US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates announced on Wednesday that they will be launching a global agricultural fund in order to increase food production in developing nations. The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, set to be unveiled in Washington on Thursday, aims to assist farmers in growing more food and earning higher incomes from farming. Gates and Geithner emphasized the importance of providing support to small farmers and impoverished individuals, especially as the world's population grows and climate change leads to water shortages that can devastate crops. The idea for the fund was initially put forth by the United States at a Group of Eight meeting in Italy in 2008, urging countries to collaborate and invest in agriculture in the world's most impoverished regions. Gates and Geithner announced that commitments for the fund reach nearly $900 million until 2012, with contributions from Canada, Spain, and South Korea. The fund, overseen by the World Bank, will offer financial support to impoverished nations with severe food insecurity and effective agricultural plans to enhance crop production. It will focus on investing in infrastructure to connect farmers with markets, promoting sustainable water management, and improving access to quality seeds and technologies. The surge in global food prices in 2008 underscored the long-standing lack of investment in agriculture in developing countries, where the majority of the impoverished population resides in rural areas. The Gates Foundation has been involved in funding projects to enhance agricultural production for small-scale farmers in Africa and other regions for a long time. They have a strong focus on improving access to food, collaborating closely with the United Nations' World Food Programme. Despite the fact that there is enough food produced globally to eradicate hunger, over 1 billion people still suffer from hunger due to financial constraints or lack of access to food supplies.