Seeding a Safer World

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the inextricable link between food and security:

For a billion people worldwide, the daily effort to grow, buy, or sell food is the defining struggle of their lives. This matters to all of us.

Consider the world's typical small farmer. She lives in a rural village, rises before dawn, and walks miles to collect water. If drought, blight, or pests don't destroy her crops, she may raise enough to feed her family – and may even have some left over to sell. But there's no road to the nearest market, and no one there who can afford to buy from her.

Now consider a young man in a crowded city 100 miles from that farmer. He has a job that pays pennies. He goes to the market but the food is rotting or priced beyond reach.

She has extra food to sell and he wants to buy it. But that simple transaction can't take place because of complex forces beyond their control.

...[F]ood security is not only about food, but it is all about security. Chronic hunger threatens individuals, governments, societies, and borders.

People who are starving or undernourished and can't care for their families are left with feelings of hopelessness and despair, which can lead to tension, conflict, even violence. Since 2007, there have been riots over food in more than 60 countries.

...Revitalising global agriculture will not be easy. Indeed, it is one of the most ambitious diplomacy and development efforts our country has ever undertaken. But it can be done. It is worth doing.

Read the whole thing here.