For generations, the United States has been a leader in providing development assistance across the globe to alleviate suffering and build shared progress and prosperity.
In 2010, as food prices spiked and pushed the numbers of the food-insecure people to over one billion, the Administration of President Barack Obama launched Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s primary global hunger and food security initiative. The initiative’s main objective is the advancement of global agricultural development as a proven mechanism for economic growth.
Feed the Future is helping millions of rural farming families to boost their incomes -- in 2015 alone, these farmers increased sales on their farms by more than $800 million. The U.S. Government also reached nearly 18 million children in developing countries with vital interventions to improve their nutrition last year.
In early July, the United States took yet another big step toward eliminating hunger and malnutrition: the United States Congress passed the Global Food Security Act and President Obama signed it into law.
Under the Global Food Security Act, the White House will develop the first-ever Global Food Security Strategy, a comprehensive approach for assisting developing countries to increase sustainable and equitable agricultural development, reduce hunger, improve nutrition, develop rural infrastructure and stimulate rural economies. It also promotes transparency by instituting standards of effectiveness and requiring an annual report tracking the expenditures of 11 federal departments and agencies that engage in agricultural development and food security efforts.
“The Global Food Security Act of 2016 . . . will put Feed the Future, our global hunger and food security initiative, into law,” said President Obama in a written statement.
“This game-changing development initiative - the first of my Administration - has helped increase economic growth and stem the tide of global hunger, poverty and malnutrition over the span of just a few years,” he said.
“While we've already accomplished so much through this collaborative global partnership, I know that with the continued effort and support that this legislation provides, we can achieve what was just a few years ago the unimaginable: We can end global poverty and hunger within our lifetimes."
