TREVISO, ITALY April 18, 2009 – Today, in Treviso, Italy, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack addressed the first-ever Group of Eight (G8) Agricultural Ministerial. Below are excerpts of his remarks as prepared for delivery.

"This meeting, the first of its kind in the G8's history, underscores the important role that agriculture will play in the coming months and years, as we look for ways to improve global food security…

"During President Barack Obama's inaugural address earlier this year, he made the following pledge: "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds." I believe this pledge will help guide all of us, as we work together in exploring how the world's wealthiest countries can address hunger and malnutrition—among the most devastating and persistent challenges on the globe. As we saw with last year's food riots, food insecurity not only threatens vulnerable populations, it puts our economic security and international stability at risk. If there is one thing we have learned from the global recession, economic crisis knows few boundaries. And economic crisis not only threatens prosperity but also security…

"Committing to eliminate food insecurity is both our moral obligation and a critical strategy in promoting economic development and global stability. This means continuing to invest in emergency food assistance, as well as the tools needed by developing economies to develop their agricultural sectors: agriculture research, extension services, markets for both inputs and outputs, credit and risk management tools, and critical infrastructure. These strategies have been developed. It is now a matter of summoning our political will and leadership…

"Investing in agricultural development will help lead the way to a permanent solution to food insecurity. By working to restore economic growth that directly engages the world's poorest populations, many of which depend on agricultural labor for most—or all—of their household income and food consumption. Improving the lives of poor populations by growing rural economies through broad-based rural, economic and agricultural development will help the world achieve the goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger…

"Finally, we also must enhance efficiencies in the global market. A successful conclusion to the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Round would reduce and eliminate tariffs and other barriers, as well as market-distorting subsidies for agricultural goods. We strongly encourage countries to lift trade-restrictive policy measures, such as export restrictions. While they are designed to increase short-term food security in the countries imposing the restrictions, these policies only worsen the situation by taking food off the global market, driving prices higher, and discouraging farmers from responding to market signals…

"Our goal must go beyond helping those in need through these difficult times. We must forge a course to a future in which all of us are fed and our communities can prosper. Thank you."

"Future population growth and climate change make improving agricultural productivity even more critical. The amount of land capable of producing food is not going to increase. In fact, with growing communities across the globe, the amount of arable land may actually shrink. Also in the not-far-off future, climate change is expected to compound existing food insecurity in some nations, including many of the most vulnerable, due to variations in temperature, increased frequency of extreme weather like drought, floods and storms, and the spread of pests and diseases to new geographic areas. This dynamic will continue to challenge us to figure out ways to produce enough nutritious food for all citizens of the world. Agricultural technologies may hold the answer...

Over the last 10 years, the United States has supplied roughly 55 percent of total international food assistance. In 2008 and 2009, the United States will provide more than $5.5 billion to fight global hunger.

While in Italy, Secretary Vilsack will meet with Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jacques Diouf, International Fund for Agricultural Development President Kanayo Nwanze, and World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran. He will hold bilateral meetings with Egyptian Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Amin Ahmed Abaza, Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Shigeru Ishiba, and Russian Minister of Agriculture Yelena Skrynnik. He will also visit with China's Vice Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Hilary Benn, and the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel.

The G8 Agricultural Ministerial, comprised of top agriculture leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, is one of nine separately planned ministerial-level meetings delineated by function, including agriculture, development, finance and labor.

In addition to agriculture ministers from the G8, agriculture leaders from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, Egypt, India, Mexico, and South Africa are expected to attend this year's Ministerial, as well as the European Union's Commissioner of Agriculture and leaders of the African Union, World Bank, the World Food Program, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

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