The private sector can play a key role in the fight against hunger, but humanitarian groups accuse multi-nationals of mounting an "offensive" to take over the agricultural sector in the developing world.
On the eve of a "Hunger Summit" at the UN food agency's Rome headquarters this week, business leaders meeting in Milan, Italy's industrial capital, discussed ways to be "part of the solution." FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told them the private sector is a "key partner to face this problem, not only in terms of investment but also in know-how, expertise."
"It is very important for us not to only look at problems from the point of view of governments," the head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. "We also need to have the private sector on board."
Diouf argued that a public-private partnership in the fight against hunger could be a win-win proposition. "Eradicating hunger presents huge opportunities for businesses. Imagine the size of the market if the one billion people (who are starving world-wide) were to become consumers with real purchasing power," he said.
But the appeal to big companies deepens fears among non-governmental organisations that multi-nationals intend to take over agriculture in developing countries and impose a shift to intensive production.
"There has been a major offensive since the start of the food crisis by these seed, fertiliser and even GMO (genetically modified organisms) multi-nationals that is upsetting, even if you agree entirely that the private sector has a role to play," said Jean-Denis Crola of Oxfam France. "The interest of these companies is to develop industrial agriculture with GMOs, pesticides. We've seen the results in Argentina, Brazil with severe environmental and social impacts," said Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN, a non-governmental organisation at the forefront of the fight against private investors buying up land in developing countries. "Of course there's a need to intensify production, but 'all fertiliser' is not the right answer," said Crola. Sean de Cleene, vice president for global business development and public affairs of the Norwegian fertiliser company Yara, said: "It's all about finding a balance. Business needs to be a part of the solution but it needs to work in a responsible way with partners."