The challenge of food security and nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa was the focus of a congressional hearing October 7 held by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House Africa and global health subcommittee. A trio of groups dedicated to improving food shortages in Africa testified about the daunting challenges and high hopes of combating hunger and malnutrition.

    “Investing in global food security is a policy that is both penny wise and pound wise,” said Chairman Smith (NJ-04), sponsor of the bipartisan Global Food Security Act (GFSA) of 2015, a bill that passed the House in 2014 but was stalled in the Senate which would help provide a long-term strategy to combat global hunger through an initiative coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) known as Feed the Future. “This program strengthens nutrition, especially for children during that critical first 1000 day-window, from conception to the child’s second birthday. Indeed, there is perhaps no wiser investment that we could make in the human person than to concentrate on ensuring that sufficient nutrition and health assistance is given during the first one thousand days of life: A thousand days that begins with conception, continues throughout pregnancy, includes the milestone of birth and then finishes at roughly the second birthday of the child.”

    Smith said children who do not receive adequate nutrition in utero are more likely to experience lifelong cognitive and physical deficiencies, such as stunting. UNICEF estimates that one in four children worldwide is stunted due to lack of adequate nutrition.

    “Feed the Future teaches small-scale farmers techniques to increase agricultural yield, thereby helping nations achieve food security, something that is in the national security interest of the United States as well,” Smith said. “It is also economical in the long run and should lead to a reduction in the need for emergency food aid. The approach we have taken in the Global Food Security Act is fiscally disciplined, authorizing an amount for 2016 which is less than what we appropriated for food security programs in 2014. USAID is nevertheless able to do more with less by leveraging our aid with that of other countries, the private sector, NGOs and especially faith-based organizations, whose great work on the ground in so many different countries impacts so many lives.” Click to read Smith’s opening statement.

    The bill enjoys broad bipartisan support, including from Subcommittee Ranking Member Karen Bass (D-CA), prime Democratic cosponsor Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Rep. Curt Clawson (R-FL) who all spoke in favor of the bill a the hearing. The legislation was a main focus of the hearing, entitled “Food Security and Nutrition Programs in Africa.”

    In 2009, following volatile food prices that hit poor countries in Africa especially hard, the United States along with other countries decided to improve food security in poor countries. In 2010, the Feed the Future Initiative, based on existing efforts under the Bush administration, was established. The program is intended to concentrate resources and coordinate efforts from multiple agencies for greater results in food and nutrition security. Projects are based on country-led investment plans and require participating countries to make commitments to also invest their own resources in agricultural development activities. Currently there are 19 countries that are part of the program.

    According to Dr. Carolyn Woo, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), her organization strongly supports the Smith-McCullum bill. CRS is of the largest implementers of U.S. funded foreign assistance, including international food aid, reaching millions of poor and vulnerable people in 93 countries.

    “Malnutrition is one of the world’s most serious but least addressed problems,” Woo said. “The human and economic costs of malnutrition are enormous and fall hardest on women, children and the poor. Nearly 3 million children perish each year due to malnutrition, a fact made more tragic because their deaths are entirely preventable. Given its long-term importance, the Feed the Future Initiative has made nutrition one of the corner stones in its overall response. We know that proper nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, which roughly is measured from conception to the child’s second birthday, is critical for attaining full integral human development. According to the World Health Organization there are 171 million children who are stunted –an irreversible consequence of chronic malnutrition and repeated exposure to diseases such as malaria and diarrhea —during their first 1,000 days of life. It is estimated that 40% of children under 5 years old in Africa are stunted.” Click to read Woo’s statement.

    Also testifying was David Hong, Director of Global Policy at One Acre Fund, an agriculture organization that has developed an operating model to help smallholder farmers run profitable businesses on one acre of land or less. Though his organization is a nonprofit, its operates like a business. Farmers pay for its products and services, which reach over 300,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania, with plans to serve one million farmers by 2020.

    “An important aspect of our model is our flexible repayment system,” Hong said. “Farmers can repay their loan, at any time, in any amount throughout the entire growing season, as long as they repay in full by harvest. In 2014, I’m pleased to report that the average repayment rate was 99% – and in two countries, 100% of clients repaid their loans. Farmer repayment enables us to move toward financial sustainability in our field operations. Seventy-four percent of our field expenses were covered by farmer repayment in 2014 and the nature of our business model stretches donor dollars to achieve more impact. Every dollar in grant funding that we receive generates approximately $3 in additional farmer income.”

    “One Acre Fund has demonstrated that it’s possible to help hungry farmers become successful businesspeople, with surplus production that they can bring to local markets,” Hong said. “Smallholder farmers are the answer to our global food security challenge. When they have access to basic tools and technologies, they thrive.” Click here to read Hong’s statement.

    Roger Thurow, a longtime reporter and foreign correspondent with the Wall Street Journal and most recently author of two books on global food security and nutrition, said there should be a focus on the crucial importance of the first 1,000 Days, from conception to second birthday, especially on good nutrition.

    “Properly nourishing the world—in the face of population, climate, and scarce resource pressures—is the great challenge of our time,” said Roger Thurow, who is also a senior fellow for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “The time from when a woman becomes pregnant to the second birthday of her child… This is the most important time of human development. For what happens in those 1,000 days–the foundation of healthy physical development, the rapid growth of the brain and cognitive skills–determines to a large extent the course of a child’s life – the ability to grow, learn, work, succeed.”

    He said that small farm farmers have a key role in securing the global food chain, and programs like Feed the Future will boost efforts to nourish the world. Click here to read Thurow’s statement.

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