The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

US President Obama launched the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition at the May 2012 G8 summit at Camp David. It aims to address years of underinvestment in agriculture, and to meet the financing gap for global food security, in order to help pull 50 million people out of chronic poverty over 10 years.

Critics of the New Alliance, including the World Development Movement, question whether it will help poor farmers. They say the Alliance will make it easier for multinational companies to do business in Africa through the easing of export controls and tax laws, and through governments putting aside tracts of land for investment. There have also been charges that the New Alliance represents a “new form of colonialism” and that, under the scheme, African governments have had to agree to change seed, land and tax laws to favour private investors over small farmers. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) supports the scheme and has committed £600 million to it.