The Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA) is a Presidential Signature Initiative, launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and implemented by the United States Agency of International Development (USAID). The Initiative recognizes that hunger in Africa is one of the most pervasive development challenges facing the world today, given that one in three people on the sub-continent go to bed hungry every night. It calls for a rapid and sustainable increase in agricultural growth and rural incomes as a key solution to reducing hunger and poverty in Africa, while recognizing the important role of complementary improvements in other sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, environment, and public policy management. To ensure long-term sustainability, the Initiative also calls for a stronger global partnership with African leaders and governments to work and invest in a smallholder-oriented agricultural growth strategy.

1. Focus countries: Investments will focus on countries that will serve as models of success and growth, and whose leaders are committed to growth and hunger reduction as priority development concerns.
2. Regional Dynamics: Regional development strategies will complement national strategies to help generate regional growth dynamics.
3. Multisectoral Approaches: Advances in health, education, infrastructure, environment and public policy management--not just agriculture-- are needed to end hunger in Africa. Linkages with other sectors and initiatives, including education, health (HIV/AIDS, diarrhea and malaria prevention), macroeconomic reform, infrastructure development, poverty reduction strategy plans (PRSPs), New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and other local, private or multi-donor efforts will be built.
4. Partnerships: Strong and lasting partnerships among national, regional and rural entities will ensure sustainable results and impact. IEHA will build alliances and broad-based political and financial commitments among development partners, public and private, in Africa and internationally, to cut hunger in half by 2015.
5. Efficient use of resources: IEHA will identify and target development options and opportunities to accelerate rural small-holder-based agricultural growth, leading to more efficient use of resources.

• Scientific and technological applications that harness the power of new technology and global markets contribute to agricultural growth by raising the productivity of food and export products and increasing the stability and volume of supplies. However, expanding food supplies is insufficient. Agricultural technology needs to improve product quality, relieve pressure on natural resources, reduce post-harvest losses, help producers respond to markets, assist entrepreneurs develop profitable enterprises, raise farm incomes, and lower the price of food to consumers.
• Efficient agricultural trade and market systems will contribute to agricultural growth by raising African competitiveness in export and domestic markets, connecting African farmers to consumers, and integrating African countries into global markets. More effective market systems will add value to products and processes, deliver high-quality, safe products, and reduce costs for consumers. Furthermore, they will create a climate and infrastructure that attracts private and foreign investment to Africa agricultural businesses.
• Community- and producer-based organizations will contribute to agricultural growth by providing a wide variety of business, training and leadership development services, and a political voice to the economic interests of farmers, who are normally too poor and too scattered to be heard. Such organizations can also create basic linkages between farmers (especially small-scale farmers) and businesses (input vendors, food processors, manufacturers, traders and food outlets) or research groups that are unable or unwilling to deal with them individually. These linkages create opportunities and add value to producer efforts while offering businesses an efficient means of reaching producers.
• Developing human capital, infrastructure and institutions is a fundamental building block of agricultural growth. It is vital to build Africa's human and institutional capacity to shape and lead policy and research, as well as provide agricultural education. Furthermore, over the past decade there has been significant policy reform, but limited institutional reform. Many institutions created during central government control of markets and services now find themselves ill equipped to work in a liberalized market environment; therefore, needs restructuring. Finally, there is an increasing urgent need to develop Africa's infrastructure-in transportation, energy, water/sanitation and telecommunications.
• Integrating vulnerable groups and countries in transition into sustainable development processes recognizes that hunger and poverty are not immutable issues, but are often human-made problems to which human-made solutions in many cases already exist. Specific objectives include: (a) helping the chronically poor and hungry in rural Africa find viable paths out of poverty by accumulating assets, (b) reducing the vulnerability of poor people to weather-, market- and conflict-induced shocks, and (c) enhancing the capacity of countries to manage shocks that have regional and national impacts.
• Environmental management will contribute to agricultural and rural sector growth through the conservation and production of environmental goods and services that generate public and private economic benefits. Proper environmental management makes agricultural production and water management sustainable and reduces or reverses degradation caused by inappropriate farming practices, overgrazing, and poor forest management.

For further information on IEHA, please visit the following US Government websites:

IFPRI, through the Development Strategy and Governance Division, is playing an active role by providing the necessary analytical support to USAID as it develops and implements IEHA. This mainly involves engaging in the following three broad activities:

1. offering technical support, communications, and outreach activities to help USAID develop and articulate its strategic plan in order for the Initiative to achieve its overall goals;
2. providing Special Studies that are designed to fill key knowledge gaps quickly that are crucial for the Initiative's strategy; and
3. developing an IEHA Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS) for priority setting as well as monitoring and evaluation (M&E) at the country and sub-regional levels.

Given the diversity of conditions across countries, detailed attention will initially be given to a few select countries where data already exists. In support of IEHA's sub-regional strategy, the analysis will connect country level studies into a sub-regional context from the outset so that a full sub-regional agenda can also be developed in unison with bi-lateral agendas where possible.

The analysis will go beyond IFPRI's traditional areas of support in order to help inform a broader partnership on issues that will still need to be addressed as part of a multi-donor effort. For example, links to poverty reduction strategies, the challenges of globalization for the smallholder agricultural sector, the management of agriculture-environment linkages, institutional and governance issues, and rural infrastructure. This will be done in collaboration with other global research partners through organized workshops, seminars, publications, and other medium.