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Howard G. Buffett and Bill Gates Receive George McGovern Leadership Award, Call for Renewed Focus on Smallholder Farmers, Particularly Women

Credit: HW Buffett

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton - the 2010 recipient of the George McGovern Leadership Award - presented the 2011 George McGovern Leadership Award to Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates in recognition of their leadership in establishing the World Food Program's Purchase for Progress program. "I am delighted to present the McGovern Award to two of America's leading voices and activists on agricultural development," said Secretary Clinton. "The focus they have brought to individual smallholder farmers has been really a change agent in the world against fighting hunger and improving food security."

Reflecting on the importance of agricultural solutions, Gates explained that, "As we looked at what the great inequities are, we kept coming back to health and agriculture as the two that topped the list. If you can raise the incomes of small farmers, it changes livelihoods very quickly."

Buffett, commenting on why both foundations put particular focus on women smallholders in Purchase for Progress, said, "When you have the personal experience of interacting with women who have children who are dying, you realize that's the person you want to be the decision-maker. Empowering women in an environment like that is absolutely key to success."

The event also featured a panel discussion on private sector engagement that included Howard G. Buffett; Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator, USAID; Greg Page, chairman and CEO, Cargill; The Honorable Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture; and moderated by Betty Liu of Bloomberg News.

Secretary of State Clinton, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates, together with the U.N. World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran, participated in a conversation on efforts to address global hunger and how to address chronic hunger through enhancing capacity of small scale farmers.

A five-year pilot initiative in 21 countries, Purchase for Progress (P4P) links the U.N. World Food Program's demand for staple food commodities with the technical expertise of a wide range of partners to build the capacity of farmers to access credit, increase agricultural production, and improve their ability to deliver a high quality product to markets. P4P offers a stable market for small-holder farmers, resulting in higher incomes, a vital tool toward long term solutions in hunger and poverty.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's early commitment to the Purchase for Progress program helped the World Food Program through the challenging task of translating a concept into a pilot program which was officially launched in September of 2008. And Buffett's first-hand knowledge of farming makes him an especially passionate supporter and advocate for Purchase for Progress. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation's total donation of $29 million has supported the work of the program in four Central American countries and three countries in Africa, benefiting tens of thousands of farmers and their families.

The Gates Foundation granted $67.1 million to support the initial planning for the program, and for the implementation, management, and administration of P4P in 10 countries in Africa.

The vision of P4P is to promote the development of agricultural markets in such a way that by 2013, at least 500,000 low-income smallholder farmers - most of whom are women - will produce marketable food surpluses and sell them at a fair price to increase their incomes. More than 100,000 people, mostly small-holding farmers, have received training in improved agricultural production, post-harvest handling, quality assurance, group marketing, agricultural finance, and contracting with WFP. To date, more than 190,000 metric tons of food valued at $68.5 million has been contracted.

"The groundbreaking work of our two honorees working with the World Food Program on Purchase for Progress, using the purchasing power of WFP to help small farmers, is going to set a standard for public-private partnerships for years to come," said Vice President Joe Biden in his keynote remarks.

The Howard G Buffett Foundation

Established in 1999, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation's primary mission is to combat hunger and improve the standard of living for vulnerable populations throughout the world. The Foundation invests in a full spectrum of initiatives to address global hunger and food insecurity including: direct humanitarian aid for populations in crisis; agricultural development for smallholder farmers, particularly women; livelihood improvement for smallholders through commercial market access; academic and field research to increase farmer productivity in resource-constrained contexts; and advocacy campaigns to sustain and scale best practices.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Learn more at www.gatesfoundation.org or join the conversation at Facebook and Twitter.

George McGovern Leadership Award

Since 2002, World Food Program USA has hosted an annual award ceremony to recognize leaders who have played a critical role in the fight against global hunger. In 2009 the award was named after Senator George McGovern, in recognition of his leadership in advancing unprecedented U.S. government efforts to address global hunger. Past honorees include: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Senators George McGovern and Robert Dole; Senator Dick Lugar and Odette Loan of Cote D'Ivoire; Senator Dick Durbin and Paul Tergat of Kenya; Senator Tom Harkin and International Paper; and Representatives Jim McGovern, Jo Ann Emerson, and Rosa DeLauro.

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The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
Ann Kelly
+1.206.709.3400
media@hgbfoundation.org
or
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Diane Scott
+1.206.709.3400
media@gatesfoundation.org