Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development : Dirk Niebel, Bill Gates and the German business community fight hunger

Joined forces for food Dirk Niebel, Bill Gates and the German busi­ness com­mu­nity fight hunger

29.01.2013 -

Berlin - The BMZ, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German businesses plan to join forces even more closely in the fight against world hunger. That was the outcome of a meeting between Minister Dirk Niebel, Bill Gates and top German business representatives in Berlin. A total of 80 million euros is to be made available. Of this, 20 million will be provided by the BMZ, around 20 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and over 40 million by German and European businesses.

Dirk Niebel commented, "That there are two billion malnourished people in the world is a scandal. Malnourishment, particularly in children, causes lasting damage. That is why we are joining forces with Bill Gates and the the business community to fight world hunger."

Liam Condon, CEO of Bayer CropScience AG, emphasized the readiness of the enterprises taking part in the meeting to contribute to global nutrition with their expertise, know-how and financial resources: "Bayer CropScience supports the sustainable increase in productivity of agriculture worldwide by strengthening investment in research and de­vel­op­ment. This also includes in particular the targeted support to the empowerment of smallholder farmers and engagement in long-term public-private partnerships."

The BMZ and business representatives from the German Food Partnership have agreed to support the production of important staples like potatoes and rice, among others within the "Asian German Rice Initiative" (AGBRI). At the same time, they want to boost the nutritional value of these basic foodstuffs.

The BMZ is also intensifying its partnership with the Gates Foundation and both organizations are working together to improve nutrition-sensitive agricultural projects, with the goal of increasing agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers, and improving nutritional outcomes for their families.

Bill Gates said: "I applaud Germany's leadership in global de­vel­op­ment; their aid investments and private sector partnerships have helped fund many successful programs, helping lift millions out of hunger and poverty. In the past fifteen years, we have seen huge progress, with the number of people living in extreme poverty reduced by half. By setting clear goals, such as a global productivity target in agriculture, we can continue to deliver real progress and save lives."

Dirk Niebel explained, "With these projects, the BMZ wants to highlight its contribution to the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and the global scaling-up nutrition initiative."

Liam Condon: "Those businesses involved with the 'German Food Partner­ship' agree that today's challenges can only be overcome by long-term co­op­er­ations and sustainable approaches." As an example, he named the "New Vision for Agri­culture" and the five-point plan for a "Greener Re­vo­lu­tion" recently presented by Bayer CropScience.

Working together with business, civil society and partner organisations, the BMZ is also launching a process to develop guidelines for collaboration with the agricultural and food sectors. The Gates Foundation have made grants to develop in­ter­na­ti­o­nal guidelines for appropriate and responsible mar­ket­ing practices and create mea­sur­able bench­marks to assess company practices in the food and beverage industry to improve access to good nutrition.

The BMZ signed an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on closer co­op­er­a­tion back on 6 April 2011. That Memorandum of Under­stand­ing encompasses the areas of rural de­vel­op­ment, health, water and sani­ta­tion agree­ment, the BMZ and the Gates Foun­dation are imple­ment­ing projects in developing countries.

The German Food Partnership, founded in June 2012, is an alliance of around 35 German and European busi­nesses and associations; under the umbrella of the BMZ, they are making concerted efforts to promote agri­culture and the food industry in the countries with which the BMZ co­operates. Through the alliance, busi­nes­ses are delivering on the voluntary commit­ment they have made to help achieve the Millennium De­vel­op­ment Goals. They are supporting sus­tain­able growth in the agri­cul­tural sector that also respects the needs of small farmers and the environment and is in line with the partner countries' own national strategies.