Thank you.
Let me take a minute to tell you about the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, in case you're not familiar with us. We're a partnership of 15 Canadian churches and church agencies that are working together to end global hunger.
Across Canada, that means hundreds of growing projects, raising money by growing crops, making pies, holding cattle auctions. From coast to coast, there are several thousand volunteers who care deeply about ending hunger, and they give their time and money to support the Foodgrains Bank. We use that money in about 40 countries around the world. We provide food assistance after disasters. We make sure that pregnant women have good nutrition, and we help small farmers to improve their productivity.
We are honoured to be one of the Government of Canada's key strategic partners in the delivery of Canada's aid. We've been receiving core funding for our program since the Foodgrains Bank started over 30 years ago. We also work to get Canadians thinking more about global hunger, and we carry out research and dialogue aimed at improving public policy.
As you reflect on world events over the last year, I'm sure you can think of many examples of those who want to slam the door on the rest of the world. Canada is an exception. We continue to look outward, knowing that such engagement is good for the world and good for Canada. Our ideas and our aid are contributing to global prosperity, reductions in poverty, more opportunities for women and men, and increased peace and well-being. Stability and prosperity in other countries is good for Canada and Canadian businesses, not least through increased opportunities for trade.
As other global leaders talk about closing down, Canada is demonstrating leadership through openness and global engagement. However, we are falling behind. Canada's current aid levels, as measured by percentage of gross national income, are only about half the average of our peers, the G7 countries and other mid-sized economies. To demonstrate global leadership, we must increase our budget for aid. If we want to make a meaningful contribution to the global development agenda, Canada should set a timetable to double our aid in 10 years or less. That would bring us up to the average of our peers, and then we should further commit to meeting the UN target of 0.7%.
We believe that an increase in Canada's development aid would be supported by Canadians across the country. A public opinion poll in 2015 found that 94% of Canadians agree that aid is important, and 62% agree that Canada should be one of the leading countries in providing international aid. Another poll from 2014 found that most Canadians believe Canada should contribute more aid to poorer countries than it currently does.
One of the questions that arises is where Canada should invest aid money. What could we focus on that would drive economic growth, provide opportunities for women and youth, and help people to deal with climate change and other environmental problems? Is there any area of work that could deliver all those benefits and build on Canada's strengths? In our view, the answer is yes: a focus on small-scale women farmers.
Agriculture is the biggest source of livelihoods in most developing countries. The typical farmer is female and has five acres of land or less. She is grappling with poor soils, unpredictable weather, bad roads to market. However, these problems have solutions. Through our own work at the Foodgrains Bank, we have enabled thousands of farmers like this to move out of poverty and into the marketplace, and lots of other Canadian efforts, through other organizations, have made significant contributions to improving agriculture livelihoods. There are lots of opportunities for scale-up in this area.
A recent study compared countries in Africa and looked at those countries that invested early in their own agriculture. They found that they reaped multiple benefits. Not only did agricultural productivity increase, but there were economic gains for the country as a whole. The GDP of those countries that invested early grew twice as fast over 10 years, compared to the GDP of countries that did not focus on agriculture. Those countries that invested in agriculture were also more effective at reducing poverty and malnutrition.
I want to thank the committee for joining us in Manitoba. This is the heart of the Canadian prairies. This is a place that understands the contribution of agriculture to a growing economy. An increase in aid and investments in food producers is something that aligns with Canadian values from coast to coast.
We at the Foodgrains Bank encourage the government to increase its investments in international assistance, with the focus on agriculture, women, and the most vulnerable. This would enable Canada to move from a laggard to a leader and enhance our reputation as a country capable of playing a vital and constructive role in the world.
Thank you.