FRANCE ON G8 FOOD SECURITY COMMITMENTS

UNCLAS PARIS 001607 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAID EAGR FR SUBJECT: FRANCE ON G8 FOOD SECURITY COMMITMENTS REF: STATE 120804 ¶1. (U) Summary: France's $2.3 billion in L'Aquila commitments on food security represent mostly new programs to be carried out by various GOF agencies between 2009 and 2011. $52 million in food aid is for on-going food aid that conforms to the London Convention. France does not yet have detailed plans concerning which countries or regions will receive all of this assistance. A large portion of programs funded through the Agence Francaise de Developpement, are in the form of concessional loans. France's commitments represent a ramping up of existing programs, so disbursement is already under way. Embassy contacts said France is satisfied with the framework that emerged from L'Aquila and the Rome Food Summit, and now wants to flesh it out. France sees climate change and food security, price volatility and access to land as key issues donors will have to take up as the global partnership moves forward. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Econ Counselor delivered the demarche in reftel to Sujiro Seam, Deputy Director for Food Security and Economic Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 1. Seam was at the technical-level meeting in Washington in September and will be the regular point of contact within the GOF on food security issues. Seam said France's L'Aquila commitments now amount to 1.551 billion euros (US$2.3 billion). This represents commitments over the years 2009-2011, including 493 million euros in 2009, and 530 million euros in both 2010 and 2011. Using the 2008 funding level of 445 million euros, as a baseline, Seam said this means 216 million euros ($322 million) represents new commitments. Seam added, however that France's total includes commitments made through the AFD, all of which will go to new projects not already in the pipeline. For 2009, commitments funded through AFD will equal 323 million euros ($481 million). (Note: AFD distributes most of its project funds in the form of concessional loans, so the 323 million euro figure is an estimate of the ODA grant equivalent of the loan amounts, based on OECD methodology. End Note.) ¶3. (SBU) Aside from AFD loans for agricultural development, France has committed 90 million euros ($134 million) for agricultural research programs, 43 million euros ($64 million) in contributions to multilateral agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP) and 35 million euros ($52 million) for food aid in 2009. Seam said it is not yet possible to give precise numbers for future years for all of these programs. On food aid, Seam specified that the figure does not include emergency, humanitarian aid, but rather on-going food aid commitments that conform to the London Convention. Budget support programs to fund agricultural development projects account for the remainder of France's commitments. ¶4. (SBU) Seam noted that the 1.551 billion euro figure does not cover certain French commitments in the area of food security and agricultural development. It does not include France's 20 percent share of the EU's $3.8 billion L'Aquila commitment, nor France's contributions to UNICEF, the World Bank or other multilateral organizations that may be involved in food security. Seam said it is too early to say in which countries or regions France will distribute these funds, but that France is providing this information as part of European Commission stock-taking exercise on development assistance, as information becomes available after the board meetings of AFD and other French government agencies carrying out the programs. Seam said France does put a geographic priority on (mostly Francophone) West Africa, but also has made substantial commitments in Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. ¶5. (SBU) Seam acknowledged the perception that G8 L'Aquila commitments do not always represent new funds, and there was political pressure in France and other governments to fudge definitions to make the total numbers look as big as possible. But Seam said focusing on how donors can cooperate to deliver development assistance on the ground was far more important that revisiting the L'Aquila numbers. He said he hoped there would be more discussion of coordination at the December 7-8 meeting in Kigali. (Note: Seam added that France only reestablished diplomatic relations with Rwanda on November 29, and has not yet received an invitation to the Kigali meeting. End note.) ¶6. (SBU) Seam said France was generally satisfied with the food security initiative that emerged from the L'Aquila G8 Summit, and very satisfied with the 2009 Food Summit in Rome. France was disappointed by the degree to which certain donor countries defended the role of the FAO, but Seam said this did not preclude progress on the "governance pillar" of the global partnership, and that it was still possible to show that the partnership is an inclusive process, not just an enhanced mission for the FAO. Seam said France is satisfied with progress on the "knowledge pillar," in the form of the panel of experts attached to the FAO. Seam said donors had not fully addressed the "financing pillar." Although he welcomed some of the general principles, Seam said the challenge on financing will be to demonstrate that the donors can deliver on the ground. The Food Summit, Seam said, provided a shell--now we have to flesh it out. ¶7. (SBU) Seam said the challenge going forward will be for donors to show that there is something new to say. In particular, he said he hoped donors would find ways to address the issues climate change and food security (mitigation and adaptation),food price volatility and the impact of volatility, and the question of access to land, including appropriate governance of foreign investment in agriculture. RIVKIN