Kenya refugee camps, July 2011 (photo on Flickr by IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/Turkey).

The International Agriculture and Development Blog reports that ‘The [famine] crisis continues to unravel in the Horn of Africa. . . . In an excellent commentary from Project Syndicate, Sam Dryden, the Director of the Agricultural Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, argues that investments in [smallholder] farmers can prevent future famines from happening again.’

The same blog reports that the World Bank is ‘increasing its support for agriculture, from $4-billion invested in 2010 and previous years, to $6-billion earmarked for 2011, and plans to increase Ag investments to $8-billion in 2012’ and that the G20 at its September 2011 meeting in Montpellier, France, ‘recently incorporated agricultural research as a center piece of their agenda to ensure global food security.’

Three years since the World Bank published its World Development Report on Agriculture for Development, ‘funds are starting to trickle down to projects in the field. If there is anything positive from the horrendous tragedy unfolding in Somalia, it is the opportunity for governments and policy makers around the world to accelerate agricultural projects, and put on center stage the vital role of food security interventions in preventing future crisis.’

Read the whole post at the International Agriculture and Development Blog: Somalia and the need for agricultural investments, 19 Sep 2011.

Read more on this topic at the ILRI Clippings Blog: Greater coherence among agricultural research bodies to be urged at Montpellier G20 meeting, 13 Sep 11.