Bipartisan legislation to take on global hunger and help the world’s poorest countries develop better agricultural practices has been introduced by Congressman Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the House panel that oversees global health initiatives. The legislation, the Global Food Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 1567), is designed to help prevent starvation and famine, and reduce hunger and malnutrition by enabling countries to feed their own people.
Smith is joined by original co-sponsors Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN); the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce (R-CA) and Ranking Member Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Karen Bass (D-CA), Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), David G. Reichert (R-WA), Adam Smith (D-WA), Erik Paulsen (R-MN), David N. Cicilline (D-RI), and James P. McGovern (D-MA). The co-sponsors are well-known leaders in the fight against global hunger and malnutrition, as well as champions of small-scale producers’ efforts to lift themselves out of poverty.
“There are malnourished men, women and children across Africa and elsewhere, and this bipartisan legislation will help save lives. It provides a long-term solution to global hunger by authorizing and strengthening the existing national food security program coordinated by USAID commonly known as Feed the Future,” said Chairman Smith, who has spearheaded similar U.S. international health and nutritional initiatives throughout his career, dating back to legislation he successfully offered in 1985 to restore and double the commitment to the then Child Survival Fund program, which helped protect children who would otherwise die from preventable, curable diseases.
“This program encourages nations to be self-sufficient and not permanently reliant on foreign assistance,” Smith said. “It operates in countries that need a leg up where the host governments have committed to investing in local agricultural development and undertaking reforms that allow the private sector to feed people who would otherwise be at risk of malnutrition.”
The program’s goals are to build or rebuild local capacity and sustainability, linking local entrepreneurs to the local and regional economy. It also focuses on nutrition programs during the first 1000 days of life, from conception to the child’s second birthday.
“We know that the first 1000 days of a child’s life, from conception to the second birthday, are absolutely critical in terms of combating stunting, strengthening children’s immune system, and also ensuring that the next 30,000 days will be as healthy as possible,” Smith said.
In the past year, Feed the Future has helped seven million farmers across the globe increase harvests, resulting in improved nutrition for 12.5 million children. To give one example, in Ethiopia stunting rates were driven down by nine percent in just three years, resulting in roughly 160,000 fewer children suffering from malnutrition.
“Feed the Future also helps small farmers, many of whom are women, so that they are better able to earn income to support their families,” Smith said.
The legislation seeks to capture and sustain the successes the U.S. government is already achieving through its Feed the Future Initiative. Drawing on resources and expertise from 11 federal agencies, Feed the Future is investing in national agricultural investment strategies and is helping many countries in need, including 19 focus countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, transform their agricultural sectors and sustainably produce enough nutritious food to feed their people. The Initiative has already achieved impressive results: in 2013, Feed the Future reached more than 12.5 million children with nutrition interventions and helped nearly seven million farmers and producers with new technologies and management practices on more than 4 million hectares of land.
Over 50 non-governmental, faith-based and university organizations have signed on to a statement of support of the Smith legislation. These include American Jewish World Services, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, Bread for the World, Food for the Hungry, InterAction, Lutheran World Relief, Salesian Missions and World Vision.
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