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How To Feed 18 Million People In One Day, All The Time


World Growth

August 7, 2012


How To Feed 18 Million People In One Day, All The Time

New Report: UK Aid Policy Undermines Food Security; Warns Development NGO; David Cameron Can Correct This At The Olympics Hunger Summit

Melbourne – Development NGO, World Growth, today commended United Kingdom Prime Minister, David Cameron, for drawing attention at the Olympics to the looming problem of food security, but pointed out UK aid policies needed to be changed. In a new report, [The Development Tragedy —How Donor Aid Priorities and Land Use Policies Threaten Food Security], released to coincide with the Hunger Summit, World Growth research demonstrates how UK aid policies are hindering increases in the global supply of food.

Ambassador Alan Oxley, chairman of World Growth, made the following comments:

"The fresh spike in grain prices caused by drought in the United States is a graphic reminder of the vital need to increase food production. Last year the United Nations forecast world population could rise from 7 billion today to 10 billion by 2050. Yet the policies of all major aid donors undermine the action needed to increase food production. David Cameron needs to reverse this at the Olympics Hunger Summit."

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"Over the last decade, the share of global aid to support agriculture in poor countries shrank from 8.6 percent of all aid to 5.2 percent. This mirrors the reduction in the share of aid to support economic growth. The United Kingdom and other rich countries have instead given priority to redistributing wealth, increasing transparency, ensuring gender equality and protecting the environment.”

"As noted British development economist Professor L. Alan Winters advised the G20 in 2010, increasing economic growth is key to reducing poverty.”

Ambassador Oxley pointed out that, like other Western donors, in forest-endowed developing countries, the UK now gives priority to halting conversion of forest land for production of vital food staples, such as grains and vegetable oils such as palm oil; and funds projects to establish less productive industries on the grounds of claims that this will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

“The British Government’s position on food security and deforestation is clear - David Cameron’s Government considers that food security should be considered less important than preserving forest land.”

"It is disappointing that the UK Government shapes aid policy by listening to anti-growth groups like the World Wide Fund for Nature rather than on the facts.”

“Salient facts are that developing countries targeted by the UK have relatively more forest land than the UK and have already set aside forest areas to protect biodiversity which exceed international standards. They have plenty of land to increase agricultural production. World Bank research also shows forest clearance is not a major source of greenhouse gases.”

For more information on World Growth visit www.worldgrowth.org.

To contact World Growth email info@worldgrowth.org.


World Growth Palm Oil Green Development Campaign

New Sustainability Strategies Threaten Food Security
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Carbon Footprint” Risks Misuse and Economic Damage, NGO Research Finds
Press Release - June 30, 2011


NGO Warns The Greens and Xenophon Senate Bill on Palm Oil Labelling Will Harm The Poor and Damage Australian Relations with Malaysia and Indonesia
Press Release - June 22, 2011


World Growth Forestry and Poverty Project

The Green Campaign in the Antipodes

Special Newsletter – August 22, 2011

NGO to Western Retailers – CSR Policies Can Harm The Poor
Press Release - August 14, 2011

New Report – Leading Companies’ CSR Policies Contradict Intended Purpose of Responsible Business Programs
Press Release – May 20, 2011

World Growth In The News

Proposed palm oil law 'goes against Aussie govt policy'
New Straits Times - June 27, 2011

Cattle ban will mean food shortage for Indonesia's poor
The Age Editorial by Alan Oxley - June 9, 2011


Retailers' Standards 'Aid Poor Farmers'
The Australian - May 23, 2011

Resources

Restricting Growth: The Impact of Industrialized Country Climate Strategies on the World’s Poor
December 2011 – A World Growth Report

Avoiding Green Protectionism
December 2011 - A World Growth Briefing

A Roadblock to Food Security; How Halting Land Conversion Threatens Food Security in Africa — A Palm Oil Case Study
November 2011 – Green Papers: Issue IX

Trees Before Poverty; The World Bank’s Approach to Forestry and Climate Change
November 2011 – A World Growth Report

