World Leaders Propose Solutions to Global Hunger

Where: L’Aquila, Italy

July 10, 2009 : The leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries met at a summit in L’Aquila, Italy. The G-8 is a group of industrialized countries that includes Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan and the United States. After three days of talks, the leaders of these countries launched a new plan to tackle global hunger. The plan was approved by over 30 countries and organizations. Food security, or ensuring adequate access to food, has become a very important issue for governments everywhere after high food prices last year led to riots in some countries. What’s more, there are now one billion people across the world who live with hunger.

The G-8 initiative involves spending $20 billion on seeds, fertilizers, tools and other aid for small farmers over the next three years so that poor nations can grow enough food. This is a new step towards solving food scarcity. Now, farmers in the developing world will get the means to boost production over a long period. This is definitely a long term solution as compared to emergency food aid for people suffering from drought and famine. “We believe that the purpose of aid must be to create the conditions where it’s no longer needed,” said President Barack Obama of the USA.

The money would also help to build roads between fields and markets. Farmers could have better access to clean water by drilling wells and building pipelines. They would also be able to build storage facilities for their products. Along with improvement in agricultural production, the plan aims to help developing countries learn to cope with the effects of global warming.

277 words | 2 minutes
Readability: Grade 8 (13-14 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: world news
Tags: #farmers, #global warming, #hunger

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