Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and other countries pledged Friday to provide $20 billion over the next three years to increase food production in developing nations, up from an initial $15 billion target.

In a chairman's summary released Friday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also stated that leaders "acknowledged that their action is strengthened by engaging with the major emerging economies."

While the meeting, which ended in L'Aquila, Italy, on Friday, failed to produce a pledge by major greenhouse gas emitters to realize a 50 percent global cut by 2050, a joint statement on food security promises $20 billion in agriculture investments to ensure global food security.