Food First Fellow Dr. Raj Patel testified at the House Committee on Financial Services
Contributing Factors and International Responses to the Global Food Crisis
Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 10:00 a.m., 2128 Rayburn House Office Building
To listen to the webcast:
Leading Experts to Testify Before House Financial Services Committee on Global Food Crisis
Washington, DC—House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank today announced the committee will hold a hearing entitled "Contributing Factors and International Responses to the Global Food Crisis" to examine the underlying causes of the current intense pressures on the world’s food system and focus on the immediate and urgent short-term humanitarian challenges to the crisis. A panel of leading world scholars, experts, and advocates representing a wide range of experience both within the U.S. government and at international organizations such as the UN, the FAO, the World Bank and the IMF will testify on the international food crisis.
The hearing will also focus on what kinds of trade policies and other interventions by governments, aid agencies, and international institutions -- including the World Bank, the IMF, and International Fund for Agricultural Development -- would be necessary and most effective in establishing a sustainable and secure food system that meets the basic food needs of all people.
Witness List & Prepared Testimony:
* Dr. Robert Watson, Director, International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IASSTD)
* The Honorable Eva Clayton, Former Special Adviser to the Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization at the United Nations
* Dr. Raj Patel, Political Economist and Visiting Scholar at Center for African Studies, University of Californian, Berkeley
* The Honorable Andrew Natsios, Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
* Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Center for Global Development