U.N. Official Plans to Urge U.S. to Reconsider Farm Subsidies

The director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) may find his message to Washington falls on deaf ears. With the 2004 presidential election on the line (and agribusiness's lucrative campaign donations very much in every politician's mind), congressmen and White House officials alike hesitate to believe that the $22 billion in subsidies offered to American farmers is a cause of poverty and hunger in developing countries. Moreover, some blame the failure of the WTO's Cancun meeting on the developed nations's refusal to lower their subsidies, which leave poor, un-subsidized farmers uncompetitive on the world market. Although the US provides 40% of all food aid the UN distributes, the FAO believes the US should focus more funding on agricultural infrastructure in poor nations, rather than answering crises. Better to avert a crisis than try to solve it after the fact. – YaleGlobal