Only 15 pct of G8 food aid pledge is new-sources

By Silvia Aloisi

ROME (Reuters) - Only $3 billion of the $20 billion promised by a G8 summit over the next three years to boost agriculture in poor countries appears to be new money, diplomats and sources close to the matter said on Tuesday.

"In the $20 billion figure people have included all sorts of things, double counting stuff, putting in loans and grants: the real new money is $3 billion at best," one diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonimity.

Most of that new money, up to $2 billion, is coming from the United States, according to two sources, one on the donor side and one on the recipient side.

A Group of Eight summit in Italy in July pledged $20 billion over three years to increase investment in agriculture in poor countries, in a major policy shift away from emergency food aid and towards longer-term strategies to fight world hunger.

The biggest single pledge at that summit -- $3.5 billion -- came from U.S. President Barack Obama, the main proponent of the new focus on agricultural development.

That shift will top the agenda this month at a food summit hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which aims to reach a broad consensus on the need to pump more money into agriculture to help poor countries feed themselves.

Anti-poverty campaigners however have warned that the pledges announced by rich countries were proving elusive.

"We found that no one could tell us which donors have committed how much towards the $20 billion or when the funds will be disbursed," ActionAid said in a report last month.