UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs   Nov. 2009   Millions of poor across Africa set to suffer deepening food crisis, warns UN report. (FAO)   Despite good global cereal harvests this year, millions of people in dozens of poor countries are in desperate need of emergency humanitarian aid due to stubbornly high food prices, the United Nations agricultural agency warned in a report released today.   Critical food insecurity is affecting 31 countries and the situation is particularly acute in East Africa, where prolonged drought and mounting conflict have left an estimated 20 million people in need of food aid, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).   The latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation report, noted that although international food prices have fallen significantly since their peak a few years ago, wheat and maize prices rose in October and rice export prices are still high above pre-crisis levels.   “For the world’s poorest people who spend up to 80 per cent of their household budgets on food, the food price crisis is not over yet,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Hafez Ghanem. “It is now a global priority to increase investment in developing country agriculture in order to fight poverty and hunger.”   The report said that in Western Africa cereal production for 2009 is set to decline from last year because below average rainfall forced farmers to re-plant crops in many parts of the region and led to livestock losses in Mali, Chad and Niger.   The dire food situation in the region is worsened by cereal prices remaining well above the levels of two years ago before the hike in food prices, with the price of millet in the markets of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger ranging from 21 to 42 per cent higher, and imported rice between 22 and 46 per cent higher.   In addition, an expected reduction in Nigeria’s cereal production could lead to new price rises across West Africa, the report said.   The FAO report also voiced deep concern over the situation in Eastern Africa as crops and pastures are expected to fail due to poor rains and an increase in armed conflict, resulting in more trade disruptions and continuing high food prices.   Kenya’s maize production is forecast to be 30 per cent down on last year, leaving almost 4 million Kenyans either highly or extremely food insecure, and in Ethiopia the number of people in need of food aid jumped from 5.3 million in May to 6.2 million in October.   Nov 2009   We can realize food security. (UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs)   Did you know that agriculture contributed 42 percent of Nigeria"s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008, more than double the 20 percent of revenue that oil brought into the national coffers?   A programme to boost food security, launched in 2001, helped Nigeria"s rain-dependant small-scale farmers with irrigation and access to credit and marketing services, said a new UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report taking an in-depth look at 16 countries that have made some headway in reducing the number of hungry people.   Barbara Huddleston, an FAO food security expert, said the study was produced as part of the effort to "stimulate interest in investing in smallholders, asking countries and donors to make a commitment in real people" ahead of the World Food security Summit in Rome, Italy, next week.   Two reports published this week draw attention to agriculture with a caseload of good news stories on improving food security. The FAO report, Pathways to Success, looks at policy initiatives that have improved food security, and new measures taken in the wake of last year"s global recession.   The US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) uses its book, MillionsFed, to look at a mix of food security success stories over a period of years, many of which were driven by NGOs and communities.   In 1990 an initiative driven by Helen Keller International, which works to prevent blindness and reduce malnutrition, and local organizations in Bangladesh encouraged 1,000 households to plant vegetables rich in vitamin A to address a deficiency in this micronutrient, which can cause night blindness: at that time 30,000 children in the South Asian country were going blind each year.   The programme, eventually driven by 70 local NGOs and the government, grew to cover 870,000 households across the country by 2003, and helped improve the food security of nearly five million people - almost four percent of the population.   There is also the IFPRI story of farmers on Burkina Faso"s central plateau who have been sowing crops in planting pits and built contour bunds - rows of stones piled up along the contours of the land to capture rainwater runoff and prevent soil erosion - and have produced an additional 80,000 tonnes of food per year.   "These are examples of people choosing to step out of their comfort zones and risk innovation; these people did not wait for external agencies to step in," said Rajul Pandya-Lorch, co-editor of MillionsFed. "We want to highlight the importance of creating the space to allow people to take risks and experiment."   The case studies underline that there is "no single, simple solution to helping farmers be more productive", said Prabhu Pingali, deputy director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which commissioned MillionsFed.   "A comprehensive approach is needed - from investing in improved seeds and healthy soil to supporting effective farm management practices and expanding small farmers access to markets," he said.   Such efforts pay off with investment in science and technology - improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides - hallmarks of the "green revolution" that turned around food production in Asia from 1965 to 1990.   Policy decisions like liberalizing agricultural markets, giving land-rights to farmers, investing in rural infrastructure and agricultural extension services also help. The FAO report points out that 84 percent of Vietnam"s paddy fields are irrigated, so rice farmers no longer have to depend on the rain.   "In just five years, from 1993 to 1998, the share of people living in poverty fell by 21 percent [in Vietnam]," noted IFPRI, which has also devoted a chapter to land reforms in Vietnam.   The IFPRI and FAO initiatives have many examples of useful ideas to inspire communities and governments. And there is hope - at least 31 out of 79 countries monitored by FAO have registered a significant decline in the number of undernourished people since the early 1990s. Visit the related web page
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