This report examines data on aid in support of agriculture, with a focus on the period 2002-07. It is based on donors’ reporting on Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments and disbursements to the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) Aid Activity Database.

The CRS Aid Activity database includes data on Official Development Assistance (ODA), and other official flows to developing countries. The CRS was established in 1967, jointly by the OECD and the World Bank, with the aim of “supplying the participants with a regular flow of data on indebtedness and capital flows”. Calculating capital flows and debt stock remain key functions of the system, but others have evolved in the course of years. In particular, the CRS aid activity database has become the internationally recognised source of data on the geographical and sectoral breakdown of aid and is widely used by governments, organisations and researchers active in the field of development. For DAC members the CRS serves as a tool for monitoring specific policy issues, supplementing the information collected at the aggregate level in the annual DAC Statistics.

This report examines data on aid flows in support of agriculture especially over the six year period 2002- 07. It has been prepared by the Secretariat of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in collaboration with the DAC Working Party on Statistics. Global food security is a perennial problem, and the recent food price crisis refocused the world’s attention on this challenge. The food prices peaks reached in mid-2008 caused an additional 100 million people to fall back into poverty, and some 1 billion people are now hungry. Developing country agriculture provides the supply and incomes needed to ensure available and affordable food. Its contribution to poverty reduction and hunger is emphasized in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through MDG1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger with a focus on hunger through Target 1.C. Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.