Yesterday was World Food Day, a time to remember the over 800 million people around the world who don’t have enough to eat.
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank recognizes the role that farmers and agriculture play in ending world hunger.
In Canada, less than two percent of people live on a farm. In the developing world many people rely on agriculture and small-scale farming as their main source of income.
“If Canada wants to achieve its development priorities of reducing poverty, empowering women, helping youth and fighting climate change, it should make investing in small-scale farming central to how it spends its foreign aid budget,” says Foodgrains Bank Public Policy Director Paul Hagerman.
The Foodgrains Bank is part of a coalition of 31 relief and development organizations and nine experts in agriculture and food security urging the federal government to support these small scale farmers.
“We recommend that Canada make a signature investment of $2.5 billion over five years to support sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation for small-scale farmers, especially women,” the coalition says in a statement published on its website www.aid4ag.ca.
Source : Portageonline