"It is...the first real and strong signal that the international community is serious," says Navtej Dhillon, senior advisor with the U.S. Treasury Department. "It's about some of the donors making good on their promises."

The donors are an unusual group. It includes G8 members the United States and Canada, but also Spain and South Korea, as well as the private foundation of software tycoon Bill Gates.

And it's not just the donors that are unusual. The funds are administered by the World Bank, and program manager Christopher Delgado says there is an unusual amount of coordination among the donors and with the recipient countries.

Country-led

"It's not just an individual donor showing up one day and saying to the minister, 'Gee, what can we do for you today?" he says. "Or, worse, in some cases, 'Gee, we've got something we'd like to do and we hope you agree.'"

Delgado says countries come up with their own plans to help farmers, after consulting with civil society groups and the private sector. They put up some of their own money. Outside experts review the proposals. And the countries collect data to measure whether their programs are working.

"This is a tough economic time for a lot of people, including in the donor countries," he says, "and if we're going to be spending money, we really have to show that we're achieving results."

David Beckmann, president of the charity group Bread for the World, says, "What they are planning to do is just excellent...The broad plans are right. The donor countries are trying to be receptive to what the recipient countries want. The idea of investing in poor farmers is right on track."