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The Wikileaks release of U.S. State Department classified diplomatic cables may be problematic,
but it has been quite a trove of information on the workings of our
diplomatic corps. For the most part, the dump has confirmed things that
we already knew about U.S. policy — and that seems to be the case
regarding the one mention of agricultural policy in these thousands of
emails and documents (no doubt there are more) to which I was alerted.

Buried deep in a document
that outlines priorities for intelligence gathering in the African
“Great Lakes” countries of Burundi, the Republic of Congo, and Rwanda is
a list (for the most part, very reasonable) of what the State
Department would like to know about the region’s agricultural policy.
Things like government policies on food security and food safety top the
list, for example, along with information on the impact of rising food
prices in these countries. Agricultural yield statistics, infrastructure
improvements, data on deforestation and desertification, water issues,
and invasive species are included as priorities for “reporting” as well.