Washington, D.C. – In advance of World Food Day, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Jim Risch (R-ID), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with U.S. Representatives Betty McCollum (D-MN-4) and Chris Smith (R-NJ-4) introduced a bipartisan, bicameral resolution recognizing a decade of results under the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) signature global food security program, Feed the Future, and the need to continue efforts to accelerate inclusive agricultural development and improved nutrition outcomes for women and children in the developing world.
“We have to continue to meet the challenge of food insecurity head on. Food insecurity has had a devastating impact on vulnerable children and combating hunger and malnutrition around the world is a national security imperative for the United States,” said Senator Casey. “Feed the Future has been a successful initiative in improving nutrition worldwide, and I look forward to strengthening and improving it to combat global hunger.”
Following the 2007-2008 global food price crisis, USAID launched the whole-of-government Feed the Future Initiative with the aim of reducing global poverty, building resilience and tackling global hunger and malnutrition. The resolution highlights Feed the Future’s success in helping transform countries’ food systems and improve their own food security and nutrition, with investments currently focused in 12 target countries and 35 aligned countries around the world. Since its inception, Feed the Future has helped more than 23.4 million people lift themselves out of poverty, prevented 3.4 million children from being stunted and ensured that 5.2 million families no longer suffer from hunger in areas where the program operates. The resolution highlights the need for continued investment in global food security in the face of the economic impact of COVID–19.
Feed the Future investments benefit communities in the United States as well, including by increasing United States trade and agricultural exports to Feed the Future countries by more than $1.4 billion since its inception and supporting agricultural research partnerships with U.S. universities and land-grant institutions.
Senator Casey is the author of the Global Food Security Act, and subsequent reauthorizing legislation which requires a whole-of-government strategy to address global food insecurity and hunger, which is executed by the Feed the Future Initiative.
This resolution has been endorsed by InterAction and the Food Security, Nutrition and Agriculture Working Group co-chairs Bread for the World, Feed the Children and Food for the Hungry.
Read the resolution here.
