US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates announced on Wednesday that they will be launching a global agricultural fund to help increase food production in developing countries. 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 their agricultural efforts. Gates and Geithner emphasized the importance of supporting small farmers and impoverished individuals, particularly as the global population grows and climate changes lead 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, with the goal of encouraging countries to collaborate and invest in agriculture in the world's most impoverished nations. Gates and Geithner announced that the fund has received commitments totaling almost $900 million until 2012. Canada, Spain, and South Korea are among the countries that will contribute funding. The fund, overseen by the World Bank, aims to provide financial support to impoverished nations with severe food insecurity that have established effective agricultural strategies to enhance crop production. It will focus on investing in infrastructure to connect farmers with markets, promote sustainable water management, and improve access to advanced seeds and technologies. The surge in global food prices in 2008 underscored the longstanding lack of investment in agriculture in developing countries, where the majority of impoverished individuals reside in rural areas. The Gates Foundation has been actively involved in funding projects that aim to enhance agricultural production for small-scale farmers in Africa and other regions. The foundation has a strong interest in improving food access and has collaborated 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.