“On one hand, ending hunger involves getting agriculture and nutrition policies right. But it is also about social justice, good governance, and the broader set of conditions within which targeted food strategies can work durably and for the poorest,” Olivier De Schutter, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, writes in The Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog.” He continues, “The U.K. presidency of the G8 has a chance to tackle this side of the hunger coin in a week’s time, when G8 leaders convene at Lough Erne on June 17 for a two-day meeting that will address the flagship issues of tax, trade and transparency.”

“In terms of tackling hunger, nothing is more crucial in financial or symbolic terms than tax justice,” De Schutter writes, describing the importance of developing countries collecting taxes and the private sector “pay[ing] a fair share of tax.” He continues, “Aid flows continue to be vitally important, but can never compensate the loss of tax revenue.” He adds, “The G8 can make a difference on hunger. The hunger and tax agendas must be brought together. The relatively simpler part has been done, in the shape of fresh aid commitments at the nutrition for growth summit. Now, in Lough Erne, the G8 must treat tax injustice as the driver of hunger and poverty that it is, urgently initiating a new era of tax transparency” (6/12).