A group of specialists committed to foreign assistance is proposing a renewed U.S. commitment to agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The recommendations were presented Tuesday by the Chicago Council of Global Affairs.
The 13-member panel making the recommendations is co-chaired by Catherine Bertini, a Syracuse University professor and former head of the United Nations World Food Program. She says an increased commitment to food production in Africa and South Asia would help bring 270 million people out of poverty by 2020.
At least three countries including Bangladesh in South Asia are vulnerable to the second round effects of the global economic slowdown, the World Bank (WB) has said.
The countries -Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan - have been mostly insulated from the first round effects of the financial crisis owing partly to sound macroeconomic management and the underdeveloped nature of the financial markets that are not exposed to international markets.