FEBRUARY EDITION OF THE FIELD NOTES NEWSLETTER

HAITI & FOOD

Jim Cornelius, CFGB Exec. Director

The devastating earthquake in Haiti has killed and maimed thousands of people, destroyed buildings and homes, and wiped out jobs and livelihoods. The infrastructure needed to supply food has been disrupted. This has led to widespread hunger.

Most of the food stocks in the country were not destroyed by the earthquake. Traders still had food in their warehouses, and many aid agencies had food in the country as part of ongoing food distribution programs. In addition, special ready-to-eat foods were flown and shipped into the country relatively quickly. The initial problem was not the availability of food, but rather, the ability of aid agencies to effectively access and distribute the food and the ability of Haitians to purchase food that was in the markets.


Aid agencies were overwhelmed with the immediate needs for medical assistance and shelter. Setting up food distribution systems on a large-scale is difficult, and was complicated by the destroyed infrastructure. Early food distribution programs ran into difficulties, many of which were reported on the television news. Systems are now being established that are allowing for well organized and larger-scale food distributions using coupons given to women.


Our member churches and their partners have been wrestling with all of these challenges. They have been focusing on immediate needs and getting organized to support a larger recovery effort. CFGB has two people on the ground working with the member churches and partners in developing longer-term food distribution programs.


Those who have lost jobs and incomes will need food support for many months to come until their livelihoods can be restored. There is some good news. The Haitian crop harvest is underway with relatively good yields anticipated. Crops were not affected by the earthquake. As the transportation infrastructure is restored, the ability to supply available food to communities in need will improve. Resources are required to finance the purchase and transportation of this food in the months to come, or to pay people cash to work on recovery programs so that they can purchase the food they need.


Canadian Foodgrains Bank will continue working closely with member churches and partners to help address the ongoing food needs in the country well after the TV lights are turned off.

THE “WHO” AND “WHY” OF LAND GRABS

Paul Hagerman, Manager, Public Policy

The Gulf state of Qatar has recently concluded a deal with Kenya, to lease 40,000 hectares of farmland to grow food and ship it home. A Canadian company has leased 68,000 hectares in DR Congo for a forestry plantation to make wood chips. These are only two of dozens of large scale “land grabs” that have come to light since the 2008 food crisis. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is concerned.

What is happening?


There has been a recent surge of investment in agricultural land in developing countries in Africa and Asia. The deals are usually long term leases (50-99 years) and the land sizes are huge (often greater than 10,000 hectares). The investors include governments, investment funds and private companies all over the world.


What is driving these land grabs?


There are several drivers for this trend, but it comes down to security - food, water and energy security.


The Gulf states, (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and others) short on water, plan to grow food in Africa and ship it back home. The Asian industrial powers (China, Japan and South Korea) are looking to grow biofuel crops as well as food. And private companies from Europe, the US and Canada are betting that food and energy prices are going to rise, so they are acquiring land to produce more of those products.


Why are we concerned?


This sudden interest in farmland is a symptom of a larger food security problem. Those with money (the investors) fear that the world is running out of food, water and energy, and they want to lock-in a long term supply for themselves.


These deals raise several warning flags for those who are concerned about poverty and hunger. Land ownership in developing countries is often unclear and those who have used the land for generations may have no formal way to show their ownership. Governments in capital cities can make deals without consideration of local uses, or consultation with local people. When the deals are made, foreign investors ensure that their investments are protected with detailed contracts that will take precedence over local practice and domestic law.


The contracts for these deals are not made public, but we expect the deals to be structured to benefit the powerful (foreign investors and elites in the host country), with little consideration for the plight of the weak. These land lease contracts are not likely to improve food security for the poor.




YTD DONATION COMPARISIONS


Despite the perception of a national and international economic crisis in the last year, donors to the Foodgrains Bank remain committed and generous.


(to the end of…)

Jan. 2010 Public donations $ 8.0 m  Member transfers $ 1.1 m

Jan. 2009                               $ 8.9 m                                  $2.23 m

Jan. 2008                               $7.2 m                                    $0.6 m


Totals    2010 = $9.1m
              2009 =  $11.2 m
              2008 =  $ 7.8 m




While total donations to the end of January are down from the year previous (a record setting yr. for the CFGB) it is interesting to note that the decreases come from grain donations and member transfers. Cash donations are in fact higher than the year before. Grain donation values have decreased because lower farm gate prices and poor yields in many places across Canada. (See chart below.) National church transfers (funds moved from head offices to their Foodgrains Bank account) were much higher in 2009 as a result of increased programming responding to the global food crisis.



PUBLIC DONATIONS


(to the end of...)

Jan. 2010   Cash $4,812,791  Grain $3,163,909

Jan. 2009             $4,663,484             $4,230,179

Jan. 2008             $4,199,957             $3,009,032



Total
2010 = $7,976,700
2009 = $8,863,441
2008 = $7,239,211




With many of the CFGB members making appeals for the Haitian earthquake it should be noted that as of the end of January the Foodgrains Bank had not received a dramatic increase in cash donations. The CFGB has set up a donation page on the website specifically for Haiti.
https://secure.peaceworks.ca/cfgb/donate/donation_make_form?notes=Haiti%20earthquake


Note: CFGB’s fiscal year is April 1- March 31.


 
DESIGNATING DONATIONS – THE CHOICE IS YOURS BUT…


Each year the Foodgrains Bank is the grateful recipient of the generousity of thousands of Canadians. We appreciate your concern for the world’s hungry. As many of you will know, each of the 15 Foodgrains Bank members have their own bank account in which they receive both cash and grains as designated by you, the donor. The 16th account, which is called the “general account”, receives all of the undesignated donations. It is our responsibility to respect the wish of the donor in depositing your donation to the account of your choice. Please remember that you don’t have to designate but undesignated donations are deposited to the general account. If it is your wish to support your denomination’s programs we would ask that you please Indicate the member account you want it deposited to.



FOOD STUDY TOUR


This year’s FST to India and Bangladesh returned on Feb. 13th. There were two participants from Ontario on the tour and we hope to have a report from them in the next Field Notes. There was no youth tour this year.




FST ALUMNI POT LUCK PICNIC JULY 17, 2010


Over the past couple of years several people have suggested the idea of having some kind of get together for former CFGB tour participants. We were surprised when we started counting the number of people from Ontario that had taken advantage of the opportunity that these tours provide to explore areas and issues often beyond our comfort zones. While some of you may stay in contact, for many your paths seldom cross. Currently, there are over 80 names on our alumni list. Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church, New Dundee has offered to host this event on Saturday, July 17. If you have been a participant, or ever thought you’d like to be one, you are welcome to attend. We will be sending out information to all tour participants. For more information please contact the Mayberrys.




IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR GROWING PROJECTS:




REGISTRATION SURVEYS for growing project should be included with this newsletter for all project contact people. The survey can also be found on the website – click on “Get Involved”(on the home page) / “Growing Projects” / “Registering Your Project” (in the right hand column). These surveys maybe mailed to the Winnipeg office or you may email or phone the Mayberrys with the information.


Corporate Input Offers at the time of writing have not been announced. We will attempt to keep growing project contacts/coordinators informed as these offers become available. Since most of these offers will have a dollar limit &/or a time deadline we encourage you to provide us with the survey information ASAP. Providing an email address for the project contact &/or coordinator will help us contact you as soon as offers become available.

SPRING FOOD JUSTICE WORKSHOPS APRIL 7 – 10, 2010

We ask you to promote these workshops as much as possible. Information is as follows on the  previous posting...