Abuse of Sustainability Standards; An Attack on Free Trade, Competition and Economic Growth
September 2011 – A World Growth Study

Grappling with Inordinate Uncertainty; Measuring the Carbon Footprint of Tropical Land-Use Change
June 2011 - A World Growth Study

Corporate Social Responsibility – How Global Business is Getting it Wrong in Emerging Markets
May 2011 – A World Growth Study

A Poison, Not a Cure; The Campaign to Ban Trade in Illegally Logged Timber
May 2011 – A World Growth Study

World Bank’s New Anti Poor Palm Oil Policy
May 2011 – Green Papers: Issue VIII

Green Protectionism and the Lacey Act
April 2011 – A World Growth Submission

How REDD Will Impoverish the Developing World and Reduce Biodiversity; An Indonesian Case Study
March 2011 – A World Growth Study

The Economic Benefit of Palm Oil to Indonesia
February 2011 – A World Growth Study

World Bank’s Revised Palm Oil Strategy Undermines Economic Development & Restricts Global Markets
February 2011 – A World Growth Submission

Palm Oil and Food Security: The Impediment of Land Supply; How Environmentalists and “No Conversion” are Inflating Food Prices
December 2010 – A World Growth Study

REDD and Conservation: Avoiding The New Road To Serfdom
December 2010 – A World Growth Study

The Issue of Indirect Land Use Change Associated with Biofuel Consumption; Submission to the European Commission
October 2010 – A World Growth Submission

Green Risk and Red Ink: WWF’s Threat to Free Enterprise
October 2010 – Green Papers: Issue VII

The RSPO and a Carbon Intensity Standard — Issues, Facts and Necessity
October 2010 – Green Papers: Issue VI

Whither Poverty Reduction? The World Bank’s Visible Green Hand
August 2010 – A World Growth Submission

Clarification of the European Commission’s Position on the Renewable Energy Directive
August 2010 – Green Papers: Issue V

Green Protectionism: The New Tool Against Forestry in Developing Countries
June 2010 – A World Growth Study

Caught Red Handed: The Myths, Exaggerations and Distortions of Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Rainforest Action Network
May 2010 – Green Papers: Issue IV

Greenmail
May 2010 – Green Papers: Issue III

Collateral Damage: How the Bogus Campaign Against Palm Oil Harms the Poor
December 2009 – A World Growth Study

Conversion – The Immutable Link between Forestry and Development
December 2009 – A World Growth Study

The New Face of European Environmental Protectionism: Forestry and Climate Change
December 2009 – A World Growth Briefing

Forestry and Biodiversity: A Healthy Report
December 2009 – A World Growth Study

Green Poverty
November 2009 – Green Papers: Issue II

Don’t Bag Indonesia’s Poor
October 2009 – Green Papers: Issue I

Palm Oil – The Sustainable Oil
September 2009 – A World Growth Study

Back to Basics: Restoring Economic Growth to the Aid Agenda
September 2009 – A World Growth Study

Forestry And The Poor: How Forestry Reduces Poverty
August 2009 — A World Growth Study

Forestry and Development: Building the Foundations for Sustainability
April 2009 — A World Growth Study

Winners All: How Forestry Can Reduce Both Climate Change Emissions and Poverty — A Pro-Development Program
December 2008 - A World Growth Study

The Real Climate Threat to Developing Countries — Early, Deep Cuts in Emissions;

December 2007 — A World Growth Study

Technologies for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions — Strategic Outlook;
November 2007 – A World Growth Study

Building a Pro-Development Global Strategy on Climate Change;
August 2007 – A Study by Alan Oxley, Chairman of World Growth and former Chairman of the GATT.

About World Growth

World Growth is an international non-governmental organization established with an educational and charitable mission to expand the education, information and other resources available to disadvantaged populations to improve their health and economic welfare. At World Growth, we embrace and celebrate the new age of globalization and the power of free trade to eradicate poverty and improve living conditions for people in the developing world. For more information on World Growth, visit www.worldgrowth.org


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