PRIME MINISTER HARPER ANNOUNCES NEXT PHASE OF RESEARCH INITIATIVE TO COMBAT HUNGER IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

StarBuzz Weekly, Toronto-PERTH, AUSTRALIA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced support for the second phase of the Canadian International Food Security Research Fund (CIFSRF), which will help alleviate hunger in developing countries.

“Canada is committed to helping build more productive and sustainable agriculture systems to address global hunger,” said Prime Minister Harper. “The second phase of this highly successful initiative will support research aimed at providing people in developing countries with a more secure supply of food with a greater nutritional value.”

The CIFSRF, a joint initiative between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), is a five-year program that funds a wide variety of projects to solve issues related to the access of sufficient, safe and nutritious foods in the developing world.  It is designed to respond to immediate food needs while increasing access to quality, nutritious food over the long term.

This strategy builds on a commitment by Prime Minister Harper at the 2009 G-8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, to more than double its investment in sustainable agricultural development with an additional $600 million in funding over three years.

Canada was the first G-8 nation to have fully delivered on its L’Aquila commitments, which it fully dispersed as of April 2011.  Phase two of this initiative will be funded by CIDA and IDRC and will begin in 2012-13.