US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates announced their plan to launch 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, aims to assist farmers in growing more food and increasing their earnings. Gates and Geithner expressed concern about the growing population and climate change causing food shortages, emphasizing the importance of supporting small farmers and impoverished individuals. The idea for the fund was initially proposed by the United States at a Group of Eight meeting in Italy in 2008 to encourage countries to invest in agriculture in the world's poorest nations. Gates and Geithner announced that the fund has received commitments totaling nearly $900 million from now until 2012, with contributions from Canada, Spain, and South Korea. The World Bank will oversee the fund, which aims to provide financial support to impoverished countries facing food insecurity and who have established effective agricultural strategies to improve crop yields. The fund will focus on investing in infrastructure to connect farmers with markets, promote sustainable water management, and enhance access to high-quality seeds and technologies. The surge in global food prices in 2008 underscored the long-standing lack of investment in agriculture in developing nations, where the majority of the impoverished population resides in rural areas. The Gates Foundation has been actively funding projects to increase agricultural production for small-scale farmers in Africa and other regions. They have a strong partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme to improve access to food. Despite there being 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.