But translating noble principles and even the passion and energy of millions of "Yes we can"-inspired supporters into action isn't easy, particularly where agriculture is concerned. The path from a $20 billion promise for new resources to bolster agricultural development, made by the G8 in Italy last June, to successful change on tens of millions of African farms is long and bumpy.
So last Friday, working with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and my NGO, the World Faiths Development Dialogue, we gathered a diverse group to ask the loaded question: "what's religion got to do with it?", focusing on agriculture in Africa. A vast array of ideas came forward, bound together by the appreciation that "it's complicated". What made the brainstorming especially interesting was the common reaction that the introduction of religion into the discussion was new, and inspired new ways of looking at the problem.
A first and fairly obvious action area is advocacy. "Give us this day our daily bread" is a prayer that resonates across faith traditions. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, and founder of the U.S. Alliance to End Hunger, is convinced that the moral case for fighting hunger can resonate at all levels and across societies. Religious leaders and communities can be strong advocates.
But closer to the farm, it gets more complicated. Every country and community is different and actions at farm level need to be bolstered not only by national policies that affect prices, fertilizer availability, and interest rates, but rich-world policies (especially farm subsidies) that so deeply affect markets and prices. A vast array of faith-inspired organizations and communities are active in agriculture but their efforts are fragmented. Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and Islamic Relief have agricultural strategies and work in many countries, but tens of thousands of organizations and programs run the gamut from soup to nuts (literally). There's an unmined potential here: while the global donor community backed off agriculture, tempted by other priorities and daunted by its difficulty, many of these organizations plugged on. So they have a wealth of experience, just not collected or pulled together in any coherent way.
Another challenging call is for more partnership, whether between public and private, or among faith-inspired groups and communities. Cutting across faith boundaries offers many theoretical benefits: better understanding, pooling of knowledge and resources, cutting down fear and ignorance that divides communities. It is easier said than done, however. There are promising small examples that offer inspiration but still far to go.
Perhaps the most interesting probing was around how faith affects attitudes towards farming. Farmers combine practicality and pragmatism with faith: they put seeds in the ground and wait for something to happen. In Africa, beliefs in spirit worlds affect how people relate to change - whether new seed varieties, irrigation practices, or land tenure arrangements. It's all very well to imagine that attitudes will change with education but that's not always the case. Bishop Aboagye Mensah from Ghana gently reminded his eminent colleagues of the strong influence Friday the 13th still seems to exert in the United States.
Most of Africa's food is produced by women, so women's roles figure prominently in the new investment strategies. Religion can be a strong force for positive change but it can also trap women in subordinate roles where even contact with an extension worker is cut off.
The word "holistic" is much in vogue these days; it makes the important if hardly surprising point that things are connected. In practical terms for agriculture it harks back to the realization that just vaccinating a chicken or delivering fertilizer rarely achieves good results if done in isolation from other facets of a farm family's life. In many respects, women come at the beginning and end of that process. There's a long way to go to meaningful action.
So we are embarked on a long learning and action process. Next steps? More talking to those concerned -- farmers, pastors, imams, women's groups, government leaders, others. We hope to gather focus groups of recent Peace Corps volunteers who might offer insights and ideas (volunteers welcome). It is daunting to recognize and grapple with the long road between global inspiration like a Charter for Compassion and supporting African farmers looking through a faith lens, but it's good to be trying.
ActionAid in a preparatory release before the Food Summit urged Pope Benedict XVI to pray for a miracle: the $3 billion that the G8 has found in new money to solve world hunger is, they pointed out, less than Goldman Sach's $3.2 billion profit announced on the eve of World Food Day. The real miracles, though, will happen on farms and in families, impelled by a mosaic of actions that build on traditions, address different aspects of people's lives (especially gender roles), and bring new technologies and support in ways that work.
